The question every bettor asks: how much should I actually bet? Too much and you risk going broke during a bad run. Too little and you're not capitalizing on your edge. Getting unit sizing right is the difference between long-term profit and frustrated退出.
A unit is your standard bet size expressed as a percentage of your total bankroll. If your bankroll is $5,000 and you're betting 2% per game, one unit is $100. The beauty of units is they scale with your bankroll. When your roll grows to $6,000, your unit grows to $120 automatically.
This is how you survive variance. When you're winning and your bankroll is up, you bet more. When you're losing and your bankroll is down, you bet less. You're never overexposed.
Most professional bettors use somewhere between 1% and 5% of their bankroll per bet, depending on their confidence and the strength of their edge.
Here's what that looks like in practice:
$5,000 Bankroll
1% unit = $50 per bet (very conservative)
2% unit = $100 per bet (standard for most bettors)
3% unit = $150 per bet (aggressive but manageable)
5% unit = $250 per bet (only for strong edges)
The 1-2% range is where most successful bettors live. It gives you room to weather losing streaks without destroying your bankroll, while still allowing meaningful profit when you're hitting.
Flat betting means every bet is the same size. You bet 2% on every game regardless of how strong you think the play is. This is simple, disciplined, and it works.
Variable sizing means you bet more when you have a stronger edge. Maybe 1% on a marginal play and 4% on a game where you've got clear value. This can increase profits if you're good at estimating your edge. But most bettors aren't, so they end up overbetting on plays they're overconfident about.
If you're new to betting or you don't have a proven track record, stick to flat betting at 1-2% per game. Once you've logged 200+ bets and you can prove you're consistently beating the closing line, then consider variable sizing.
A lot of bettors confuse confidence with edge. You might be really confident the Lakers cover, but that doesn't mean you have an edge. Confidence is how sure you feel. Edge is how much better your estimate is than the market price.
If you're going to use variable sizing, base it on edge, not confidence:
- Clear closing line value and sharp money on your side: 3-4 units
- Moderate edge, soft line: 2 units
- Marginal edge, questionable value: 1 unit or skip
But again, most bettors overestimate their edge. When in doubt, bet smaller.
Your unit size should reflect not just your bankroll, but also how replaceable that bankroll is.
If you've got a $50,000 bankroll and losing it would hurt but not ruin you, betting 2-3% per game is fine. That's $1,000 to $1,500 per bet.
If you've got a $1,000 bankroll and that's all you can afford to risk, betting 1% per game makes more sense. That's $10 per bet. It feels small, but it keeps you in action long enough for skill to overcome variance.
Your unit size should increase when your bankroll increases, but it should happen gradually based on actual results, not because you hit a hot streak and feel invincible.
Recalculate weekly. If your bankroll is up 15% over the last month because you've been hitting consistently, your unit size naturally increases by 15%. But you don't suddenly jump from 2% to 5% because you won five in a row.
A lot of betting content online talks about "units" as if everyone's unit is $100. That's nonsense. Your unit is personal. It's based on your bankroll, not some arbitrary number.
If your bankroll is $500, your unit might be $10. If your bankroll is $50,000, your unit might be $1,000. There's no one-size-fits-all number. What matters is the percentage of your total bankroll you're risking per bet.