In my opinion the importance of good money management while betting is THE most important factor to becoming a long term winner. Picking winners is great, but no one wins all of the time, no matter how good they are.

So what do I mean by money management? Well, to me money management is the art of keeping your losses to a minimum so that you bank is never affected too much by a single day of losses. Not only that but it is making sure, as best you can, that your bank grows over time. Bank growth is where the issue appears for most people.

Lets take a very common example…

Frank has $200 spare and decides to put a $100 bet on the Dolphins to beat the Jets at (decimal) odds of 3.1. The Phins have a great game and Frank wins his bet. Profit = 100 * 2.1 = $210. He gets his original $100 stake back, so the bank now stands at $310.

Frank now feels like he is on a winning run, so puts all his $310 on the Cowboys to beat the Redskins at decimal odds of 2.1. Sadly for Frank the Cowboys lose and the money is gone.

But wait, Frank still has that other $100. So, he decides he might as well go for broke and put it on a long shot. He finds a tip for a horse running at odds of 14.1. Imagine if he wins, that will be a return of $1310 plus his stake back. Guess what, the horse pulls up and he loses the lot. Just pray that he walks away at this point and doesn’t borrow any more.

There are four mistakes in Franks method…

1. He bet half his betting bank on the first bet.
2. His winning feeling encouraged him do make the same mistake again, this time with even more money!
3. He chased his loses and ended up losing even more.
4. He followed a tip without researching it himself.

So many people bet like this. It is scary! You might be lucky one week, maybe even for a couple of weeks, but sooner or later it will get you and you will lose the lot. If you are one of those people please learn from this article..

So, how should Frank have done it?

* He should have taken his first $100 and seen it as his ‘bank’. He should then have put no more than 3% on the first bet. Some professional bettors say that 3% is too high! This would then have given him a risk of no more than $3. Not too upsetting if he loses, and plenty more left over for other bets. If it won he could add it to his bank and work out his new 3% stake. Each time the bank grows the stake grows too. This compounds until hopefully you are making a good return on your bets.

* He should have researched any tips he was given. This tip might have been high risk, but part of a long term betting strategy for the person that gave it to him. Tips should always be taken in context. He might have researched it and found that it did look like a great bet, or it could have been awful.

We love sports because they are exciting. The outcome is never clear and there are NO dead certs. It’s ok to make a high risk bet which you have researched, as long as the odds are high risk, not the stake. I have had some terrible losing runs, but always adjusted my stake to suit my new bank. It keeps you betting and growing your bank for much longer.

The best tip I have is to grow your bank slowly. It may seem a bore and you will see events that you feel you can’t lose on, but you must practice discipline and patience if you want to stay in the game and make a profit long term.

Grubber www.grubbersbettingtips.com