Money Management question

[GTechDvd]

Hey guys, I'm kinda new to serious sports betting, and especially these forums..

I just want to know what the typical *unit is for most people. For example, if my bankroll is 1000, what would a unit be? 10 dollars? 100?

I realize a unit may be different for certain people but just wanting to find somewhere to start so I can take care of my money the best I can...if there is already a thread on this, please lead me there. Thank you !!

[The Judge]

GTech, first of all, welcome to Cappers Mall and I hope your time here is helpful to your new found wagering endeavors.

Units as posted here and at other spots can mean different things but at Cappers Mall, with most posters it is safe to assume that a unit is equal to $100. With some, it may be more or less than that amount but a generally accepted money management rule is that with few exceptions, a bettor should never wager more than 5% of his bankroll on any individual game.

In your example, that would be a maximum wager of $50. However, I am sure that you will find that most gamblers do not strickly adhere to this philosophy.

[captaincapper]

Originally Posted by GTechDvd

Hey guys, I'm kinda new to serious sports betting, and especially these forums..

I just want to know what the typical *unit is for most people. For example, if my bankroll is 1000, what would a unit be? 10 dollars? 100?

I realize a unit may be different for certain people but just wanting to find somewhere to start so I can take care of my money the best I can...if there is already a thread on this, please lead me there. Thank you !!

If my bankroll was 1000 dollars, one unit for me would be 30 dollars (3%). If you're more tolerant of risk, adjust upwards; if you're very conservative adjust downwards. Like Judge said I wouldn't set my units greater than 5% of my bankroll, otherwise you'll have to add additional funds to your bankroll as at some point your bankroll is likely to vanish or significantly shrink on a streak of bad luck.

[GTechDvd]

Ok, that gives me a good idea, Thanks a lot guys

[Gerk]

My advice to add is to try and keep all your bets the same size, as much as you can. It helps limit the losses during the bad times

[Wellahiya]

Originally Posted by Gerk

My advice to add is to try and keep all your bets the same size, as much as you can. It helps limit the losses during the bad times

might be true for a newcomer on betting...
...but on later on, one should balance the bets...

[Gerk]

Originally Posted by eekchac

might be true for a newcomer on betting...
...but on later on, one should balance the bets...

[Wellahiya]

you really disagree on that?

[Gerk]

Originally Posted by eekchac

you really disagree on that?

I think everyone has bets they like more than others, but even though we like them, that doesn't mean they hit at a much higher rate than our normal bets. Then you find yourself trying to catch up

I may up the size of my bets on a hot streak and lower them on a cold streak, but about 90% of mine are one unit bets

[Wellahiya]

Originally Posted by Gerk

I think everyone has bets they like more than others, but even though we like them, that doesn't mean they hit at a much higher rate than our normal bets. Then you find yourself trying to catch up

I may up the size of my bets on a hot streak and lower them on a cold streak, but about 90% of mine are one unit bets

dunno, sometimes here are plays that i ask myself... who was the idiot to make that team an underdog in that spot...

for example 12/23, Predators... or the Habs at 27th / 28th... i mean, that's games that i put .25 or .5 extra on... ofc you might lose some of them... but it happens that i feel that my edge is way bigger than normal on certain bets...

[tmlfan4ever]

There are a lot of opinions floating around, but I think it is generally accepted that if you keep your units within 2-5% of your bankroll you should be able to withstand a prolonged losing streak (although 5% is pushing it).

I've used about 2.0-2.5% for some time and that works perfectly for me. Even after a few consecutive losses, the damage isn't too severe.

Also, I bet only 1 unit per play. It's hard enough to handicap sports and it's even harder to handicap your own plays! Who's to say 1 play is more likely to cash than another.

[xxxFTWxxx]

i would recommend flat betting to people without practice in good money management for sure.

but like the other poster said, I think once you get it down and you know you can stop yourself from chasing, it is OK to vary up your bet sizes in where you see more value you simply risk a little more.

maybe some day when I get older I will just flat bet for 1 unit and everything will be pretty simple. but right now im ramming and jamming all types of bets from 20-40 ish, and then i save my 1* - 3* for bets thats I really almost "KNOW" I am getting some type of percieved value on.

This has worked for me last year as I hit a very good percent on my 1* and above. maybe that means I should only play the 1*, I havnt had time to go back and look if I turned profit on all my small bets but I couldnt of lost that much

[sesh]

1-2% is really what you should be betting if you wanna be successful long term, I'm at 2.5% and even that's high.

[Wellahiya]

.5% feels fine... 3 REALLY REALLY bad days in a row... and still... just 4.x% of my BR gone

[Billy Baxter]

Correct money management is easy to explain. It is almost impossible to adhere to.

There have been about as many 'systems' for varying the bet size as there are systems to beat the craps table. None of them work and all of them do harm by giving false expectations. Double-up systems, star betting, the Kelly Criterion, etc. all have the same thing in common. They adversely affect the cash flow and they raise the breakeven percentage that must be accomplished.

Any time you vary your bet size by the slightest amount, you increase the breakeven percentage of 52.38. If you refigure your percentage after each bet, your breakeven jumps to over 55%. If you have 1 star and 5 star bets or bet twice as much on some plays, you should understand that only the large bets are meaningful to whether you will be a winner. You might as well not bet the smaller ones. In the end, they won't matter.

Some touts say you should increase your bet when you are on a winning streak and decrease it when you are on a losing streak. The key word is 'are'. If you won yesterday, you 'were' on a winning streak. But that was yesterday. If you know you will win today, why not bet it all? If you know you will lose today, you might consider not betting at all.

The problem with bet size is not the streaks, but the breakeven. If you have a 56% advantage on each bet, over 200 games you will win less than 50% about 17% of the time.You will win more than 60% about 17% of the time. Winning 100 and losing 100 with a 5% unit, you will lose 50% of your bankroll to the vigorish. (100 wins times $50 less 100 losses times $55 equals minus $500 on a $1,000 bankroll).You will lower your bet and never get even. I recommend playing no more than 2% of your bankroll. Anything over 2% is unacceptably risky, even for recreational bettors