Gone Broke Twice

[justkyle88]

Everyone has more than likely heard the story's and been involved in losing their bankroll atleast once, well it's happened to me....Twice.

I'm not here to whine and moan about it because I use to play high games of poker and deal with a lot of money so I understand bankroll management and how important it is.

I was curious how sports betting is a little different though.

What points and unit systems do people use?
What % of their bankroll to they use on singles/doubles/trebles/accumulators/$x-$x challenges etc?
And basically any other useful information on how to be a smarter better.

Thanks in advance.

[agendaman]

i have gambled for 40 yrs. LE88 gone broke maybe 4-5 times just some simple rules bet 5-10% of bankroll daily-there are no locks-pnly listen to touts with documented results-never bet over 3 team parlay-teasers are ok in spot situations-never double up-finally follow your gut feeling in making final decision on a bet p.s. i made more money betting the oscars last nite than the last 3 wks. of sports betting gl now

[AussiePunter123]

Everyone has more than likely heard the story's and been involved in losing their bankroll atleast once, well it's happened to me....Twice.

I'm not here to whine and moan about it because I use to play high games of poker and deal with a lot of money so I understand bankroll management and how important it is.

I was curious how sports betting is a little different though.

What points and unit systems do people use?
What % of their bankroll to they use on singles/doubles/trebles/accumulators/$x-$x challenges etc?
And basically any other useful information on how to be a smarter better.

Thanks in advance.

From your username, I am guessing you are in your mid 20's.

Sports investing/betting/gambling, whatever you want to call it is no different IMO to investing on property or shares.

Like all things, with time, you will get better and more astute at managing money and your plays.

Are you doing this for entertainment or to make money? If it is to make money, then you need to put the work in. You need to record all your bets, and analyse them after the results to improve your performance. A lot of people see sports betting as making money quickly. People often don't have the time to do intensive research in their chosen sport and betting systems.

The best advice I can give is to treat your sports betting like a business. Be professional, record your bets, analyse them.

A lot of it comes down to your mentality, you need to have discipline. You need to accept that you will have losing streaks.

With time, and experience, you will get better and better.

[justkyle88]

@aussiepunter, how do you go about recording your bets and analysing your bets after?

I have a comfortable job so sports betting is just on the side thing.
I don't plan on doing it for a living but I also don't want to just throw money down the drain, so I actually want to try and improve to make a profit.

I enjoy sports betting and sports in general but it's not to fun when you lose over and over again.

[justkyle88]

Bump...

[Otaking]

Not that I'm the one to talk since you already know my situation...

But in general, I've approached my betting hobby as pure entertainment value. I disagree with others who state that sports betting is an investment, especially from that Aussie guy who apparently has sex all the time. Because the risk of losing money is so high, you basically are banking on luck to get your money back because the X-factor is all sports outcomes here is well, human. In other words, there is no past history of clear demonstrated market return in this game because humans are unpredictable, and most lose more than they win.

I equate the hobby similar to buying lottery tickets (except with much a better chance to win), and I accept the fact that I may lose all of my money. If you can't accept that, then you should probably start with a very small bankroll and bet dollars and cents or not play. This is my current situation since I am insistent that I will NOT reload my BR. If I get broke, then I'm out of the game for awhile until I truly believe I have some more disposable income. (Won't be for awhile since my wife and I just had a daughter!)

That said, I believe if you do want to approach sports betting as an investment, you absolutely cannot do some of the ridiculous betting options like parlays or "special plays", no matter how tempting. If you look in any of the other forums, you can see that parlays full of heavy favorites still do not win all the time. Sure, there are some exceptions like that guy who had a crazy 24-team parlay in NCAA, or the guy who started with $5 and got up to $5000 in 3 weeks, but in general, the odds are very much against the bettor.

In general, there is no magic formula to make money in this game. In my opinion, start with money that you're willing to throw away, and enjoy the sports that you bet on. Otherwise you'll just get angry at touts and others who believe they know more than you, or are willing to try to prove that they know how you should be managing your money. Just remember at the end of the day, you are the one that clicks the button to confirm your bets.

