Betting Money Management – How Much Money Do I Need?

Money management is at the heart of being a professional sports bettor, and its core theory and application needs to be understood by all sports bettors from novice to expert. Without a particular money management plan in place you can be guaranteed that your sports betting will not produce the financial rewards you are seeking. Instead you will find yourself climbing an ever-increasing uphill battle and be faced with many more obstacles and borders in your chase of sports betting success. This is an important article on money management and needs to be applied by any aspiring sports bettor out there, so pay very careful attention to the message it seeks to deliver.

What is Money Management?

Money management in relation to sports betting is the process in which we are able to adequately manage the money or funds we have at our disposal. By disposal this means the money which we have available to partake in the activity or business of sports betting. Money management is identical to investment management and deals with the decision behind how much money should be staked in uncertain or unpredictable outcomes.

Money management is a strategic technique not only used by professional sports bettors but is used amongst investors and financial market traders, poker players, gamblers, businesspeople, and even mums and dads who run the household. Everyone is subjected to money management but the difference between applying it successfully and applying it poorly often comes down to education and understanding of the topic.

Sports Betting Money Management

Sports betting money management basically focuses on two important areas:

• The initial starting balance of our sports betting account
• The on-going management of our individual sports betting propositions

To make sense of the concept of money management within our sports betting routine it is obviously important that we have a sufficiently funded online or offline sports betting account with one of the many bookmakers or betting exchanges you have access to. What you are about to read is one of the most misunderstood and even neglected facets of what professional sports bettors need to do to begin with initially.

Where typical novice sports bettors go wrong is that they do no establish in the first instance an amount of money which they would like to dedicate to their sports betting activities. The normal sports bettor usually stakes varying amounts in a non-streamline fashion, and usually falls prey to continual credit card depositing and subsequent withdrawing. This in no way at all is the best solution for the professional sports bettor.

What first needs to be established is the amount of money you would like to start with in your sports betting account. Think of this like an investment into your future. Your sports betting account should ultimately be viewed as an investment or asset which you own, just like a stock investment or your superannuation account or even a valuable piece of art. It is of value to you and needs to be respected because as with all the other assets and valuables you own you expect it to appreciate in value or at least maintain its capital worth.

How much is a reasonable amount of money to start with?

This obviously depends on the circumstances of the individual and is completely an arbitrary question. There are numerous guidelines and tables which may give you a more complete picture as to what is considered relevant but again it will depend on the individual. What is most important to gain from this is that to be a professional and take your sports betting seriously your best option is to initially put aside an amount of money which you are happy to apply to your sports betting and which should ultimately last you for 12 months in the worst case scenario that you lose everything.

But don’t look at it from the sense that this is money you can afford to lose because no one really can afford to lose money and it surely doesn’t feel good when you do. So treat it seriously and give it the respect it needs. Take a look at the tables below to identify a potential comfort level as to how much money you are willing to dedicate to your sports betting involvement. Note these are strictly guidelines and representations only, you must decide for yourself what you believe a suitable level to be.

The first table looks at your total wealth and gives a % figure as to what should be contributed to sports betting:

So as an example if you had a net worth of $100,000 and wanted to apply a limit of 2.5% on your sports betting you would deposit $2,500 with your sports bookmaker or betting exchange.

The second table looks at your weekly income and gives a figure derived by multiplying your weekly income by a certain amount in terms of what should be contributed to sports betting:

As an example from above if you had a weekly income of $1,000 (which in effect is $52,000 per year) and were happy to stake a factor of 3 weeks wages to your sports betting you would need an amount of $3,000 to begin with.

These two models are provided to give the reader an understanding of what money management techniques may be applied to our initial sports betting account. There is a total wealth method and a weekly income method to allow comparison and try to allow the sports bettor to get a feel for how their sports betting is suitably aligned with their typical asset and income structures.

Benefit of having an initial starting balance:
• Predetermined amount which we you are happy to stake
• Provides structure to your sports betting process
• Allows your sports betting strategies to blend internally with your ‘known’ amount you have at your disposal
• Provides a significant mental edge to your sports betting routine
• Allows the setting of realistic expectations and goals
• Instills a great amount of discipline into your sports betting routine

Disadvantages of on the spot and continual credit card type transactions:
• Unknown and undetermined amount of money staked over the long run
• Inability to keep track of wins and loses
• Poorer sports betting selections through inconsistent actions
• No winning routine in place
• Not adding the known benefit of sports betting psychology into your betting edge
• No professional sports bettor would consider working this way

Understanding that your sports betting account is an asset and is actually working in your favour is essential to being a successful sports bettor. Just as you know your monthly mortgage amount or the % of your income you save each month, you will also know the EXACT amount of money you have at stake in your sports betting, and align yourself mentally with the positives this will bring.

Money management touches on a number of different areas which are vital for the professional sports bettor to understand and comprehend. Today’s article is just one aspect of sports betting money management and will be one of many focusing on this topic. Stay tuned in at SportChalk for other articles examining money management and for all your other sports betting educational needs.

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