If you’re serious about making money from sports betting, then you better have a plan.
There are loads of different methods out there for punters to follow, from covering losses with handicap markets, using permuted bet slips to maximise winning margins, and simply taking the time to meticulously research and evaluate the value of the odds in question. However, all of these methods are moot if players can’t effectively manage their bankroll.
Sometimes it’s not just enough to simply manage your bankroll, however. What if you could turn your bankroll from a betting fund to a £50,000 profit? Well, it’s certainly possible if you have the knowhow. But is it possible in 90 days?
What is a bankroll?
In betting speak, a bankroll is essentially a budget that has been set aside to fund a player’s gambling activity. Much like any good business has its own money in the kitty to pay wages, buy supplies and pay for other outgoings, a shrewd bettor should have their own budget to from which they take their wagers. And just like any good business, all outgoings from the bankroll should be carefully managed to ensure the overall trajectory of the funds is moving in the right direction.
This can be done in a number of ways, with many sports betting experts offering differing methods and advice on the best way to go about doing it. There are three key things to remember, however, when it comes to bankroll building:
- Good judgement.
- Not chasing losses.
- Not outlaying too much.
The Method
Before you can start building a bankroll, you will need to create a bankroll. That basically means that you will put aside an amount of money that is for the sole purposes of gambling with. Deposit it straight into your sportsbook betting account, or into a dedicated account for sports betting if you intend to use multiple online bookmakers. Whatever you do, don’t dip into this fund if you want to buy a new phone or pay for a holiday – this money is solely for the use of betting.
How much money goes into your initial bankroll is completely up to you, depending mostly on how much you are willing to dedicate to to you betting career and how much you intend to win over a set period of time. Of course, if the ultimate goal is $50,000 in 90 days, then the starting pot is probably going to be on the larger side. But we’ll go into that in more detail later on.
With your bankroll ready to go, you will need to address your base betting unit. This is basically the percentage of your bankroll that you are willing to part with on a single wager. The general consensus amongst the betting community is that anywhere from 1-5% is an acceptable amount but the most common base betting unit is 2%. This is a safely recommendable value for bankroll beginners.
That said, the base betting unit is completely variable, and there are some reasons why punters might decide to diverge from the safe 2%. If you are prone to back big favourites, for example, you might want to consider going higher. On the flip side, if you have a tendency to punt on high odds, then perhaps 1% or lower would be a good way to cover your losses.
Fixed stakes or variable stakes?
One of the main dilemmas for bankrollers is the choice between fixed or variable stakes. This is to say, should bettors keep it simple by placing the same amount of their bankroll for every wager, or should they make things a little more complicated by varying the size of their wagers according to other factors.
To break it down a bit more, there are two types of fixed stakes – level staking and percentage staking – and both are strictly determined by the chosen base betting unit. The former of these options decrees that the exact same amount of money should be placed on each and every bet while the latter offers the chance to place larger (or smaller) wagers as the bankroll develops.
- Level staking: 2% of £100 = £2. No matter how much the bankroll grows, £2 is the standard bet that is placed on every future wager.
- Percentage staking: 2% of £100 = £2. If you win your first wager on even odds (2/1) then your balance will grow to £104. Therefore, your next wager will be 2% of £104, which is £2.08.
Variable stakes, on the other hand, are not as strict as fixed stakes. In fact, the principle of this method is much more loose and flexible, relying on complex factors such as the bettor’s confidence level, the potential return and the value of the odds themselves. Essentially, bettors can stake freely depending on these factors while using the base betting unit as a guideline.
Naturally, a variable approach to staking has its advantages and disadvantages. First of all, it makes not only for a more interesting betting experience, but also a chance for punters to accelerate the growth of their bankroll on one-off wagers. On the other hand, there is a chance for players to cloud their judgement with poorly conducted research, misleading statistics and knee-jerk reactions to losses.
Is it possible to make £50,000 in 90 days?
50 grand in the space of three months? £556 per day for 90 days straight? You probably think that we’re having a laugh! If you start with the right bankroll and you are prepared to take a bit of a risk, then it is doable.
It is safe to say that the level staking approach is out of question if you want to achieve this target since this allows no room for exponential growth. Instead, the only way to go about it is with a percentage based staking method, with each successful bet allowing for bigger stakes and bigger potential wins going forward.
Realistically any punter with such an ambitious end-goal is going to need to start with a bank roll of £1,000. So, depending on the opted base betting unit, the starting wager level should range from about £20 to £30. For the purpose of bankroll building on this scale, we wouldn’t recommend even attempting such a high target within such a short space of time if you are not prepared to stake at least 2% of the kitty. It’s just not worth thinking about. The danger is, however, that bettors let £50,000 carrot cause them to go out of the blocks with a base betting unit that is too bold.
Instead of thinking that you can race through to the target, you are going to have to be prepared to tackle this challenge with stamina. That means a lot of bets, day in, day out. As such, you might have to potentially venture into sporting events that are outside of your comfort zone – there are only so much mainstream sporting action in 90 days!
Just to put it into perspective, with starting bankroll of $1,000 and a base betting unit of 3% on even odds, it would take 16 successful bets on Day 1 to hit that £556 per day target. Even then, 3% could prove to be a risky base betting unit for some punters to take on. With a 2% percentage staking plan, however, you would need to wager around 28 winning bets at even odds on Day 1 to hit that £556 target.
Of course, if all goes to plan, your bankroll will begin to snowball in size as the stakes get larger in proportion to the growth of the kitty. But since when did anything ever go to plan in the world of sports betting? There will be losses along the way, with good days, bad days and fluctuating daily returns. The most important thing to remember however is to maintain consistency and discipline. That is to say, don’t get cocky when you feel like you are on top, and don’t try to over-compensate if you have a shocker of a day.
Know your game plan and stick to it.