If you want a true challenge on using sports betting as an investment, limit yourself to risk $10 a week. Find the absolute BEST plays that you think will hit each day, and only limit yourself to 2 plays a day @ $1 risk per play. This absolutely takes mountains of patience and persistence to get anywhere, but it's smart and allows you to understand how much you can trust your gut instinct versus really finding the people that are best at analyzing or picking plays.

[justkyle88]

Thanks for the long reply.

I think I'm really going to have to limit myself to minimal bets per day.
I was betting 10-20 bets a night and my balance fluctuated incredibly even though I was doing very small % bets compared to my BR.

i guess variance just punished me quickly.

in saying this, I'm not really being told anything I don't already know. Is there any sites to recommend for strategies or tips?

[edabramov]

all i can say is. bet on something that you would recommend for others to bet on


so if you're doing some stupid sht like over under over under over under, re-evaluate it and imagine your self telling 1000 people to take the over on whatever game... might make you think more. When i started betting I used to bet about 8-10 games a day on soccer, now i bet about 15 a week and been coming out on top for at least 20 out of 24 weeks.

Also look for underdogs, don't let the line discourage you from making a bet.


for example yesterday the greeks had a line for Gianna to win +424, and they won. so before checking the lines do your research and see which side you would pick.

[justkyle88]

That makes a lot of sense.
im really bias when I see a favorite especially when they are at home but just before I went broke I started to understand that last point.
i used to check a website with line ups, history, previous matches, bla bla bla and would try pick a team before I opened up bet365.

[edabramov]

yeh. just dont force your self to bet on something! you really dont have to. my book starts acting like it gives two shts about Argentinian B league since there's no games for soccer for good half of the week... fuk em. Waiting till thursday for some international friendlies we'll see what's up.

[justkyle88]

Found myself a pretty awesome spreadsheet to track my bets, so think I'm going to deposit $100 tonight and have another crack.
limit myself to bets

[charley365]

Hi. i think you should keep anyway from sure things at low odds, that would put ur bankroll at risk.
Never bet over 25% of bankroll, usually just bet 5% 10% and build and keep building.
Later when things are going well a 5% bet, would be like a 25% when starting out.
so best to work at it and don't rush to make money too quickly, wait for the correct markets to go on.
is like poker, patience and discipline is a must or else its bye bye chips
But if u are sensible, there is no reason to be alot in the + rather than in the -
Good luck

[onemoregoal]

$100 is not enough. You will just get bored playing $5 a game and eventually go all in.......

[EasyPicks]

$100 is not enough. You will just get bored playing $5 a game and eventually go all in.......

this is true...specially if u r like 99% of the people when they start to bet...action action action action

but you should do for a month or two a trial with the $100 with bets ranging from $1-$5 and really force yourself to play it like it was hundreds of dollars at a time. Winning or losing after the trial you will get valuable lessons (lessons that you can't buy anywhere), but please be honest with yourself and keep the stakes limited to the actual bankroll.

Cheers

[justkyle88]

$100 is not enough. You will just get bored playing $5 a game and eventually go all in.......

Like I said, I used to play poker with strict discipline so I have no problem keeping to a strategy and set bet amount.
Betting $1-$5 is absolutely fine with me.

[AussiePunter123]

Not that I'm the one to talk since you already know my situation...

But in general, I've approached my betting hobby as pure entertainment value. I disagree with others who state that sports betting is an investment, especially from that Aussie guy who apparently has sex all the time. Because the risk of losing money is so high, you basically are banking on luck to get your money back because the X-factor is all sports outcomes here is well, human. In other words, there is no past history of clear demonstrated market return in this game because humans are unpredictable, and most lose more than they win.

I equate the hobby similar to buying lottery tickets (except with much a better chance to win), and I accept the fact that I may lose all of my money. If you can't accept that, then you should probably start with a very small bankroll and bet dollars and cents or not play. This is my current situation since I am insistent that I will NOT reload my BR. If I get broke, then I'm out of the game for awhile until I truly believe I have some more disposable income. (Won't be for awhile since my wife and I just had a daughter!)

