Most people take sports betting as a hobby that they only engage in when they are bored or when they have free time to burn. To such people, betting is never anything serious other than just a recreational activity. However, even recreational bettors can always become professional bettors whose only aim of betting is making money. Making this transition is usually not an easy thing to achieve and many have lost a lot of money and ruined their lives trying to do it.
If your greatest aspiration in life is to become a professional bettor, then you need to start by learning the basics first. The first basic aspect of professional betting is bankroll management. If you can’t manage your money well, then you have no business betting at all. You will simply lose money and drive yourself into debt and bankruptcy for nothing.
Why bankroll management is important
Are you wondering why managing your bankroll is such an important thing? Well, I will try my best to explain this point to you. In order for you to place a bet, you need three things, that is, a pick of the team or event you think will win, the betting site to place your bet, and money to use on your bet. Now, what happens to you if you burn through your entire bankroll? Still don’t think managing your bankroll is important?
To manage you bankroll effectively, you need to have checks and balances in place to make sure that you always have a footing in the game. You need to be able to manage your bet sizes so that you don’t skyrocket through your betting account balance. Bankroll management doesn’t apply to you alone. Even elite bettors are able to stay in the game because they only win a few percentage points over break-even. However, they manage their bankroll very well to remain in the game and profitable.
Choosing a starting balance
In order to have a bankroll at all, you will need to make your initial deposit. The very first decision you will have to make in as far as bankroll management is concerned is deciding the initial balance to maintain in your account. You should make this decision based on how much extra money you have that you can spend without feeling a pinch. Once you commit this money into your bankroll, you should know that you cannot mix it with your other finances. It means that you cannot rely on your betting bankroll to pay for your bills. The minute you mix your finances with you betting bankroll is the minute you start failing as a bettor.
You can’t make rational decision when you are constantly worried about paying your monthly bills. That is why you need to keep your finances separated.
Growing your bankroll
After you decide the size of your initial bankroll and are already betting, you should focus on growing your account balance. That means that every decision you make should be aimed at growing your bankroll. This is self-explanatory, but I feel like it is important to mention it. You can check out esport betting to learn more about bankroll management.