Money Management - does it exist ?

[The Orange Chef]

Been reading many articles on sports betting money management and although their are many systems out there, it appears that the general theme is that the general public mainly loses because they do not have a plan in place and end up chasing and changing their bet sizes.

Do we bet too much of our bankroll every bet. I read we should be betting between 1 and 5% of our bankroll on every bet.

So for example if you deposit $1000 in your account, you should be betting between $10 and $50 per play. (many deposit $1000 and place a $500 bet !)

what do you guys think and what systems do you use ?

[BettorsChat]

I think 3-5% per wager. So that would be $30-$50 per wager on a $1,000 account. As the account builds the wagers would increase. If the account decreases the wagers would decrease. However, I don't think most people use a % on each wager thus the reason for depleting accounts quickly.

[The Orange Chef]

yes, i think betting 3-5% is the right way to go, but many find that "boring"

[poskid]

yes, i think betting 3-5% is the right way to go, but many find that "boring"

I have constantly used a 5% wager. I typically bet a little less on sports like baseball which IMO are more varience heavy. You really have to ask yourself whether it's more boring to win money slowly or lose it all really fast I think most of us are wired that we shouldnt have to work for the profit we can make sports betting. We seem to think that it should be a get rich quick move. Honestly it simply isnt. I deposited $200 2 years ago...I've never gone broke and have made a tidy profit when you think in terms of %ages instead of total dollars.

I guess in short...Bank management is more important than the actual system you use. There are plenty of ways to ultimately win as long as you take a reasonable betting standard.

[bryce]

I have constantly used a 5% wager. I typically bet a little less on sports like baseball which IMO are more varience heavy. You really have to ask yourself whether it's more boring to win money slowly or lose it all really fast I think most of us are wired that we shouldnt have to work for the profit we can make sports betting. We seem to think that it should be a get rich quick move. Honestly it simply isnt. I deposited $200 2 years ago...I've never gone broke and have made a tidy profit when you think in terms of %ages instead of total dollars.

I guess in short...Bank management is more important than the actual system you use. There are plenty of ways to ultimately win as long as you take a reasonable betting standard.

Great statement Pk---when you said whether it's more boring to win money slowly or lose it all really fast!
How true how true!!

[wayne1218]

As the account builds the wagers would increase. If the account decreases the wagers would decrease.

I think this is the biggest problem going with gamblers. If you start with $1000 and build it to $2000 betting $50 wagers, why increase it to $100 wagers? People do that and that's how they lose it twice as fast as they built it.

I do not use a % of bankroll per wager. Instead i put a number for each unit like a 2* play would be $25, a 3* play would be $50, a 4* play $75 and a 5* play $100. Something to that affect. I stated that for the 1st 2 months of the mlb season above all my wagers because i believe money management is the BIGGEST problem with gamblers and nothing else is even close. No matter how much i'm up or how much i'm down, i NEVER change from my set rating system with my wagers. Never!

You can't win without money management and you can't have money management without two things, patience and self control.

[ROBB MACK]

You are so right wayne. I win games, but i seem to always go broke cause i bet 500 on my loser and 50 on my winners. I keep making this mistake over and over and over. I am def. Going to be disciplined this football season!!!!!

[wayne1218]

Robb, Vegas and offshore books make a living off adrenaline, plain & simple. Most gamblers with sports betting are men and all men get a major adrenaline rush from winning games. That adrenaline usually carries over in to your next wager because you are feeling good and you are feeling like you are "Reading" the games right. That's when reality hits and after winning 5 in a row and say $500, you lose the next 5 and it cost you $1000. You end up standing there in the end scratching your head and wondering what just happened and they pocket $500. Men and Adrenaline go hand in hand and they count on it when you are winning and they know it will be every mans downfall in the end. I can place three 4* wagers like tonight and like 1 more than the other 2 but if they are all 4*'s they all get the same amount wagered on them no matter what. It takes the thought process out of it and it guarantees me self discipline.

[poskid]

That's when reality hits and after winning 5 in a row and say $500, you lose the next 5 and it cost you $1000. You end up standing there in the end scratching your head and wondering what just happened and they pocket $500. Men and Adrenaline go hand in hand and they count on it when you are winning and they know it will be every mans downfall in the end.

The biggest fallacy in gambling / investing is that people believe that you have to ride a "HOT" streak. Being hot is simply a statistical anomaly that happens to everyone at certain times in their lives. Whenever I hit the holdem tables I love telling everyone there that I'm the most unlucky poker player ever. In a way it's true. However what happens is that from time to time I get people to chase into bad spots because they believe I'm "unlucky". I tell them I'm unlucky...I project being unlucky...The luck believers then follow along like lemmings and start putting their money in bad.

Sports betting operates the same way. It's how touts are making their money on average joes that have no reasonable approach. They hype up their plays and get players to progressively bet larger amounts to chase losses instead of allowing their losses to stand the test of time allowing the system to catch up and bring the player back into the black. The adrenaline sells the player and both the winning and losing gives the player that high. It's also why gambling is so addicting

PK

[tech fan]

I play the same ammount every game regardless of how much i like a game.great money management technique the only problem that i have is that i play way to many games.i may like 4 or 5 games on a card and play every one of those games for the same ammount.but when i have $300-$400 available balance in there i say what the hell lets play phillies padres run in the first,phillies most hits,runs hits errors over 26.5 get the point.i need to get more disciplined and change my ammount of wagers played not my wager ammount,

if you deposit $300 into an acct and play $10 a game you will have $$$$$ bin your acct until you go 30 games under .500.mosst people should be able to go an entire football season and not go 30 games under .500but if you are like myself and play freaking 20 games a saturday it does not take long

[ROBB MACK]

Wow! What a great thread! Hits home for me. Tech fan, i hear ya! I dont make a lot of money at my job so i can only send 300-400 bucks to my acc. I follow north coast sports and the guy ususally wins. Problem is he releases 15 plays on a sat. From 2*-5*. U must go with the whole card to make money but how do u bet that many games with only 300 bucks? I cant bet a game for 20 bucks. I am sorry but its like telling a smoker of a pack a day to only smoke two cigs. A day. U guys relate?

[jcheckers]

Poor money-management and no discipline, is the reason many locals close their week after Mon. night. They know that the average Joe Better will either press (if up) or chase, doubleup (if down) on MNF. Sunday night football is probably the biggest cash cow for books because the average Joe Better is angry from losing on NFL and is also Liquored Up. We all know when to stop losing,(broke) sometimes it is wise to stop winning. If you've had a good day or weekend, you dont have to bet that night game just because it's on TV, don't let the man have a chance to get any back! Sit back and enjoy a game knowing you are going to collect $ on Tuesday!

[The Orange Chef]

Thanks for all your input guys, its always a great idea to share our knowledge.

For myself, ever since i started cutting down my bets, and put in place a money managament plan in i have been successful, i went 15 years of losing money even though i was picking more winners than losers (because of pressing or chasing).

Now i treat betting like the stock market and i bet a very low % of my bankroll, but that keeps me in the game, showing modest returns. (its 2 years i have been doing this)