We’re going to go over what you need to know about your bankroll, how much you should have in it, and how to use it to risk less when betting on sports!
As a disclaimer, we don’t promise that you’ll be successful with our tips. We only can say that these will improve your chances of managing your bankroll better.
What is a bankroll?
A bankroll for betting consists of the sum you are prepared to bet. This does not include any bonuses or free bets you get from bookmakers. Those who bet with larger bankroll didn’t start big. They’re professional sports bettors, whose primary source of income is derived from sports betting. So consider putting the minimum in your betting bankroll at first.
When managing your bankroll for sports wagers consider these questions. How much money are you willing to lose? Are you okay with risking that much? This correlates because the more you place on a bet, the more you’ll get in potential returns or losses.
To be responsible and successful when betting on football or in other sport, you only need to achieve a success rate of 52% to 55% most of the time. We recommend placing no more than 3% of your total bankroll on wagers. Many people do 1% of their bankroll and can still reap returns.
How do I use these strategies?
There are many sports betting strategies when it comes to playing on bookmakers’ sites. One of the most important is bankroll management. All successful sports punters have this discipline down pat and don’t let emotions get in the way. To professional gamblers, this is business and not an addiction.
Bankroll management can be broken down into several stages. First, you want to set a budget for yourself. Then, you should make a betting goal based on your budget and how much you want to wager to get there. The next rule is to stick to the rules that you set for yourself and know when to walk away.
After you’re confident that you have understood bankroll management, then you can choose how you want to gamble. The gambling strategies that are low risk are matched betting and arbitrage betting. These will consistently give you less risk if done correctly.
Both of them require a sportsbook and a betting exchange. You’ll place a bet on all of the game outcomes. There are some maths required, or you can use a profit accumulator.
It’s completely legal, and you can do it with either a small or large bankroll. Still, some bookies frown upon these tactics so make sure this isn’t the case first.
Is a Big or Small Bankroll Better? Why?
This all depends on a few things; these include how much you want to risk when gambling, how fast you want to become a bit more successful, and how much freedom you want with betting.
If your wish is to become a pro when sports gambling, then a big bankroll might work better for you. You’ll be able to wager more and more often. If you’re just looking to have a bit of expertise in the matter or you’re doing it for your own enjoyment of sports betting as a hobby, then a small bankroll is sufficient.
When you have a bigger bankroll, you’ll have a lot more freedom for wagering. This will allow you to experiment with different strategies. However, we do recommend setting a smaller bankroll so you can bet responsibly.
Managing Your Bankroll – Easy Steps You Can Follow
After showing you why it is important to have a bankroll and what to keep in mind, it’s time to see how to manage it. This is the more complicated part because many people do not have an idea how to monitor their bankroll and what they have.
Evaluate your bankroll’s size
The first step towards managing your bankroll is to evaluate its size. You need to decide how much money you want to use for the particular category and whether this amount is significant for your financial situation. Everyone is different, so a $100 budget might be a lot for someone and a pocket change for others.
Ideally, we recommend having a bankroll that you are comfortable losing. This means that the amount you will use to play with will not hurt you financially, even if you lose everything.
Also, we believe it’s important to know what you want to bet on. People who will only wager on one or two matches may not need to have a big bankroll, whereas those who plan on punting daily will need more money.
Determine the size of each bet
You can follow many different betting strategies related to your bet size, such as the Martingale betting system. The latter can be useful, but we recommend creating your own strategy around the amount you will use for each bet.
If you are just getting started, it’s probably better to use a smaller amount for each bet you place. This will allow you to practice more because you will be able to place more bets in total, even if you lose.
Experienced users have different tactics, depending on what they are betting on. Throughout our career, we have noticed that most experienced bettors rarely wager more than 5% of their total bankroll per bet.
Evaluate your results
After you have determined your bankroll and the amount you will use per bet, it’s time to check what happened with your bets. Ideally, most people do that after they’ve wagered several times because they will have enough data to work with.
If you decide to follow these steps, you must pay close attention to the amount you’ve used and what you’ve won and lost. You may be able to increase your bet size, or you will have to reduce it.
Advantages and Disadvantages
A significant advantage of having a huge bankroll is that you can try out tried and tested strategies easily.
If you’re committed to making sports gambling a regular activity, then you’ll need to put in a lot of time and effort. You have to start somewhere and continue building without getting too greedy. It’s important to know when to stop and never chase losses.
A disadvantage is that when you wager more, you also can lose more. Although there are strategies that are low risk, and can almost always result in a better outcome, you have to be an expert at them.
One wrong wager can ruin your strategy, which can result in a considerable loss. This can result in trying to make it up by wagering more the next time. Doing this has the possibility of gambling becoming a problem.
Remember, sports betting done the right way and as a pro would is no longer gambling; it’s a process of understanding and using strategies to lower your risks. You have to separate emotions when doing this as a professional.
The Bottom Line
Overall, the answer to the question is bankroll management is essential to responsible gambling. If you want to risk less and be more successful in the long run, then you’ll need to manage your bankroll the right way. All pro gamblers use sobriety of mind when setting their bankrolls.
Our recommendation is to start by depositing an amount that you’d feel comfortable losing. Then, implement low-risk strategies. Once you’ve got a good system down that’s been working for a few months, not just once, you can deposit more and increase your bankroll. However, once you feel you are risking a bit too much – feel free to lower your bankroll back to a level you feel comfortable with.