Bankroll management is one aspect of online betting you should take seriously if you genuinely want to become a successful bettor. The margins in online betting are extremely thin. This means the difference between losing and winning is just a few points in each direction.
There is a common mistake among most players. While some players do not clearly know when to call it quits, others make unwise decisions and bet above their budget. Whether you are winning or losing, the ability to properly manage your bankroll is a crucial skill you should have, aside from being really good at betting and playing online casino games.
We have prepared this guide to show you how to manage your finances while at any online casino.
What is bankroll management?
The bankroll in online betting is different from the bankroll in real life. In online betting, it is the practice of properly managing your funds in order to ensure that you are properly paid for the games you are playing online. Your ability to earn more money is highly dependent on how you use your current money. If your bankroll goes down, you will not be able to generate any additional revenue without reloading your account. Therefore, bankroll management is all about ensuring that you become a successful online bettor if you are making good picks.
Effective Tips for managing your bankroll at online casino
Below are a few important tips to help you effectively manage your bankroll when betting online:
● Determine the size of your bankroll:
This simply involves determining the amount of money you should deposit into your betting account. The size of your bankroll is largely dependent on your current financial state and how much you are comfortable depositing. The simple rule is this: Never bet any money you cannot afford to lose. The context of “how much you can afford to lose” is relative. It differs from person to person. Be realistic when assessing your financial situation, as well as, if push comes to shove, how much you can afford to hand over to an online betting site.
Once you have deposited and likely staked the amount of money you’d be willing to (hypothetically speaking) lose, you should pick a figure that accurately reflects the number of times you are willing to invest. If you are going to place bets 3–4 times on a game online, then you should probably invest less money.
● Choose a unit size:
Once you have decided and set aside a set bankroll amount, you need to determine the percentage of your bankroll you will wager on any game. For beginners, we would recommend that you keep the size of your bet small and consistent. Somewhere between 1 and 5%
If you want to be a conservative bettor, we would recommend that you bet between 1 and 2% of your bankroll per bet. If you are an aggressive bettor, you might consider betting 3% of your bankroll. If you are very confident in your online betting, then you can increase your unit size to somewhere between 4 and 5% of your total bankroll.
It is recommended that you keep somewhere between 1 and 3% of your bankroll. This allows you to stay disciplined in your online betting, and the pros will likely outweigh the cons. Most professional players do not wager more than 1% of their bankroll on any online game.
● Re-evaluate your bankroll:
Like a lot of things, online betting can be highly dynamic. Since this is a factor, it is highly recommendable that you check your unit size, recalculate it, and possibly adjust it if you are winning or losing in a big way. You can dial back your unit if you’re on a losing streak and about to lose your bankroll. Do not bet more (increase your unit size) when you’re off on a bad foot in an effort to recoup your losses. When you’re facing a loss, sit back, refocus, and re-evaluate. When you decrease your unit size, you prevent yourself from losing too much too quickly.
Professional bettors hope to win at least 60% of their bets, meaning that they expect to lose at least 40% of the time. They understand that losing comes with the package when it comes to bankrolling during betting games, whether physically or online.
If you are, however, just betting for entertainment purposes, decreasing your bankroll is the right move. You can stay longer in the game this way and place more bets over time.
When you are on a winning streak, keep your unit size at a reasonable percentage, and do not bet more than 5% on any online game. Make sure your unit size aligns with your risk tolerance. You shouldn’t get reckless with your bankroll just because you’re having a good spell. Luck can change really quickly in sports betting.
Bankroll Management Strategies
There are a variety of different strategies that can be incorporated into your online betting profile and games:
● Flat Betting Model
This bankroll is the simplest and safest management strategy in the long run. It only requires you to set your unit size and then bet exactly one unit for each and every wager. In this strategy, your confidence level and odds do not matter.
You only have to decide if you want to go with the “to win” approach or the “risk” method. If you are going to take the “to win” method, you will need to wager with standard -110 odds. You will need to risk 1.1 units to win 1.0.
If you decide to go with the “risk” method, you do not wager additional units. This means that on a -110 bet, you would be risking 1.0 units to potentially return 0.91.
