Some useful football betting money management tips

Money management should be a vital part of any successful football betting strategy and most serious bettors will manage their bankroll effectively. Let’s take a look at some useful hints and tips to help you manage your money.

Start with a sizeable pot

Many regular bettors just throw £20 or £30 in to their account on a Saturday morning and blow the whole lot in one go – usually on risky bets or accumulators. Why? It’s seen as a disposable amount of money that they can ‘afford to lose’. It’s not seen as a significant amount so they don’t fully respect it. However, the £20/£30 all add up and before you know it you’ve lost £100+ in a month. If you deposit a larger initial amount, for example £200+, then you’re far more likely to respect that money as it’s regarded as a sizeable figure. Bettors will then take more care of their bankroll and studies show they’re more likely to research their bets and make more sensible betting decisions.

Keep records

The vast majority of online bookmakers allow you to access records of all your bets which can be exported to an excel spreadsheet. This makes it easy to log all of your bets and you can track your progress. Watching your bankroll grow will keep the mind focused on maintaining a winning strategy. On the flip side, seeing losses in should motivate the bettor to turn things around and pick less risky bets.

Take advantage of offers

A simple way to boost your bankroll is to take advantage of betting bonus codes and offers that are available at online bookmakers. Many sites will give new customers welcome bonuses or free bets when they sign up so it’s always beneficial to use them. Even regular customers are given bonuses or enhanced odds promotions which can significantly boost your bankroll and lessen the financial risk.

Money management strategies

Kelly Criterion: This is one of the most well-known strategies in football betting. The bet stake is calculated as a percentage of your bankroll by multiplying the odds by the chances of winning, then dividing the odds and taking away 1. Eg. If you were to bet on Liverpool beating Everton at odds of 1.98 and thought the Reds had an 80% chance of winning. You’d bet (1.98 x 0.75 – 1) / (1.98 – 1) = 0.494 or 49% of your bankroll.

Fixed stake: This strategy is the most simple to put into practice as you always bet a fixed figure for every single bet you make. This is usually a percentage of your initial pot and it allows the bettor to give equal value to each bet. This is a very safe strategy, especially for beginners, as it doesn’t over complicate things and it’s easy to work out your stake.

Star system: This strategy is the most risky and you’ll need big balls to adopt it as it’s even more aggressive the Kelly Criterion and is based on the martingale system. Put simply, it involves an incremental number or bets which goes 1, 1, 1 / 2, 5, 10, 15, 25, 40 STOP. You would start the progression (‘/’) only after a win and you’d need to be extremely confident in your predictions to adopt this strategy. But get it right, and you can significant boost your winnings.

There are many more strategies you can use while football betting but these are the main ones. However, the most important part is to always gamble responsibly and only bet what you can afford to lose. If you stay disciplined, always do your research and adopt a strict strategy, then you will increase your chances of being a profitable bettor.