The Importance of Bankroll Management in Sports Betting

When it comes to succeeding with sports betting, bankroll management is just as important as picking winners. One of the common mistakes done by bettors is reckless bankroll management; they tend to bet more in order to win more, largely due to overconfidence. And when they are cold, they start chasing their losses in the hope of winning it all back in one fell swoop. This is a dangerous strategy, and makes many bettors bankrupt quickly.

Bankroll management in sports betting is different from bankroll management in the real world, where you are given money for performing a job. You use the earned money to pay for goods and services, and at the end of your pay period, you are rewarded in the form of the next pay for performing work. That way, it’s a typical cyclic process. On the other hand, in sports betting, your ability to generate money depends upon your current money and capacity. If you are too aggressive in sports betting, you cannot generate additional income without reloading your account. So, you not only need to protect your bankroll but also grow in a responsible manner. That’s bankroll management in a nutshell, as far as sports betting goes.

Flat Betting Strategy

Experts rather suggest flat betting, in which you will risk only 1% to 5% of your bankroll per day, regardless of your confidence level. A good medium approach would be to risk 3% on sports betting per day. Being more aggressive with a smaller bankroll is fine, but avoid a wager beyond 5%, because that would be too risky. Whatever you risk, that amount would be considered your standard Unit Size. Units are used to compare your results with other bettors. So, if you have a bankroll of $10,000 and another player has $500, it would be fair to compare which bettor has made more wagers on sports betting, say for NFL.

This also means betting games individually and avoiding parleys which are incredibly attractive but are increasingly dangerous at the same time. You may not get a one-time massive payment with flat betting, but this is certainly a smart and long-term sports betting strategy that helps bettors to remain disciplined and avoid hot and cold streaks in betting. Also, being consistent and disciplined with your unit size will help you ride out the inevitable ups and downs that come with sports betting.

The Percentage Model

The percentage model is similar to flat betting; the only real difference is that instead of betting a single unit in advance, your unit size is determined by your bankroll. Let’s start with a bankroll of $1000, and a standard unit size of 2.5%. If you win your first bet, your bankroll will increase to $1,025, and you will now have $25.63 for your next wager. This sports betting strategy allows you to take advantage of your winning streaks, but the downside of it is that it could be harder to dig yourself out of a hole.

Confidence Model

The confidence model allows you to increase your sports betting size in games where you feel more confident. Though your stand unit size will be 1, you can occasionally increase it to two or three units. However, experts suggest not taking this approach until you have demonstrated an ability to win your most confident bets consistently.

Proper bankroll management for sports betting will ensure that it stays as a hobby only. You will be in trouble if you are not able to stick to set limits, better off quit before you get in too deep. Learn more about the importance of bankroll management in sports betting and other engaging topics related to sport betting and more on Winible.