Sports betting is addictive because it is exciting, but it can become a money drain if you’re not careful. Remember Wayne Rooney and how he lost a fortune? You might not be able to beat him on the pitch, but when it comes to not losing money, we can help you do far better.
What Is Money Management? Why Should You Do It?
Everyone has a limit to how much money they are prepared to lose, and going beyond that would be considered an unacceptable loss. This sum of money is usually set aside from one’s income and is called a bankroll. As they say, you should never gamble more than you can afford to lose, and your bankroll is what you can afford to lose. This is where money management comes in.
REMEMBER: Bankroll – a sum of money is usually set aside from one’s income. You should never bet more than you can afford to lose.
Money management tracks two different things: units and wagers. You can use bankroll management strategies to make sure you won’t get in trouble. Anyone looking to get into sports betting needs to understand these strategies, which we will look at next.
Key Ideas About Bankroll Management
Bankroll management has a few key factors. Let’s consider them before we delve deeper:
Units
A unit is the size of a wager and is also a percentage of the person’s bankroll. In sports betting, a unit is different for every gambler depending on their bankroll and risk tolerance. For example, if your bankroll is $500, and each of your bets is $10, then each unit for you is $10. When you win $50, you’re up by 5 units. When you lose $30, you’re down by three units. Keeping track of units makes it easier to calculate profit and loss.
Important
The size of a unit differs from person to person and is the value of each bet a gambler makes. We recommend you keep the unit size under 5% on each wager and calculate this value BEFORE every bet.
For example:
You have a $1,000 bankroll and you decide that your unit size is 3% (we’ve rounded the results for better experience).
Unit | Odds | Result | Bankroll |
$30 | 1.78 | win | $1,053 |
$32 | 2.1 | lose | $1,021 |
$30 | 1.6 | lose | $991 |
$29 | 2.2 | win | $1,054 |
Always keep track of your result to be on top of how much you are losing for now.
Wagers
Keeping a log of all your wagers is the first step to conducting a thorough audit of your results. It will also shed light on which sports are eating away at your bankroll and which are helping it grow.
Keeping a Record of Bets
Listen, the house always wins in the long run, but by keeping track of your wagers, you’ll at least be able to stay on top of how much money you’ve invested and stop yourself from losing more. The numbers don’t lie, and you may get rid of ineffective betting tactics, enhance others, and come up with brand-new ones when you keep detailed records of your wagers and their outcomes.
You can do this with dedicated software, but here’s a template of how you can do it by hand as well. Just make a table with following columns:
- Date of wager
- Outcome wagered on (team + event. example: Minnesota 1H +3.5 pts)
- Odds
- Amount risked
- Book used to make wager
- Result (Win/Lose/Push)
- Payout (can be a formula based on odds and the result)
- EV (Expected Value of wager)
- Cumulative bankroll
Top Money Management Strategies
I used to bet on the NFL every season. The Seattle Seahawks was my team, and every season I believed they’d win the big one. Needless to say, it hasn’t happened yet, but I continued betting on them because they were my favorite team. However, after losing quite a bit of money, I decided it was time to play smart — to learn to play the game properly. So now, I’d like to share what I’ve learned with you.
Important
As we want you to play responsibly, you should be familiar with these strategies. But always keep in mind, these strategies are only for managing your money, and they won’t help you to win or increase your winnings.
Flat Betting
The flat betting strategy is the simplest one to use and is often recommended to beginners. If you follow this, you should bet the same amount for every wager and not change the bet in relation to previous results. Stick to your unit size, wagering just a single unit at a time, and although this may result in not winning big, you won’t lose big either. That’s how I got started, and it helped me get a sense of how everything worked.
Percentage
As with flat betting, here you bet the same sum with every bet as well, although, in this case, it’s a fixed percentage. The only variable is your unit size (in this case, a percentage of your bankroll). Let’s take an example. Suppose you have a bankroll of $1,000, and your unit is 3% of that. This means that your opening wager is $30. However, if your bankroll rises to $1,200, your wager also increases to $36. If it instead goes down to $500, your wager becomes $15. This is a good way to manage losses. I started following this method when I was still only betting on the Seahawks, but that was soon to change.
REMEMBER: Betting strategies are not a sustainable money-making method. You will lose out in the long run. It pays to know them, is all.
Get To Know Bankroll Management Systems
Sometimes, strategies become a fine science. They become so distilled that they turn into a system that is adhered to strictly. We shall look at some bankroll management systems that have proven their effectiveness time and time again, which may give you an idea of what works for you.
Fibonacci
The Fibonacci number sequence starts with 1 and continues by adding the next number to the last, making the sequence look like 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, and so on. But how would one use this as a betting system, you may ask. Well, you start by putting 1 unit down, and each time you win, you step up to the next in the sequence. However, if you lose, you step down 2 units at a time. Suppose you keep winning and stepping up to 21, but then you lose one; you should immediately step down to 8. This is what makes it a very simple and elegant system.
For example, let’s say one unit is $10. You bet 8 units and lost. You immediately fall back to betting 2 units. If you win, you go up to 5 units.
