As interesting as finance is, day trading and investing doesn’t—and probably shouldn’t—provide as much adrenaline as sports.

Sports betting not only caters for those who love in-depth analysis but it also gives a thrill when watching an event that you have some action on.

One of the first pieces of strategy a budding sports bettor should learn is how to correctly manage a bankroll. Without any kind of a basic strategy to at least control how large the bets are the bettor will eventually risk too much and go bust, or progress too slowly by risking too little.

Even if your bet picking strategy is spot on you’ll still end up worse off without utilising proper bankroll management.

Sports Betting Bankroll Basics

It should go without saying that any serious gambler should separate their life bankroll and what they intend to bet with. Mixing the two is a recipe for disaster. 

By keeping a separate pot of money to bet with allows you to concentrate fully on your betting strategy. What can happen if a gambler risks money that is earmarked for life purposes is they might start to second guess the strategy and change it based on results rather than any logic.

This is a prerequisite for anybody harbouring ambitions of ever being a professional sports bettor.

Units and Tracking Results

All sports betting strategies utilise units of money for bet amounts. That is they vary bets in multiples of whatever unit size the bankroll dictates. This system also makes it easier to track results. 

When it comes to tracking, at the very least bettors should keep a record of all results on a spreadsheet. The more in-depth the better. Columns for the conditions of the event help to build up useful information for tweaking a betting strategy.

Bankroll Management Strategies

Single unit betting: - The simplest way to start with proper bankroll management is to always use the same bet size on every event. This is regardless of how confident the bettor is of winning or how good/bad they have been running recently.

This system is easy to stick to and will allow discipline to build up for more complex systems in the future. The benefits are its simplicity, but it is rather basic and not intended to be used over the long-term.

It is up to the bettor how often they reassess how much a unit should be worth, but they should make this a firm plan beforehand and not make changes on the fly.

Bankroll percentage: - This is another simple system on the level of fixed single unit betting. Instead of using a fixed unit for every bet the bet size is a percentage of the bankroll value. 

This system is easy to stick to leaving no room for misinterpretation. 

The biggest difference between this model and the single unit model is the percentage model gives longer streaks, both up and down. This should be considered by the bettor when deciding which suits them more.

Summary

This primer is enough for budding sports bettors that are looking to add a touch of professionalism to their strategy. In a further article we will discuss more advanced techniques that include adjustments for how confident the bettor is and what the return on the bet is. This culminates in some analysis using the famed Kelly Criterion that is considered the most sophisticated model available to sports bettors today.