Improving your Sports Betting to Build that Bankroll in 5 Simple Steps

1. Bankroll Management Sports Betting
2. How To Build Betting Bankroll
3. How To Manage Bankroll Betting

There is nothing better than placing a bet on a sporting event and sitting back and watching the money roll in as the team / player wins. Unfortunately however, this doesn’t happen quite as often as we would all hope, as the vast majority of gamblers will lose money in the long run - many without realizing why. Some good news though - there are a number of steps you can take to ensure that your gambling fortunes improve!

The first step of successful bankroll management is determining and setting aside a proper budget solely for the purpose of sports betting. “Do not risk what you cannot afford to lose,” is a popular saying with regards to gambling of any kind. Once you’ve set aside a set bankroll amount, you need to determine what percentage of your bankroll you will wager on any one event. For beginner bettors, we recommend that you keep the size of your bets consistent: Select a unit size somewhere between 1-5%. Conservative sports bettors should bet 1-2% of their bankroll per single bet.

In this article I look at five aspects of gambling where you’ll be able to make immediate improvement by detailing the mistakes people make and suggesting a better approach.

Of course, every bettor knows that consistently selecting the best lines (odds) and the best value from sports betting bonuses and promotions are also important. The detailed sportsbook reviews here at High Tech Gambling will help you get the most from these vital areas.

Building a Sports Betting Bankroll - Step One – Be Selective

Many gamblers will place a bet on whatever event is on the TV. This might be because they have a particular interest in the sport, they are a fan of one of the teams/players or simply because they want to have a bigger interest in the game. However, by betting on anything that is on TV, you are not being selective at all – in fact the television companies are almost selecting your bets for you.

By all means look at the odds for a live televised event and if a particular bet does stand out, then go for it. However if nothing stands out, don’t place a bet and wait for a better opportunity – never bet for the sake of it.

Building a Sports Betting Bankroll - Step Two – Don’t Increase your Stakes When Winning or Losing

Winning feels great and winning also breeds confidence. However in gambling this can be a dangerous combination, as many people will happily increase their stakes when winning as they feel invincible. A gambler who has won £500 on a given weekend might happily place a bet for £250 at the end of that weekend when normally their maximum stake is £10. Why risk giving half of your profit back to the sportsbooks? Stick to the same £10 stake and that win will keep your gambling bankroll happy for a long time.

On the other hand, you might be on a losing run and take a shot at winning it all back in one go with one oversized bet. This is another huge mistake, as you have to consider what happens if this bet loses? Do you take an even bigger sizes shot to win THAT bet back as well? This is one of the most dangerous things you can do when gambling.

Building a Sports Betting Bankroll - Step Three – Accumulators Cost you Money

For many sports bettors, accumulators (or Parlays) are seen as the ideal bets to place, with the offer of a big money payout for a relatively small stake. However these bets are the ones that bookmakers and sportsbooks love the most. Consider that every bet you ever place has an in-built house edge, where the bookmaker will only actually pay out a percentage of the money they bring in (this might be 95% or less). Now consider what happens when you place an accumulator with this 95% payout. The expected return for the first leg is 95%. The expected return for the 2^nd leg is 95% of the 95%, which equates to 90.2%. A 5 leg accumulator sees a return of just 77%, a 10 team accumulator sees a return of just 60% and a 20 team accumulator sees a return of just 36%. You can quickly see why bookmakers love these bets.

Building a Sports Betting Bankroll - Step Four – Don’t Bet just Because you Think a Team / Player Will Win

One of my biggest pet hates when watching sport on TV is when a commentator/announcer states that a team or a player ‘have got to be a good bet to win’. It happens all the time, but how can you know if something is a good bet to win if you don’t know the odds you’re being offered? However, many people make this mistake by simply deciding to place a bet in exactly this way – blindly betting on a team/player without actually giving any consideration to the odds. For example – you might think that ‘Chelsea are a good bet to win the Champions League’. At this point stop and consider what their chances are. If you think they have a 1 in 8 chance, do you really want to back them at 4/1? However, should you see a bookmaker offering 12/1, then go ahead! Only bet when you think you are receiving value for money.

Building a Sports Betting Bankroll - Step Five – Take the Wider View

Have you ever placed a bet where you consider a team or player to be a certainty without considering the opposition? For example, you might see Roger Federer playing a lesser known tennis player, or Barcelona taking on a club from Eastern Europe in the early stages of the Champions League. These are always dangerous bets, as you might know all there is to know about one side of the contest, but you have no knowledge of the other side. Spend some time checking out the opposition and you might see a good reason not to place the bet, or to even change your mind completely and bet the other way. In this day and age there is no excuse not to do your homework as there are so many resources online. Betting blindly with no idea about the opposition is a mistake waiting to happen, and if it does, you will only have yourself to blame.

Bankroll Management Sports Betting

How To Build Betting Bankroll

More Sports Betting Strategy Articles:

How To Manage Bankroll Betting

• Betting on US Sports (Sitemap for the many detailed US sports betting strategy pieces here at HTG)
• Bovada Sportsbook Review (the most popular offshore sportsbook for US bettors - and the best!)
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