Bankroll management is what separates profitable bettors from everyone else. You can be the best handicapper in the world, but if you're betting 20% of your roll on every game, you'll go broke. Here are the mistakes that kill betting careers.
Your betting bankroll isn't your checking account. It's not rent money. It's not your emergency fund. It's money set aside specifically for sports betting that you can afford to lose completely.
Most losing bettors don't have a bankroll. They have a sportsbook account they deposit into randomly. When they win, they withdraw. When they lose, they deposit more. This isn't bankroll management. It's chaos.
Decide on a fixed amount you're comfortable losing. Deposit it once. That's your bankroll for the season. Don't add to it when you're losing. Don't pull from it when you're winning. Let it grow or shrink based purely on your betting results.
The standard recommendation is 1-5% per bet depending on your edge and risk tolerance. But most bettors bet way more than that because 1% feels too small to be exciting.
If you've got a $1,000 bankroll and you're betting $100 per game, that's 10% per bet. You can lose your entire bankroll in 10 bets. Even if you're a 55% winner, variance will destroy you before your edge pays off.
Betting 10% per game with a 55% win rate gives you roughly a 10% chance of going broke before doubling your bankroll. At 5% per bet, your risk of ruin drops to under 1%. The math matters.
Your bankroll isn't static. If you start with $5,000 and you're up to $6,500 after two months, your unit size should increase. If you're down to $3,800, your unit size must decrease.
Most bettors set their unit at the start of the season and never change it. They're betting $100 per game in September and still betting $100 per game in December even though their bankroll is half what it was. That's a recipe for ruin.
Recalculate your unit size every week. If you're betting 2% per game and your bankroll is $6,000 on Monday, your unit is $120. If your bankroll is $5,400 the next Monday, your unit is $108. Adjust constantly.
You lose three in a row. You're down $300. So you bet $500 on the next game to get it all back. This is the Martingale system and it's bankroll suicide.
When you're losing, your bet size should stay the same or decrease, not increase. Chasing losses is emotional betting, not strategic betting. And emotional betting is how you go broke in a weekend.
If you're betting with money you don't have, you've already lost. Credit card cash advances, personal loans, borrowing from friends—this is gambling addiction territory, not sports investing.
Your bankroll should be money you can afford to lose completely without it affecting your life. If losing your entire bankroll means you can't pay rent or buy groceries, you're betting with money that should never be in a sportsbook.
If you don't know your win rate, ROI, and closing line value, you don't actually know if you're profitable. Most bettors think they're winning when they're losing because they remember the wins and forget the losses.
Track every bet. Date, amount, odds, result, closing line. After 100 bets, you'll know your true win rate. If it's under 52.4% at -110 odds, you're losing money even if it feels like you're winning.
Bankroll management isn't about being conservative. It's about surviving long enough for your edge to matter. Even the sharpest bettor in the world will go broke with bad bankroll management. Protect your money, adjust your sizing, and never bet more than you can afford to lose on any single game.