Sports betting can be an extremely profitable hobby, but before you go throwing your money around (or away), you need to develop a plan and commit yourself to not deviating from it if you want to reap the benefits. Discipline and bankroll management are keys to long term success if you plan on turning a profit betting on sports. Sure, it’s tough. Not all people are capable of being patient, and sports betters are no exception. Common mistakes when betters start to lose are chasing and long-shot parlays. I’ll describe a couple of things not to do before I talk about ways to manage your bankroll.
Chasing refers to what betters do when they go on cold streaks and try to recoup their losses quickly. If Mr. Sportsbetter lost $100 on Game A, and, in an attempt to make up for his loss, bet $200 on Game B, he would be chasing. Chasing is a bankroll’s worst nightmare because you’re risking too much of your available money at any given time and making yourself vulnerable to big losses. Chasing becomes disastrous when betters lose multiple games in a row and end up with a goose egg as their account balance. The best thing you can do when you lose is to step back and look at your situation from a rational perspective (I know, not everyone is capable of this) and decide what to do from there.
Long-shot parlays aren’t the worst thing a better can do, but only when you have spare money in your account. If you have a spare $5 and want to try to sweep the board on any given night, go ahead, but big parlays are not a good way to make up for past losses. All too often, Mr. Sportsbetter will lose $100 on a game and put in a 10 team parlay to try to get his losses back for a low price with the thinking that he’s only losing about $5 if it doesn’t hit. However, it’s hard enough to pick ONE game right, let alone TEN. So why not save that $5? The odds of long-shot parlays hitting are absurdly bad. In the long run, every sports better is better off saving money rather than playing these.
So you’ve decided you want to bet on sports, you’ve told yourself you’re going to be disciplined, and you’re trying to find the best way to be profitable? Follow these 5 guidelines for bankroll management, and I can assure you you’ll be better off in the long run.
1. Establish a realistic starting bankroll
Decide what you can afford to bet. Whether it’s $50, $500, or $5,000, find a starting number for your bankroll that fits your personal budget. Remember, this should be a dollar figure that you can lose and not drastically effect your lifestyle. This is the beginning of smart and disciplined betting.
2. Determine your unit size (bet per game)
Sports betters prefer to talk about how much they’re betting in terms of ‘units’ instead of dollars. A unit refers to how much you’re betting on a game. If you start with a bankroll of $100, your standard unit should usually be 5-7% of your bankroll (5-7 dollars for a $100 bankroll).
3. Determine a final goal for your bankroll
In order to do this, you first need to outline the time table that you’ll be calculating this during (usually season by season). At the beginning of a sport season, you should usually want to double your bankroll between 2-4 times.
4. Determine when to fluctuate your bet size
The general rule of thumb is to only fluctuate your bankroll when you’re up, or else you’d be chasing. Common to most profitable sports betters, once your bankroll doubles, you double the size of your bets (If you start with $100 and your bankroll doubles to $200, betting between $10-$12 per game is an increased dollar amount, but still 5-7% of your bankroll). This step basically goes hand in hand with step 2, but gives you a little flexibility to adjust when you’re owning your bookie.
5. STAY DISCIPLINED
We’re all trying to win money, that’s why we bet on sports. Sure, you could hit a hot streak and go up 100 units without any discipline, but the law of averages will eventually catch up to you. Staying disciplined and not deviating from your plan when you’re losing are imperative things to do if you want to profit from betting on sports.
