Daily Hand Quiz

One of the single quickest ways to go from a sports bettor to a sports watcher is to mismanage the bankroll that you’re using from day to day to make your bets and build your roll with. Making bets that represent significant portions of your bankroll – whether at a live book or at an iPhone betting site – can be the death knell to a good bankroll, even if you’ve convinced yourself that the bet seems to be a sure thing.

By risking 50% of a $1,000 bankroll on a bet that you think has a 60% chance of clearing, you do one of two things; you either move yourself up to $1,500 and have a little bit more flexibility with your bankroll in the short term 3 out of 5 times, or you cripple your bankroll down to $500 2 out of 5 times; the 2 crippling encounters will put a big strain on your future endeavours in sports betting, especially if your average bet was 5% of your former bankroll.

Why? Because, if you want to continue making those bets, especially if it’s the minimum your bookie or online site would take ($50 in this instance) you’re doubling the amount of your bankroll you’re risking with every bet, giving yourself just a 10 loss cushion before you’re busted. Winning that 50% bet doesn’t double your bankroll, only adding 10 more minimum bets to your roll.

Basically, the amount of flexibility you gain by making this bet and winning is offset greatly by how handcuffed you’ll find yourself if you take the bet and lose. That’s why, if you do want to take a bigger bet on a game you’re more confident in, ensure yourself that the bet doesn’t compromise the bankroll you’ve worked hard to build up to this point; it’s a solid sports betting strategy to try never to risk more than 10% of it in a single bet!