Bankroll management strategies take away the randomness of sports betting. Instead of making wild bets with random percentages of your funds, these strategies offer control, logic, and consistency. If you want to take your sports betting to the next level, I offer four useful bankroll management tips and explain three incredibly popular bankroll management strategies below.
What is your Betting Bankroll?
Before getting into the details of how to effectively manage your bankroll, it is worth explaining exactly what it is. Your betting bankroll is how much money you initially put into your betting account that you wish to use for betting. It is the money you have set aside purely for betting purposes, and so are willing to risk losing it. Having a bankroll will keep you on course and means you don’t make impulsive betting decisions.
It will help you properly analyse your betting strategy and also ensure you learn from your mistakes. If you just make single bets or deposits, you are likely just going to lose money short term, while having a consistent bankroll will help with long-term success. If you are serious about making some money from your betting activities, thinking long term is key, as that is where the value lies. For example, a professional bettor expects to take a loss every now and then, because they know that their bankroll is big enough and they have not blown through the whole thing. Additionally, they know that with the right strategy in place, they will make more money than they lose.
How Much Should I Stake on Each Bet?
There are two renowned strategies for deciding how much of your bankroll you should risk for each bet. Most professional bettors will use a percentage or units and each comes with it’s own perks.
Using a percentage
A lot of pro bettors will always bet a certain percentage of their bankroll. This percentage could be between 1 and 3 % of your bankroll, and that comes with a clear advantage. As your bankroll gets larger, your bets will grow in size naturally. If you lose, you just make smaller bets until you start winning again.
Units
Some other bettors will bet in units. This means you are betting with the same amount consistently for each bet. Typically, most people will divide their bankroll in 50 or 100 units. For example, if you start off with a £1,000 bankroll, you will have units of £10 or £20 per bet. Bear in mind if you are making smaller bets, it will take a while before you start seeing the big profits, but like we said above, keep your eyes on the long term.
Essential Bankroll Management Tips for Betting Success
At the same time as using a bankroll strategy, there are also other important considerations such as deposit limits and the perils of emotive betting.
Set a Minimum Bankroll Threshold
I use bankroll management strategies, but as an additional safeguard, I also impose a minimum bankroll threshold or buffer. This is the minimum amount I let my bankroll drop to. For me, it’s 25% of my funds. So, if I had £250 in my account, I would never let it drop past £62.50.
Set a buffer you are comfortable with and stick to it. This makes sure you always have funds and minimises the number of new deposits you have to make.
Set Weekly Deposit Limits
Online bookies allow you to set daily/weekly/monthly deposit limits. Use them! For example, I typically stick to a monthly deposit limit of £100. This gives you consistency and makes sure you only ever spend what you can afford. It also helps implement your chosen bankroll management strategy.
If you use multiple bookies, split the total amount you want to spend evenly between them. For example, perhaps you allow yourself £150 per month and use 4 sportsbooks, which means your monthly deposit limit for each would be £37.50.
Bet Using Logic, not Emotion
We’ve all made bets when we were angry, or because we “had a good feeling”. How many of those bets turned out to be shocking? Probably most of them! To manage your money effectively, you have to be cold, emotionless, and calculated. Put logic, statistics, and strategy first – save the emotion for when you achieve a nice payout – not when you want to place a bet.
Be Consistent and Disciplined
Discipline is THE most important factor for successful sports betting. I’ve struggled with this previously – it’s hard to ignore the lure of big payouts or piling all your money in when you’re on a winning streak. If you want to manage your bankroll, you have to do this though. Make your limits, set a minimum deposit buffer, and stick to a consistent bankroll management strategy.
Use Multiple Bookies for Odds Comparisons
Today, there is far less variance in odds between online bookies due to the complex systems and tools they use. However, I still advise managing an account with 3-4 sportsbooks to check odds and make sure you always have the best value. You can also take advantage of the welcome bonus, and promos for existing customers at each sportsbook, like free bets and odds boosters.
Top 3 Bankroll Management Strategies
After implementing the above tips, you can choose a specific bankroll management strategy to follow. When choosing a strategy, consider how much you spend, and the risk level you are comfortable with.
The Kelly Criterion
The Kelly Criterion is the most complex bankroll management strategy, but it accounts for the chance of success, and the difference between the bookie’s odds, and the actual perceived outcome of the bet. In its simplest form, the Kelly Criterion works as follows:
F = (Px2)-1
F = Fraction of your bankroll to bet
P = Probability of winning as a decimal.