The advantage of this strategy is that it preserves your bankroll while still yielding profits. One important thing to note, though, is that you will need to review your bankroll from time to time using this method. If you are up or down a solid handful of units, you should consider increasing or decreasing your unit size to reflect your current bankroll.
● Percentage Model
This is quite similar to the flat betting model. The only difference is that your bankroll will determine your unit size rather than setting one in advance. This means that your unit size is going to move a lot faster than in the flat model.
The advantage of this betting model is that it allows you to leverage your winning streaks. You have to increase your bet after each successful wager, which allows you to get a greater R.O.I. (return on investment).
Whereas the disadvantage is that if your bankroll drops lower than your initial point, your wager size is going to reduce. Generally, this makes the timing of your winning streaks way more important than it would be in the flat betting model. The variance in this model makes this a higher-risk strategy.
● Confidence Model
This model allows you to increase your bet size when playing online betting games where you feel more confident. Your constant wager should still be 1.0 units, but you can increase your bet size to about 2 or 3 units occasionally. It is not recommendable for you to increase your unit size to 2-3 units until you are certain that you have demonstrated the ability to win your confident bets over and over again.
When you are tracking your bets on a spreadsheet, start tracking how confident you feel about each wager using a scale of 1–3. Keeping records on your spreadsheet is something you should be doing regardless of your betting model. If you observe that your confident bets have a much better record than your less confident bets, then it is a reasonable decision for you to increase your wager size.
● Kelly Criterion Model:
Imagine the confidence model on steroids. That is the level the Kelly Criterion Model is at. With this model, you try to determine your exact winning percentage for each wager instead of assigning a confidence level to each pick. This is the formula you can use to determine exactly what percentage of your bankroll you should wager while playing:
(Decimal odds of your wager* win probability minus loss probability)/decimal odds of your wager = wager percentage
This formula looks a little tough on the surface, but it is not as hard as it looks. It is quite simple.
Here’s a hypothetical example:
If you feel that you have a 45% chance of winning a -110 odd wager, the formula would look like this:
(0.91*.45-35)/0.91 = 0.045
Meaning that the Kelly Criterion model is suggesting a wager of 4.5% of your bankroll.
The amount the model suggests will also increase whenever your confidence or the likelihood of your bet increases. Sometimes these numbers can be aggressive. With this in mind, it is very necessary that you are very precise with your expected winning percentages, and what better way to do that than through your calculations? Any error in your calculations will result in a large amount of your bankroll being lost.
It is important to note that you should not try this method until you have done a thorough research and are certain that you can calculate winning percentages correctly. Many professional bettors use this model.
Track Your Results:
Tracking your results is very important, regardless of the size of your bankroll or the model you use for your management strategies. Tracking your results will give you the knowledge you need to audit your performance.
You can easily create a spreadsheet to track this data, or you can use an app.
Why is it important to manage your bankroll?
Gambling addiction
This is a serious topic. If you feel that you have a gambling problem, there are plenty of methods you can use to manage this habit. Proper bankroll management can help ensure that this does not become a problem but stays a hobby.
Dealing with streaks
Handling losing streaks can be really tough for even the most professional bettors. Even when you’ve been on winning streaks, it is difficult to stay disciplined when the losses start to happen. It’s a natural response for you to try to chase the losses. If you have lost, you want to get out of it as quickly as possible. This is the definition of bad decision-making and is a quick way to blow through your bankroll. Employing good bankroll management is the easiest way to ensure that you are not chasing your losses, and you can always try again some other time.
Even when you are on a winning streak, you can feel invincible, and this can lead to poor decision-making. You can increase your bet amount when you’re on a winning streak; just do it responsibly.
Conclusion
Being a successful online bettor has a lot to do with good bankroll management. It ensures that you are protecting your bankroll over the long term, which is where bettors will ultimately see profits. The first step forward is setting a proper unit size, but there are certain betting methods that will allow you to increase your wager size depending on your confidence level.
In conclusion, make sure you track your results so that you can identify the management model that works best for you and where you might need to make improvements.
If you can implement the information provided in this guide as well as handicap games accurately, your bankroll should steadily increase over time.
