Sports betting whether it is online, or in person at the casino or sportsbook, is no game for the faint of heart. Stick at it for any length of time and you will experience some adrenaline pumping highs and some shirt losing lows. Like all things, there is a learning curve for any new sports bettor, possibly a steep one. So exactly how much money should a beginning sports bettor begin with?
The initial sports betting bankroll, depends on your disposable income, but should be low. Eg. $200. Enough to qualify for some decent sportsbook promotions to boost your bankroll, but not break you. The first deposit is about learning rather than winning. Managing tthe bankroll is the key.
How to Decide on Your Betting Bankroll Amount.
Deciding on the amount of money you should invest at your first deposit is actually step two for a sports betting beginner. Step one is deciphering why you want to bet in the first place. Assuming you have given this much thought and you are still eager to get involved in the great game of wagering, then step two is where you are at!
Your betting bankroll is dependent on level of disposable income. If you have above average means then your deposit may in fact be quite high compared to others. In this article we will assume an average income from an average household and work on an initial deposit size of $200.
Two Questions to Ask Yourself
1. Do you have cash to spare?
Do not bet with money you don’t have (credit) or money that your household needs for day to day expenses.
2. Can you deposit today, or do you need to put together a savings plan to build your bank?
It is beneficial to wait until you have a decent betting bank to allow you to ride some of the ups and downs. Wait until you have that money before depositing.
The amount you decide on is entirely a personal decision, but remember,it is unusual that a first time sports bettor takes the bookmakers down. The learning that comes with placing bets, understanding bet types and observing how odds fluctuate all takes time to sink in. Realistically the first few weeks of betting is about survival with low expectation of large profits. They may come, just don’t be disheartened if they don’t. For that reason keep your first deposit fairly low.
The Sign Up/First Deposit Promotions
Any sportsbook worth its salt will offer enticing first deposit/sign up bonuses or promotions. As a first time bettor your business is important to them and they compete hard to get it. This is something you need to take advantage of and capitalise on. The reason the first deposit should be somewhere in the vicinity of $200 is that this makes the most use of the sportsbooks first deposit promotions without risking you over capitalising right off the bat.
A few examples of some classic sign-up or first deposit bonuses are as follows:
- Matched first deposit in bonus bets up to $200
- Deposit $200, bet with $500
- 50% matched bonus up to $200
- Cashback on first bet up to $200
As a first time bettor if you can grab one of these bonuses you are effectively buying yourself more ‘learning time’. It is better to bet with the bookmakers money that your own!
Look out for the sign-up bonuses that allow you to split the bonus bets up into smaller amounts. This would mean a $100 bonus bet could be split into 5 x $20 bets, giving you more chance to spread the bets across many markets and mitigate your risk.
Be aware that bonus bets only payout the profits from the bet and don’t return the original stake. That means they really need to be turned over at better than even money (and the bet needs to win!) to see the true value realised in your account. For example a $100 bonus bet placed on a -110 market will return just the profit of $91.A nice return but less than the $100 it seemed like you had in the first place. It is still very much worth your while gaining these free bets, just know what their true value really is.
Bonus tip: If you have a buddy or just know someone who is already with a sportsbook that you would like to join, have him/her check out whether they can ‘refer you’. On top of your sign up bonus,, they may be able to grab for themselves a handy little bonus bet also. Share the love!
Managing Your First Bankroll
Deciding on a first deposit amount and then maximising the benefits of promotions is a great start to the betting journey. Now it is time to bet!
A beginning bettor should switch their mindset so that they don’t see the money in their account as a dollar figure but instead the amount of betting opportunities they have in front of them. Much like the way a poker player will look at their chip stack and count how many big blinds they have (the minimum cost to play) to establish their position in the game. Remember the first goal of betting for a beginner is don’t go broke and being aware of how many bets you have left at your disposal is fundamental to staying solvent.
Let’s look at an account with an initial deposit of $200. Ignoring any promotional bonuses or free bets the bettor effectively has a bankroll of 20 X $10 bets. This means the bettor would have to lose 20 bets of that size consecutively to go broke, a useful buffer. The 20 bets also allows the bettor to have a few bets pending at the one time. For example on a Wednesday night mid season in the NBA, where numerous games are played across the evening, a bettor may want three separate bets in play. The account needs to be able to accommodate this.
The 20 bets is a great way to measure success for a beginning sports bettor. It allows them to assess quickly if they are hanging tough against the sportsbooks or being ground backwards, in which case changes to betting strategy may need to be made. 20 bets means each bet represents 5% of the bettor’s bankroll. This leads us to bet sizing.
