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 Don't
be fooled by the title of this article, it can apply to professionals
as well as beginners and intermediates who aspire to make a living
betting sports. I mean, even professional golfers like Tiger
have to go back to the basics every now and again to be reminded about
how to stay sharp. This is no different.
The main theme covered today is one you've probably heard before and
that is Money Management. It's the 800 pound gorilla in the
room that no one really wants to pay attention to, but it's
there. It's a core tenant of not only sports betting, but
just about any activity where money is laid down against the outcome of
an event. In many ways it's the only rule to follow in order
to be successful. Hopefully after reading this you can take
these simple, easy to understand ideas and make them work for
you.
You first have to lay aside your emotional attachment to the junk plays
like teasers, parlays, proposition bets and the like. These
are bait for the for the sportsbooks to reel in the easy
money. You need to stick with flat and straight
bets. To illustrate, if you like three particular teams on
Sunday you need to bet them individually. If you go 2 for 3,
you'll still be in the money. Even if you go 1 for 3 it's not
the end of the world as there's still a small return
there. Going the teaser and parlay route, you'd have to win
all three games. Your chances here are 6 to 1.
At this point let's discuss what a flat bet is. It's quite
simply a bet that does not vary. If you've determined that
your bet size should be $5, then you will stay consistent with this
amount throughout the betting session. If your bet size
changes you can get yourself into a situation where no profit is made
even though you picked more winners than losers. For
instance, say you like San Diego, Indy and Chicago to win.
Indy looks to be the lock bet so you bet $330 to win $300.
The other two you bet $165 to win $150. The results come in
and you went 2 for 3 on the smaller wagers, losing your Indy
game. So in this case you have chosen well, but didn't make
any profit. You bet a total of $660, won 2 out of 3, and got
back only $600 for a loss of $60. Had you flat bet all three,
say $220 to win $200, you walk away with $180 going 2 out of 3 betting
the same amount of money. Moral of the story, value all your
picks the same regardless of what the ESPN
pundits think. Said another way, don't rank them
with bet size.
Now, the above scenario is laid out using some sizable per game bet
amounts. Don't know about you, but $200 to $300 is a
fair amount of cash to risk on a ball game. How do you
know, or calculate, what is best for you? The idea is to bet
enough so that you'll maximize profits, but to ensure that you'll live
to fight another day should things really go against you. If
you loose your entire bankroll it's literally "game over"!
The amount of risk capital you have dictates bet size and it's
typically a percentage of bankroll. OK, so what's a big
bankroll and what's a small bankroll? Big would be in the
$10,000 and up range. In this situation 2% to 3% of that for
each play or $220 to win $200, $330 to win $300. Smaller
bankrolls in the $500 to $1,000 range need to be a bit more aggressive
as a 2% bet will not yield much. This betting bankroll needs
a per play in the 5% to 7% neighborhood. A word to the wise,
don't get into sports betting with anything less than $500.
Actually following through with the above is really the difficult
part. It's what separates the men from the boys as they
say. It sounds to simple yet it's the biggest
obstacle. Sports betting can really be easy, but we make it
so hard. Emotion and greed take over. You have this
'sure thing, inside track, insider info, mojo whatever tip' and you
double up, then triple up just this once, then you chase.
Then, you blow up! The sportsbooks love and adore people like
this. It's what makes their world go 'round and it's why
places like Las Vegas exist. Be content with taking small
profits over long periods of time. Have a survivor's
attitude. Ask any pro sports bettor and they'll tell you the
same thing. They don't shoot for perfection every time
out. A 60% win rate is a good day at the office for them.
Don't get into sports betting thinking it's your ticket to quiting the
day job. Get into it to have a bit of fun and see what
happens from there. Can you make a living betting
sports? Yes, but it takes a
rare kind of discipline that few
are willing to condition themselves for. It's the same kind
of dedication and discipline that the guys you're betting on
have. Do you think it's tough to make it to the NFL, NBA or
NHL? And taking it a step further, is it difficult to make it
there, stay there and succeed
there? You bet!
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