Kelly Criterion
The Kelly Criterion is a system of determining how much you should bet. The formula to calculate this involves knowing the decimal odds and the probability of winning and losing. The result is the percentage of the bankroll you should be betting. It is a good indicator of whether you’ll be winning or losing money.
Suppose the odds for a bet is 3.00. Your win percentage is 60%. So, your loss percentage is 40%. The formula for calculating how much you should bet is:
F= (BP – Q) / B |
Where F = % of bankroll you should bet, B = decimal odds – 1, P = probability of success, and Q = probability of failure. Following this formula, we get:
F = ({3.0-1}0.6-0.4)/2 F = (1.2-0.4)/2 F = (0.8)/2 F = 0.4 |
This means you should bet up to 40% of your bankroll.
Reducing Risk in Sports Betting
Risks are inherent to betting, but you must take measures to reduce them wherever possible. Strategies and management systems are one thing, but there is more you can do yourself. Let’s look at some of the most frequently used ways, used by punters worldwide, to minimize risk.
Picking the Best Odds
This is part of your due diligence during a market survey. If you want to consistently win big, you need strong betting odds; therefore, shop around before committing to anything. The better odds you find, the more you’ll be able to take home.
Hedging Your Bets
You’ve heard this term before, but what does it mean? Let’s take an example. Suppose the Lakers are playing the Kings, and you want to bet on the Lakers to win. Hedging your bets means wagering on the Kings as well, so that even if the Lakers lose, you’ll win something. However, you have to make sure that the money you win from one bet is more than the money you lost on the other. That’s the whole point of this.
REMEMBER: When you hedge your bets, you have to make sure what you win is more than what you’ll lose.
Say No to Live Betting
For seasoned bettors, betting on games lives is a temptation they can hardly resist. Avoid doing this at all costs. If you gamble live, you will be swayed by the impulsive desire to place bets every time things take a turn. If you must bet, stick to pre-match wagers only as this will limit the money you might lose.
REMEMBER: Prefer pre-match bets over live ones. Pre-match wagers will always give you a chance to analyze data; search for better chances and read news about teams or players before making a decision.
What Are Stop Limits?
When referring to sports betting, a “limit” refers to the highest possible wager that can be placed on a single game or event. If the sportsbook didn’t feel comfortable taking bets over $100, you might see a warning saying “Limit: $100” if you tried to gamble more than $100 on a game.
A stop-loss limit approach aids self-control, which is essential if you want to protect your bankroll. Here are some of the ways professionals set their stop-loss limits.
Session Stop Loss
By setting yourself specific session times for your gambling, you can also allocate a specific budget for your gambling. Perhaps, for example, you’ll set aside $200 for the day to gamble on sports and spread it across twenty different wagers on different games or odds.
Keep in mind that you can’t continue playing if you run out of money, so if you want to make a day of it, you may want to play in multiple sessions so that you have enough cash on hand to keep playing even if things start off poorly.
Stop Win Limit
Although it may seem paradoxical, knowing when to call it quits when you’re ahead is just as crucial as knowing when to walk away when you’re behind.
If you’re winning big, it’s usually best to quit while you’re ahead because even the luckiest person in the world runs out eventually. Stop-win restrictions are another wonderful tool for fostering self-control, which will serve you well in any type of sports betting.
REMEMBER: If you win once, it is not true that you will win twice. Know your limits and keep your mind vivid.
Can Your Bankers and Bookmakers Help You?
Just because you’re doing everything yourself doesn’t mean you’re alone. There are measures in place to help you out like:
Responsible Gambling
Responsible gambling is an umbrella term that encompasses a number of different policies and requirements imposed on the various parties involved in the gambling industry. These policies ensure that the industry adheres to the highest standards and provides a secure user experience that safeguards players from any potential harm associated with gambling online.
REMEMBER: Most sportsbooks have responsible gambling tools that are designed to help you stop betting while you’re ahead.
Gambling Block
You can prevent your bank account, debit card, or credit card from being used for any gambling-related purchases with the gambling block feature. Some of the banks that allow for this feature include:
Bank Name | Switched Off Via |
HSBC | Branch visit, phone call, or app. Done within 3 days. |
Monzo | Customer support through the app. Done in 2 days. |
Barclays | Branch visit, phone call, or app. Done within 3 days. |
Santander | Secure chat through the app. Done immediately. |
Natwest | Branch visit, phone call, or app. Done within 3 days. |
Revolut | App. Done within 2 days. |
Conclusion
While a straightforward approach to sports betting can lead to substantial financial gains, the aforementioned methods can only take you so far. We believe in responsible gaming and want to warn you that even earning loads of money and managing your bankroll will not work in the long run. Use your head and play safe.
FAQ
How can I keep track of all my bets?
There is dedicated software out there that will help you do this, but a simple spreadsheet like MS Excel or Google Sheets works just as well.
What is the simplest money management strategy?
The flat betting method is considered the simplest because it involves making the same bet every time regardless of win or loss.
Can I get my bank to stop betting transactions?
Yes. You can use the gambling block feature offered by some banks to stop such transactions.
