How Can I Grow My Sports Betting Bankroll?
How Can You Build Up Your Bankroll? Tips For Success:
Building up a bankroll in sports betting is a challenge that requires discipline, strategic planning, and a solid understanding of both sports and betting markets.
A bankroll is essentially the amount of money set aside exclusively for betting activities, separate from personal finances. Growing this bankroll efficiently and sustainably is key to long-term success in sports betting.
Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to effectively build up your bankroll in sports betting:
1. Set Clear Objectives
Before you start betting, define what your goals are. Are you betting for fun, looking to make a small profit, or planning to become a professional bettor?
Setting clear objectives will help you determine how much money you should start with and how aggressively you’ll want to manage your bets.
2. Establish a Starting Bankroll
Your starting bankroll should be an amount of money you are comfortable losing, as betting always comes with the risk of loss.
It should not include money needed for essential expenses like rent, bills, or groceries. A common recommendation is to start with at least 50 times your average bet size.
For example, if you plan to make $10 bets, a $500 bankroll is a good starting point.
3. Choose a Betting Unit
A betting unit is a percentage of your total bankroll that you will stake on a single bet. Most experienced bettors recommend betting between 1% - 2% of your bankroll on each bet.
Sticking to this strategy helps manage risk and avoid the danger of blowing your entire bankroll on a few bad bets.
4. Use Unit Size to Increase Bankroll
The concept of unit size is foundational in bankroll management and critical to the growth of your sports betting funds. By defining a unit as a fixed percentage of your bankroll, typically between 1% and 3%, you ensure that your bet sizing remains proportional to your current bankroll, adjusting automatically as your total funds increase or decrease.
Advantages of Using Unit Size
Risk Management: By betting a consistent percentage of your bankroll, you mitigate the risk of significant losses, which can be crucial during a losing streak.
Growth Scaling: As your bankroll grows, so does your unit size in absolute terms. This allows for larger bets while maintaining the same risk level, aiding in faster bankroll growth without increased risk exposure.
Decision Simplification: It removes the emotional decision-making often associated with varying bet sizes based on 'gut feelings' or recent wins and losses. Each bet is systematically calculated, which promotes disciplined betting.
For more information about unit sizing, check out our article here: What is a Unit Size in Sports Betting?
5. Understand the Sports and Markets
Knowledge of the sports you bet on and the dynamics of the betting markets can help. This includes understanding team motivations, rule changes, as well as different types of bets, such as moneylines, spreads, and totals, and how odds are calculated and change live.
The more you know, the better your chances of identifying valuable betting opportunities.
6. Utilize Effective Betting Strategies
Effective betting strategies are fundamental to growing your bankroll. These include:
Positive Expected Value Betting: If a bet has a positive expected value (+EV), it indicates that over time, for each dollar bet, the bettor can anticipate earning more than one dollar in return as winnings. This does not guarantee that every individual bet will be successful, but rather that across a broad spectrum of bets, the total winnings will surpass the total losses.
Bankroll Management: Never chase losses or bet more than your set unit size, even if you are on a winning streak.
Shopping for Odds: Different sportsbooks often offer different odds for the same event. Having accounts at multiple sportsbooks allows you to always place your bets at the best available odds.
7. Track Your Wagers
Keeping detailed records of your bets allows you to track your performance over time. Record details such as the date, bet type, odds, outcome, and profit or loss for each bet.
Analyzing your betting history can help you identify your strengths and weaknesses.
Click here to watch our free responsible wager tracking masterclass (+ free tracking tool).
8. Stay Disciplined
Discipline is perhaps the most crucial factor in successful sports betting. Stick to your predefined betting strategy and resist the temptation to deviate from your planned betting unit size.
Emotional betting leads to poor decision-making.
9. Reinvest Wisely
As your bankroll grows, carefully consider how best to reinvest your profits. Increasing your stakes proportionally to your bankroll can accelerate growth, but it should still adhere to your set percentage of betting units.
10. Continue Learning
The sports betting landscape is continually evolving. Staying updated with sports news, betting techniques, and market trends will enhance your betting skills and help you make more informed decisions.
Final Thoughts
Building a bankroll in sports betting is not about quick wins but about consistent, measured growth over time.
By applying a disciplined approach, maintaining a clear strategy, and continuously educating yourself about the sports and the betting industry, you can increase your chances of success and enjoy the process of building your sports betting bankroll.