Money Management and Sports Betting
When betting on sports, it is a good idea to have a system to manage your money. The ideal system is simple, easy to understand, and will work on a long term basis. A money management system should help you to profit from your sports betting. Remember, management systems are meant to work over a period of time so you may not see results right away.
There are many types of management systems but the one discussed here starts with flat bets and straight bets. Ignore parlays, proposition bets and teasers that some online sportsbooks promote. If, after looking at the sports picks, you feel that the Steelers, Bills, and Colts are all going to cover the spread, bet on all three teams individually. It would be great to win all three bets but it is much more likely that you will win two out of three. Winning two out of three turns a profit. Even one out of three is not a bad outcome. You will not profit but you will at least see some return. If you bet parlays, you have to win all three bets in order to win.
Bet a flat rate. This means that you bet about the same amount on every wager. When you constantly change up the size of your wager, it is more difficult to make a profit. If you put most of your budgeted money onto one team that you feel strongly about and make smaller bets on other teams, you are more likely to lose the one big wager that you made. You may win several small bets but you will end up losing more money from the one larger bet. When you vary your bets, picking more winners than losers does not necessary equal profit.
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5 Responses to “Money Management and Sports Betting”
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The flat rate management idea is a great plan to keep your head when betting. It’s like Vegas - you can’t go without a plan. If you do, you’ll end up blowing all your money (and maybe more than that!) on a “gut feeling” which is wrong.
The problem with the flat rate is it is a completely logical way to approach a completely illogical sport. Sure there is a statistical aspect to betting, but a majority of it is chaos: fate plus unpredictability plus unforseen events.
This is a good strategy if you can convince yourself to stick to it, which is why I bet using the buddy system. I tell my buddy what my plan is before I bet, and then if I start to stray they keep me on track with the original plan.
My problem is I always get talked into changing my strategy at the last minute based on heavily predicted favorites, or expert opinions. And when you win that feels amazing, but when you lose you just kick yourself for not following the original plan.
I would never think of betting without some kind of plan like this. Flat rate betting is hard to make yourself do, but is the best way to cover your bases and statistically ensure a pay-out of some kind. It is very rare that all three of your bets will sink.