That said, I believe if you do want to approach sports betting as an investment, you absolutely cannot do some of the ridiculous betting options like parlays or "special plays", no matter how tempting. If you look in any of the other forums, you can see that parlays full of heavy favorites still do not win all the time. Sure, there are some exceptions like that guy who had a crazy 24-team parlay in NCAA, or the guy who started with $5 and got up to $5000 in 3 weeks, but in general, the odds are very much against the bettor.

In general, there is no magic formula to make money in this game. In my opinion, start with money that you're willing to throw away, and enjoy the sports that you bet on. Otherwise you'll just get angry at touts and others who believe they know more than you, or are willing to try to prove that they know how you should be managing your money. Just remember at the end of the day, you are the one that clicks the button to confirm your bets.

If you want a true challenge on using sports betting as an investment, limit yourself to risk $10 a week. Find the absolute BEST plays that you think will hit each day, and only limit yourself to 2 plays a day @ $1 risk per play. This absolutely takes mountains of patience and persistence to get anywhere, but it's smart and allows you to understand how much you can trust your gut instinct versus really finding the people that are best at analyzing or picking plays.

Nothing wrong with approaching betting as entertainment value - the majority of people have this approach. The buzz when a winning bet comes off is enjoyable.

However, you won't improve your betting if you approach it as entertainment. You need to put the time and effort into record keeping, development of systems and strategies, etc.

Sports betting is a long-term approach. You need time to get experience and to develop discipline.

[Otaking]

Nothing wrong with approaching betting as entertainment value - the majority of people have this approach. The buzz when a winning bet comes off is enjoyable.

However, you won't improve your betting if you approach it as entertainment. You need to put the time and effort into record keeping, development of systems and strategies, etc.

Sports betting is a long-term approach. You need time to get experience and to develop discipline.

You're getting into the difference of the thrill-seeking bettor vs. pro / semi-pro better. Depending on someone's priorities in life, he may not be able to afford the time and energy to develop models, crunch data, and monitor / re-tool. But you're right, with enough practice, you can develop something that works short-term, but it then takes even more energy to maintain and tweak the system since the sports world is always changing.

Speaking of thrill-seeking, ever notice that the emotion from losing a bet is much stronger than winning a bet? I wonder if this is the same for pro bettors...

[puregambling]

Focus on a daily goal if betting everyday set a target then stop.

Find your specialty and stick with it, pick a market.

Focus on certain games, less games. Less bets the better and wait till it finishes do not keep betting.

Do not chase when your losing. You can always make a comeback. And don't go all in.

Keep track of teams that give you winners and keep betting on them.

Follow your guts and instincts do not bet according to the odds forget the odds higher odds does hit too.

[Vaughany]

$100 is not enough. You will just get bored playing $5 a game and eventually go all in.......

[justkyle88]

I'm not sure if your being sarcastic or not...

[Otaking]

So I'm a hypocrite and have about 10 pending plays later today. I'm about 2 plays away from broke if nothing hits tonight, so tonight could very well be a huge step towards the end of my betting career. We'll see how things turn out after the end of the day.

[Jebachina]

Get out while you can...before you know it you'll be borrowing money to pay off your debt.

[Otaking]

Get out while you can...before you know it you'll be borrowing money to pay off your debt.

I just want to get my initial bankroll back.. not looking for a miracle influx of cash.

Of course I'm tempted to take a day / week off, but I'm too much of a sucker for "LOCK OF THE DAY!!! BET YOUR FIRSTBORN ON THIS ONE!!!!! I HAVE INSIDE INFORMATION ON WHO WILL WIN!!!"


....Yeah, I learned my lesson, but not until I lost a good chunk of my BR.

[Jebachina]

I just want to get my initial bankroll back.. not looking for a miracle influx of cash.

See this is exactly what everyone else tells themselves when they get in a hole...then they lose again, and again, and again...IMO the most important rules of gambling are to have discipline and patience. If things aren't going your way...take some time off to refresh. Any vet will tell you this.

[Otaking]

It's too late, degen loves degen company

I may actually have 1 more play for the day...

[Otaking]

Penetratin' A, NBA is killing me tonight. Argh!