Bankroll management in sports betting

Bankroll management in sports betting

bankroll management in sports betting
Autor betsonly 06 Feb 2017

Just as in any other gambling activity, there's no better way to succeed in sports betting than to learn how to manage your bankroll.

Bankroll management is probably the most important concept in sports betting. Let's define this term in an easy way. Bankroll is simply the total amount of money allocated for online sports betting by a player, regardless of the bookmaker site, and consequently, bankroll management is the way a player manages his money.

For example, if you deposit €100 into your bet365 account and €50 into your Unibet account, your initial bankroll is €150. One of the most important skills you can develop is how to manage those €150 to keep the risk of losing money as low as possible, and define your maximum bet size (stake).

No bet should be able to get you broken. That means you have to limit the amount of money you stake on a single bet. Three factors will help you to determine the bet size: odds (is it a value bet or not), the risk you are willing to take and the size of your betting bankroll.

First rule of bankroll management: you do not use more than 10% of your bankroll in a bet. Many tipsters use a percentage of their bank in order to determine the maximum stake, depending on their risk tolerance, odds, winning confidence and number of bets placed each week. A scale from 1 to 10 is normally used, with 10 being the most confident bets.

Keep in mind that a wager of 10% of your bank is only recommended in very few occasions and for small bankroll. The average stake size is between 3% and 5% of your bank. Let’s assume you have a bankroll of €100. If you set your full stake - or maximum stake - to 5% of your bankroll, it means that you cannot bet more than €5 in a betting market. Then, you must grade your bets:

  • Grade 1 to 3: 20% of your full stake (stake = $1)
  • Grade 4 and 5: 40% of your full stake (stake = $2)
  • Grade 6 and 7: 60% of your full stake (stake = $3)
  • Grade 8 and 9: 80% of your full stake (stake = $4)
  • Grade 10: 100% of your full stake (stake = $5)

Bankroll management is a combination of actions that will help you succeed in the long run. Define your strategy and make sure you follow it, no matter what, to reach success.