Money Management – How to Keep Your Bankroll Strong
Sports betting online can be one of the most rewarding and fun pastimes available on the web today. This is proven to be true the sheer number of quality betting providers that now exist on the internet. Every day, millions of people from all walks of life spend money placing bets at their preferred sportsbooks, across a wide range of sports and betting markets.
The Meaning of Money Management
The global sports betting industry is worth billions, and is one of the easiest ways for virtually anyone (over legal age) to make money by placing bets. However, if you do decide that you would like to make sports bets (or any other kind of a bet) online for real money, you will need to know how to manage your money carefully.
Whenever you hear someone talking about any negative experiences that they have had with online sports betting, it usually revolves around them losing all of their money on a long shot bet. Alternatively, you may hear about someone that chased bets on the Superbowl or soccer world cup and ran out of money.
If this happens, there really is no way to recover losses and throwing good money after bad will get you out of the game faster than you can say “poor money management skills”!
In order to be successful at sports betting online, you not only need to have a working understanding of odds and betting markets, you also need to understand betting strategies and how to handle your money effectively.
In this quick but thorough guide to sports betting money management tips, we break down effective management strategies, and show you how you can get the most out of your sports betting budget, right now.
Why is Money Management so Vital in Sports Betting?
While sports betting has always been around in one form or another, the practice has become hugely popular since the introduction of the modern online sportsbook. Virtually overnight, millions of sports fans around the world could now actually bet on the outcome of the match or event they were following, from the comfort and convenience of their own homes.
The idea of multiplying your bet amount by the posted (available) odds to forecast your potential profits soon caught on, as bettors realised that, the more they put up – the more they stand to win. Those with previous experience with real world (betting shops and race tracks) betting seemed to fair better than the ‘new generation’ of sports bettors, who generally tended to deplete funds rather quickly. The main difference between the two? Effective money management.
It is important to note at this stage that effective money management basics have nothing to do with the size of the bet that you put down. There is a generally misconception in the world of sports betting that it is better to bet small. This is not true. Betting small merely limits the amount of profit that you could potentially make.
On the contrary, effective money management will give you both the means and the confidence to size your bet according to the odds or the market that you are interested in. Effective money management means having the power to take advantage of a once in a lifetime bet, or incredible odds posted on a sure thing.
Good money management is about controlling your betting bank roll through expenditure and profit management, constantly revising your betting history and learning how to assess good prices and sport value wherever you find it.
Of course, this is a lot to take in, especially if you are totally new to online sports betting. This guide to effective money management in sports betting is designed to take you through the ins and outs of money management, step by step.
Consider Your Sports Betting Goals
Everyone has a different reason as to why they decided to start betting on sports. Some prefer to bet on sports as a way to relax, while other find that betting on the games that they follow helps to enhance their enjoyment of the game. Still others bet on sports as a way to make extra money on the side.
No matter why you like to bet on sports, considering your goals will help you to determine or design a good money management structure. If you bet on sports casually, you’ll undoubtedly have a smaller bankroll than if you bet on a more professional level. In either case, setting achievable and realistic betting goals for every session that you bet in, will help to preserver your capital and allow you to get the most mileage out of your bets.
Determine Your Bankroll
Before you even decide on what sports to bet on, or even what sports betting provider to sign up with, you need to have an idea of what you can realistically afford to put towards your bankroll. Your betting bankroll money needs to be completely separate from money used for your day to day expenses. In other words, you need to be sure that this is indeed disposable income.
Determining your betting bankroll also ties in with your ultimate goals as a sports bettor.
Don’t forget that you can also boost your bankroll with additional betting bonus offers. In fact, bonuses are not just there to entice you to sign up with a betting provider. You will find plenty of great enhancements and incentives that can keep your betting bonus strong and help you to maintain solid money management at the same time.
Don’t Think in Currency, Think in Units
Naturally, when you first set up your betting bankroll, you’ll be thinking about its value in currencysuch as Euros or USD (for example). However, when it comes to the actual betting, you’ll find that professional sports bettors only think and speak of bet value in units.
Organising the value of your bankroll into usable units will help you to manage your betting money more efficiently. When it comes to professional sports bettors, you’ll find that most will never bet more than ten units on a given bet (regardless of betting type). The value of the unit varies but, in for most bettors, the unit increments are usually valued at 0.5 and, according to most betting experts, betting units that are valued at more than 1% of the entire bankroll are big and thus fairly risky.
Percentage Money Management
Converting your bankroll into units and not currency, introduces you to percentage money management. Thinking of your money as a percentage of your entire bankroll and not as actual euros or dollars, will allow you to be more rational and analytical when it comes to betting. While currency values fluctuate, almost on a daily basis, unit percentages remain constant, allowing for easier value calculations when betting or realising profits from successful bets.
Never Chase Your Losses
Here is a common issue with novice sports bettors. You make a series of bets and, through inexperience (and plain bad luck) you hit a losing streak, which naturally reduces your betting bankroll significantly. It is natural to panic or to act emotionally, with a sudden urgency to ‘get back’ your losses. This is a mistake, since chasing your losses is an emotional response, your chances of making good, rational bets are very low.
In this instance, the best way to manage your money is by taking a step back and not placing any more bets until you have regained your faculties. Lost bets can never be recovered. The only thing you can do is to learn from your mistakes and rebuild your bankroll, slowly and methodically.
Keep Track of Your Betting History
Keeping an accurate record of every bet that you have made since joining your sports betting provider, is a great way to help your money management along. Experience comes through making mistakes and experimenting. By keeping a record of your bets, you can easily what worked and what didn’t. It is also a great way to assess if your current sports strategy or your overall betting strategy is actually paying off dividends.
Final Thoughts: Adopt Effective Money Management Enhances Success
While it is true to a certain extent that sports betting is about luck, there is a lot more to it. Successful sports betting is about doing your homework, knowing your markets, your betting options and practicing effective money management. No matter what your starting bankroll happens to be, you can always sustain it and grow it by following some of the basic steps that we’ve outlined here. Be sure to check out our recommended sports betting providers to find a quality provider that you can use to implement your bankroll money management strategies with.