Bankroll management is a basic concept that not only applies to sportsbetting, but applies to any form of gambling. Hell, bankroll management applies to paying your bills and putting food on your tables, although it’s actually referred to as personal finance.
Same idea though. Anyway…
It doesn’t matter if you’re a professional or hobby bettor, the more serious you take managing your money, the less likely you’ll face “risk of ruin” and have to deposit again. So the following tips are to help you achieve this.
Best Sportsbooks to Bet NCAA Football
| Rank | Sportsbooks | USA | Bonus | Bonus Code | Sportsbook Reviews |
| #1 |  |
YES! | $520 | N/A | 5Dimes Sports Review |
| #2 |  |
YES! | $250 | N/A | Bovada Review |
| #3 |  |
NOPE! | $750 | CAS123 | 888Sports Review |
Bankroll Management for Betting on College Football
Ok, so bankroll management for betting on college football is going to be the same as betting on the NFL, MMA, hockey or boxing, with maybe some subtle differences. So you should be able to take what I explain below and apply it to other sports or forms of gambling.
Before I get to that though, there is something I want to get out of the way:
It doesn’t matter how much money you have, if you insist on making bad bets you’ll always (eventually) go broke, or will be constantly reloading your account. The same holds true if you choose not to educate yourself on how sports betting works and how to become a profitable bettor.
The point is that the types of bets that you make and effort you put into sports betting goes hand in hand with bankroll management – it’s a cause and effect scenario.
Ok, so lets move on…
First and foremost, bankroll management is about making bets within your means. What does this mean? Well, it doesn’t mean taking 50% of your bankroll and placing it on the college bowl. Quite the opposite, actually.
Bankroll management is using a smaller percentage of your bankroll per wager – say 5%. So if your total bankroll is $250, your max bet on any game should be $12.50. That way, if you lose you don’t bust your bankroll. You’ll still have $237.50.
But that’s assuming your bankroll is used for nothing other than placing bets. However, if you’re a professional gambler, your bankroll is for placing wagers, putting food on the table, a roof over your head and everything else you might want or need.
So the number of units (how much you bet) or percentage of your bankroll used will need to be less, or you’ll need to have a much larger bankroll before going pro. Because losing money gambling, even if you’re +EV, is inevitable.
Take Advantage of +EV Opportunities (and Avoiding –EV Ones)
As I mentioned earlier, your bankroll management is apart of a cause and effect scenario. One thing you can do to make sure this is always positive is to look for +EV opportunities. These come in all shapes and sizes:
- Reduce (or no) vigorish.
- Deposit & reload bonuses.
- Games with better than usual odds.
It also means avoiding –EV situations or actions:
- Not line shopping (for the best odds, reduced vig, etc).
- Betting based on emotions or biased instead of statistics and facts.
- Making poor bets (parlays).
The bottom line is that you should be smart with your money and put some effort into finding good prices and bonuses, otherwise you’re making bankroll management much harder than it needs to be.
Reinvesting Your Winnings
A topic that few people talk about is reinvesting your winnings. Meaning, that whenever you win you deposit your winnings back into your bankroll.
The benefit to doing this is that you’ll start to create an avalanche effect. If you have a $100 bankroll, wager $5 and win $10 ($5 profit) and reinvest, you now have $105. On your next wager you can now spend $5.25. If you win again, the next time you’ll be able to spend even more.
An extra $.25 doesn’t seem like much, but once you get to the point to where each increase is $5, $10 or $25 (and more), your bankroll is going to grow at an extremely fast rate of speed. Before you know it you’ll be able to wager $25, $50 or $100 per game.
Additionally, you should also reinvest back into your self. You should budget things like books, paid forums, coaching and paid picks. Although you are spending money, it’s with the intention that you’ll see a substantial ROI from it.
The Bottom Line
When it comes to bankroll management, the bottom line is that you should bet within your means. While this may be difficult at first, especially on a limited bankroll, you’ll find that your patience will rewarded. You’ll reduce the chances of going broke, if not avoid it altogether, putting yourself in multiple situations to win the most money possible from your wagers.