Bet Sizing for Beginners
Knowing how many bets a beginning sports bettor has available to them is critical in helping them decide how much to wager on a particular market. This seems counterintuitive, if the bettor knows how many bets they have, wouldn’t they just bet that amount every time (eg. $10 per bet) until they either profit or go broke? Proper bet sizing is not as straightforward as it seems but done correctly it can make enormous improvements to a beginning bettors profitability.
No two bets are the same! People bet on particular markets for many reasons. Sometimes they are supremely confident on the outcome and other times they feel less certain but are still willing to wager on it. This is the difference between a good bet and a great bet.
It does not take much common sense to realise that a bettor should be willing to wager more on a great bet than a good bet. Put simply a great bet is when the odds framed by a bookmaker are seemingly much higher than the bettor believes the true probability of the bet winning. Another word for this is value.
For example the great bet may appear in a sport that the bettor follows intently and therefore are across many of the nuances that may affect the result, let’s say the NFL. They notice the New England Patriots are giving away 2.5 points against the spread (-2.5). The bettor feels its should be more like -6.5. A huge discrepancy. This is the type of bet where the gambler may be willing to stake more than one of the ‘20 bets’. Perhaps they decide this is a two bet market. In the case of $10 bets the bettor may stake $20. Higher risk higher reward.
On the other hand a beginning bettor may be faced with a bet they deem to be ‘good’ but they aren’t as certain as they could as the previous example so it’s not ‘great’. This might occur when the bettor is placing a bet on a sport being played abroad. Their knowledge of the ins and outs of the event may be limited but they want to get into the game regardless. At this point the bettor needs to decide if they should wager a whole bet or maybe a halve bet. They can just as easily halve the normal bet size to $5, have some skin in the game but not be overexposed to the risk. Maybe over time by betting on this sport they become more knowledgeable and increase their bet size accordingly.
It is important here to not err too much on the side of caution. Betting is still about winning money and the ‘good bet’ may very well win in which case if you stake small you will win small and perhaps leave some profits on the table. Each bettor has their own risk appetite so there is no one size fits all approach.
Just remember this bet size advice:
- All bets should not be the same. You have strengths and weakness across many sports.
- Decide on how confident you are in the bet.
- Analyse the odds to spot potential value.
- Adjust your bet size accordingy within the 20 bets framework.
How to Invest Sports Betting Profits
One of the more exciting challenges for all beginning sports bettors is what to do if and when you begin to turn a profit. The temptation is always there to withdraw winnings and blissfully spend them on whatever it is you want to. There is nothing wrong with this approach, and maybe that is the whole reason you decided to take on sports betting in the first place. On the other hand turning a profit and watching your initial bankroll grow opens up a world of opportunity.
Here are some of the better options:
1. Build a Buffer
The ‘20’ bets theory discussed earlier in this article really is an approach for a beginning bettor. Many more sophisticated gamblers will choose to keep a much bigger buffer in their betting account. Maybe as high as 50 bets. Essentially that would mean a standard size bet represents only 2% of their bankroll giving them a long time horizon with which to ride out some down times. If you are consistently turning a profit then build the buffer!
2. Increase Bet Sizing
If a bettor is skilled enough to build their bankroll up with an increased buffer then they have the option of increasing their standard bet size to lift their exposure to the market. The thought behind this is that if they continue to consistently turn a nice percentage profit then the actual dollar amount per profitable bet increases, accelerating the bankroll growth. Some see this as a risky move or perhaps being greedy, others see it as good bankroll management. Each to their on and every bettor needs to decide what is the best fit for them.
3. Take on the Futures Market
With the bankroll on the build and a nice buffer behind them many bettors will start to look at futures markets for betting opportunities. Futures markets have longer time horizons and money is tied up in them for week and sometimes months. That may not suit a beginning bettor with a small bankroll but if surplus cash appears then check out these markets. Some futures bets can be seen as reasonably safe (nothing is certain), like a strong divisional favorite in the NFL. Bettors may look to ‘tie up’ multiple standard bets on a bet like that, viewing it as a way to earn ‘interest’ on money that would otherwise be sitting idle in the account. Essentially putting their money to work!
4. Diversify
A tried and true method of many successful bettors is too take profits from betting, an inherently risky and time intensive way to make money, and move them to more passive and safer investments. Of course where this money goes is somewhat dependent on how much money you have available to withdraw. Assuming as a beginning bettor this amount is still relatively small, withdrawing the some profit and placing it in a high interest savings account is not the worst option. The money is safe, available to withdraw should your betting bankroll need a boost, and earning interest which compounds over time. If over time that money is left untouched or even added to the bettor may be able to move it out of that account into another investment class with some higher growth potential, like stocks.
Get in the Game!
Sports betting may not be for everyone but it is for anyone. With some forethought and a disciplined strategy, a beginner can avoid the disaster and pain of going broke, enjoy hours of thrills and entertainment and with a stroke of luck and a dose of skill bank some profit! Good luck!
