One of the key fundamentals of successful gambling is budgeting balance effectively. Whether the gambler is into professional betting or playing casino games, sticking to bankroll is essential. It helps gamblers to analyze where the money goes, make the gambling budget last longer, avoid going broke, and prevent gambling addiction. There are many different bankroll management strategies to use.
Moreover, managing bankroll depends on gambling practices (casino games, lottery, sports betting). Let’s delve into the world of the most common bankroll management strategies of professional bettors. We will also explain you how to set a betting budget.
Basics of Bankroll Management – Betting Budget and Units
Source: poker.org
To start managing a bankroll, the punter first needs to create a monthly budget for betting. The amount of money used for betting depends on many individual factors such as money income, and fixed, unexpected expenses.
Betting budget is part of irregular expenses for entertainment, hobbies, eating out, etc. Here is what it might look like for a punter: the total income in a month is $3500, regular expenses $2000, rest ($1500) can be used for entertainment. So, the punter can spend part of $1500 on placing bets.
The loss of bankroll mustn’t worsen the standard of living. That is, for example, if the monthly bankroll is $800, this $800 is non-essential for living. Cutting back on essential spending to place bets is one of the warning signs of gambling addiction.
People with gambling addiction can sacrifice their comfort of living for the sake of gambling addiction. After you have established a fixed monthly bankroll, go further to the staking plan. In other words, it is important to understand how much money to allocate to an individual bet.
Flat Betting Strategy
A flat betting strategy is one of the simplest bankroll management systems. Flat betting means the punter bets on each game a fixed percentage of bankroll, for example, 2%. So, if the monthly bankroll is $1000 for bets at TonyBet or other sportsbooks, the punter may place a bet of a maximum of $20. Professional bettors also use the term “unit”, when it comes to individual bets. Flat betting is a system with a fixed unit amount.
If you choose flat betting bankroll management, you should apply this fixed amount consistently on each game. Whether the event has an odd of +100 or -200, you should stick to the fixed unit amount.
This strategy is quite simple because it doesn’t involve any complicated calculations. There is no need to calculate the risk of each game, you just need not overspend the fixed amount. Professional bettors usually spend 2-5% of their monthly bankroll on each unit.
However, the fixed unit amount depends primarily on the confidence of the bettor. If your goal isn’t to make the bankroll last longer, you can allocate more money on each bet, 5-10% of the bankroll or more.
However, then you will be able to place only 20 or 10 bets in a month. This strategy is easy and perfect to avoid overspending and preserve bankroll. Unfortunately, this method doesn’t make any difference between bets.
Percentage Bankroll Management Strategy or Progressive Betting
Source: casinonewsdaily.com
To approach this method punter needs to calculate the unit amount before each bet. Strategies with fluctuations in the bet amount are variable stake strategies. One of the variable stake strategies is the percentage model. It also takes a certain percentage of the bankroll for each bet (for example, 2% or 5%), but these 2% don’t relate to the initial 100% monthly fixed bankroll.
For example, if the monthly bankroll was initially $1000, but the punter has already won over $200, he calculates the bet amount according to the new bankroll ($1000). This model resembles a flat betting strategy and is also simple to use. Percentage bankroll management helps punters take losing and winning streaks into account.
Potential Return Strategy
This strategy takes betting odds into account. So, the unit amount according to this method depends on the odds of the event. Say, you place your bet on an eSports team with odds at -150. Then you bet 1.5 units to have a 1.0 win.
This principle is also quite easy, however, it is an advanced method for experienced bettors. Only experienced bettors can do profound research on teams and estimate the winning chances of each team regardless of odds. However, this method doesn’t take into account the recent performance of the bettor.
The Kelly Criterion Strategy
Source: startuptalky.com
This advanced method helps punters adjust unit amounts with the mathematical formula. The Kelly Criterion method calculates the perfect wager. This is how this formula looks: decimal odds of recent wager * win probability – loss probability) / Decimal odds of recent wager = suggested wager%. Recent wager takes into account the recent performance of the punter. Win probability and loss probability are mathematical parameters.
To apply this formula the punter should be able to estimate the risks of the bet. If the punter can do it, the Kelly criterion is a very good bankroll management method for those who have a good understanding of sports betting.
Conclusion
These bankroll management strategies have proven their efficiency over the years. Professional bettors incorporate them into their betting to avoid overspending and stay rooted in financial stability. Apart from them, there are also other dynamic bankroll management strategies such as Fibonacci Strategy, D’Alembert Strategy, Martingale Strategy, and Oscar Grind system.
Dynamic strategies are way more riskier than flat betting but they give punters a chance to win. Flat betting isn’t risky at all but too “flat” for those who want to have success in professional betting.
As you may see, there is no one bankroll management system for all bettors. Whether you decide to manage bankroll with flat betting or dynamic units, it is important to stick to bankroll and stay disciplined. Set your betting budget smartly, stick to it, avoid taking emotional decisions, when it comes to spending money on bets. And don’t forget to have fun: sports betting must be enjoyable!