Example
You have a £100 bankroll. You want to bet on an EPL game and you think Man United has a 75% chance of winning, which means the Kelly Criterion works as follows – (0.75 x 2) -1 = 0.5. This recommends your bet should be 0.5 or 50% of your bankroll, or £50.
This is the easiest stage, but it doesn’t account for the actual bookmaker’s odds. To account for that, you can use this more advanced formula:
F = ((P(B+1))-1)/B
B = The net odds the bookies offer on a bet (Odds – 1, for example, odds of 1.3 means net odds of 0.3).
P = Your perceived probability of success as a decimal (If your estimate is 70% = 0.7).
Example
We use the same bankroll and perceived chance of success as above, but also include the bookmaker’s odds of 1.5 (which equates to net odds of 0.5).
((0.75(0.5 + 1))-1/0.5 = 0.25
Here, because we have accounted for the bookmaker’s odds too, the Kelly Criterion works out at 0.25/25% of your bankroll or £25.
The most important thing to remember is that if your Kelly Criterion returns a negative value or no value, you shouldn’t be placing that bet. This bankroll management strategy is great for sports betting as it accounts for odds and chances of success. But, it also depends on your assessment of the bet and how accurate you are with your predictions!
Pros
- Accounts for odds and chances of success
- It has both a simplified and more advanced method
- You can change it to a fractional Kelly method, where you bet 50% of the advised amount, for example, based on your risk tolerance
Cons
- Complicated to calculate
- Variance factor with your assessment of the chance of success
The Fibonacci Sequence
Italian mathematician Fibonacci popularised the sequence of Fibonacci numbers in the 12th century and in modern times this has been translated into a bankroll management strategy. Commonly used for card games like Blackjack and Roulette, the Fibonacci Sequence has two components:
- If you win, the value of your next bet is based on the value of your previous two bets
- If you lose, the value of your next bet equals two steps behind in the sequence
Example
- Bet 1 – £10 – You win
- Bet 2 – £20 (£10 + £10 – the first number in the sequence always adds itself) – You win
- Bet 3 – £30 (£10 + £20) – You win
- Bet 4 – £50 (£20 + £30) – You win
- Bet 5 – £80 (£30 + £50 – You lose
- Bet 6 – £30 (Two steps back)
The Fibonacci Sequence is an excellent way to boost your bankroll, but it’s also risky due to the ever-increasing bet size. This sequence also has flaws in that for sports betting, it has no consideration for odds and perceived value which is why it’s more commonly used for casino card games.
Pros
- Incredibly easy to implement and understand
- It offers some level of bet-size control
- It can help quickly build your bankroll
Cons
- High-risk betting strategy
- No consideration for odds or bet value
Level Staking
If you want a simpler bankroll management strategy, level staking is the best option. With level staking, you always bet a set percentage of your overall bankroll. If you pull off a winning streak, you increase it, if you hit a losing streak, you decrease it.
Example
- Your bankroll is £100
- You set your staking level to 5% = £5.00 per bet
- You win 4x bets in a row and increase your staking level to 7.5% = £7.50 per bet
- You lose 2x bets in a row and decrease your staking level to 4% – £4.00 per bet
It’s essentially a simpler, lower-risk version of the Fibonacci Sequence. If you use this strategy, decide upon and stick to these five core values beforehand:
- Starting staking percentage
- Number of bets in a row before increasing the percentage
- Percentage increase value
- Number of bets in a row before decreasing the percentage
- Percentage decrease value
For example, you could set your initial staking percentage to 5%, and only increase this after 4 wins in a row, with an increase adding an extra 25% onto the original value. You could also decide that a decrease would come after 2 losses in a row, and this decrease would take 50% away from the current value.
Pros
- One of the easiest bankroll management strategies
- Low-risk method
- It offers flexibility in terms of percentages and when to increase/decrease values
Cons
- Not as dynamic in terms of building your bankroll quickly
How Much Money do you need to start Sports Betting?
A lot of this depends on how much you are willing to budget. The general consensus for new bettors is that a £100 bankroll is a good starting point as it can easily be divided into units or percentages. But £50 would also be a good figure for those who want to start out smaller. Once you pick a number, work out how much it takes up of your monthly wages after taxes, and this also helps you keep on top of your finances and means you don’t start chasing losses when betting.
Bankroll Management Strategies – Essential for Consistent Betting
I get that using these strategies might seem boring, and I know the lure of winning an outrageous bet is difficult to ignore. But, they are proven methods, and if you want consistency in your betting; using these tips and sticking with a suitable bankroll management strategy is the way forward.
