UFWC Guide to Betting Bankroll Management

Beating sportsbooks that have 10% or greater vigs is already hard enough, but it becomes all the more complicated when you don’t manage your bankroll correctly. If you want to ensure your success as a sports bettor, it’s very important to manage your bankroll efficiently.

In the following sections, we’ll tell you everything there is to know about betting bankroll management, including some bankroll management strategies. Stick around if you want to learn how to reduce your risk of ruin.

What is betting bankroll management?

Before we get into the explanation of bankroll management, it’s important to first understand the term ‘bankroll’. Bankroll essentially refers to the money that is set aside for betting purposes. Whenever you’re placing any bets, you start by taking into account the size of your bankroll.

Once you know how much of your money you can afford to risk in gambling, the next step is to determine how you’ll be allocating your funds. This is essentially the management portion of your bankroll management, wherein you set the rules for your staking plan. Depending on your bankroll size and goals, you can decide between several different game plans for staking.

Bankroll management involves two key aspects –

1. Unit: This refers to the money that you will be wagering at each gambling event. In most cases, a unit is taken to be 1 to 3 per cent of your total bankroll. Although it doesn’t sound like a lot, but including a higher amount can be risky. You can end up crushing your account with a single bad streak. When deciding on a unit, make sure that it protects you even during a bad run.

2. Bet tracking: As you’re picking the games for gambling, keep a track of your bets too. This includes the bets you are winning and the ones you are losing too. You can track your bets simply by maintaining a spreadsheet.

There are many advantages of bet tracking. It doesn’t just help in keeping a track of losses and wins. It allows you to see the events you’re winning most frequently. It essentially provides you insights into what’s going well for you. It also gives you an opportunity to improve in areas you’re struggling the most.

To sum it up, it's essential to grow your bankroll in a responsible way, while ensuring that you protect it at all costs. If you’re too aggressive with your betting and don’t manage your bankroll correctly, you would have to reload your bank account more quickly. This is essentially what bankroll management entails.

Bankroll management strategies

Efficient bankroll management is crucial for a long-term, profitable sports betting experience. If you don’t know where to start with bankroll management, there are some great strategies that can help you use your bankroll in a better way. Let’s take a look at some of them –

Use units

Unit, as we’ve stated earlier, is the amount of money you use to bet on each gambling event. They are quite popular in the world of sports betting because comparing the results among bettors becomes easier with units. If, for instance, one punter had a £1,000 bankroll while the other has a £10,000 bankroll, it would be unfair to compare which one of them made more money with bets.

Using units helps players in determining how much of their bankroll they can use to place bets. Let’s assume that your unit size is £100, and you’ve used almost £500 for betting. This would mean that you are up by 5 units. Using this strategy you can ensure that you don’t end up increasing beyond your bankroll capacity.

Percentage model

The percentage model is very much like the fixed unit strategy of betting bankroll management. However, it’s more dynamic than the fixed unit model. Instead of betting on the same amount every time, it takes a percentage of your bankroll into account.

Say, your total bankroll stands at £1,000, and you’ve decided to keep a unit, which is 2% of the bankroll. In this case, your opening wager would be £20. However, this figure can fluctuate daily. If your bankroll increases to £1,100, your bet would rise to £22. Conversely, if it falls down to £800, let’s assume, then you bet would also fall down to £16.

With the percentage model, you can take advantage of a winning streak. This will give you a chance to collect greater wins for a longer period. However, if you encounter frequent losses, getting out of those will take longer too.

Kelly criterion formula

The Kelly Criterion betting system is a better version of the confidence model (which we’ll discuss next). There are several different Kelly Criterion strategies you can choose from, including the Full Kelly, Half Kelly, Fractional Kelly and Quarter Kelly. In this strategy, you can determine the correct amount to wager, depending on your chances of winning.

The Kelly Criterion formula is as follows –

(Decimal odds of your wager * win probability – loss probability) / Decimal odds of your wager = suggested wager %

This is one of the most popular betting methods, first invented by John L.Kelly, an American computer scientist, in 1956. This mathematical equation takes into account the possibility of something happening, and the odds offered on it. According to the Kelly Criterion theory, you should bet a greater percentage of your bankroll according to the value.

Confidence model

The confidence model offers greater winning potential, however, it does require additional discipline. In this model, you can risk multiple units. Confidence models will usually have a scale of 1 to 3 or 1 to 5. If your confidence model is 1 to 3, and the unit is set as 1%, you can decide to wager a maximum of 3% of your bankroll.

There are three levels of the confidence model –

·      Low confidence pick with 1 unit

·      Medium confidence picks with 2 units

·      High confidence picks with 3 units

Most bettors like to start with a medium confidence level before adding a third unit. However, you can also devise your strategy to include half a unit. This is great when you want to bet on an underdog.

The confidence model is a good bankroll management strategy for people who use formulas to determine their picks. If your confidence levels are strong, you can earn a lot of profit with this method. However, if the confidence levels are not as strong, you can end up losing the bankroll quickly too.

How much should you place on each bet?

Choosing how much to spend on each bet depends on certain factors –

1. Betting Experience: A lot depends on the amount of experience you have with placing bets. Expert bettors usually tend to have bigger bankrolls. If you’re just starting out, it's best to keep your bankroll small.

2. Amount of money you can spare: When you are deciding on your bankroll, always make sure that it’s not an amount that you can’t afford to lose. Wager a realistic amount that you can spare without worrying about your daily expenses.

3. Sports knowledge: Choosing a bet amount also depends on your level of knowledge about various sports. Determine your sports analysis and prediction capabilities, and then decide how much risk you would be willing to take with your bankroll.

Importance of good bankroll management

Good bankroll management should be an important part of your overall betting strategy. Here is why –

1. Limits chasing losses: Good bankroll management is especially useful when you’re tackling a bad run. Bankroll management ensures that you don’t deviate from a fixed set of guidelines, therefore limiting your temptation to chase losses.

2. Prevents you from choosing a risky bet: Sometimes, when you are on a hot streak, it can be tempting to go with a risky big wager too. Having a bankroll management strategy prevents you from losing big.

3. You would be able to survive multiple losses: Even if you are losing consistently in your bets, a sound bankroll management strategy would ensure that you survive the losing streaks too.

Poor Bankroll Management Risks

Losing streaks

Even the most seasoned sports bettors have trouble dealing with losing streaks. When losses start piling up, it can get difficult to stay disciplined. It’s natural to want to chase your losses, however, this can affect your entire bankroll. Having a sound bankroll management strategy is the only way to survive through a losing streak.

Gambling addiction

Poor bankroll management is often related to gambling addiction. If you feel that you have a similar problem, it's best to reach out for help. If you are just starting out with sports betting, make sure that it stays a hobby. If you find that you have problems sticking to limits, sports betting can quickly turn into an addiction.

Bankroll management FAQs:

a. How is bankroll calculated?

The size of your bankroll depends on your level of experience as a bettor, your sports knowledge, and the amount of money you are willing to spare for gambling.

b. How do you build a betting bankroll?

The easiest way to build a bankroll is by adding a set amount of money to the bankroll each week. This will ensure that your betting bankroll keeps increasing, even if your skills are a little rusty.

c. How much should a unit be of your bankroll?

In most cases, a unit is kept as 1 to 2 per cent of the bankroll. For example, if your current bankroll is £10,000, you can place bets worth £100 to £200 without worrying about reloading your bankroll.