Sports Betting Money Management

If you’re going to be successful with betting online, one of your most essential skills will be money management.  It isn’t enough to be able to bet on the right teams or players, and even the best betting strategy in the world will ultimately fall flat if you don’t know how to limit your risk exposure.  And that’s what money management is all about.  Losing streaks happen, but you can limit the damage if you are careful with your bankroll, and maximize your fun — and profit!

Decide on a Bankroll

The very first step in money management is to figure out how big your overall sports betting bankroll is going to be.  If you are regularly withdrawing funds, you will never grow your bankroll.  At the same time, you want to be sure you are not constantly adding funds that should be used for your other expenses—this is when gambling goes from being profitable and fun to being a problem.  Always think of your bankroll as money you can afford to lose—and then do your best not to lose! 

Decide How Much to Bet

When you put down a bet, how much are you going to lay on the table?  Beginners may think they are being conservative if they name an amount like five to ten percent.  But this is actually quite aggressive, and will run you through your bankroll more quickly than you would like if you experience a losing streak (and when you are first starting out, those are going to happen). 

Try to stick with a more conservative amount like one to three percent.  That is about the average for professionals who do this for a living.  Yes, that means your first bets are probably going to be on the small side, but as your account grows, that tiny percentage will represent more and more money.  Impatience costs a lot of new sports bettors their accounts.  Try to bet the same way you would if you had a larger bankroll and could expect larger profits from your wins. 

Be Consistent

Sometimes you are going to feel the temptation to put down more money on a bet that looks particularly promising, but this is a temptation you are going to need to learn to resist.  Why?  Because if you do not feel that same level of confidence with other bets, odds are those other bets are ones you should stay away from.  You should only place bets that you are truly very confident of.  You are going to lose a lot of them, and even managing a 60% win ratio over the long run will be challenging.

So give yourself the best opportunities to win, and always bet consistently and conservatively.  That way you can weather the losing streaks and minimize your losses.  Any money you lose is money you have to make back before you can start profiting again.  So do everything in your power not to lose bets.  When you take care of your bankroll and focus on making strong bets, your profits will take care of themselves!