Bankroll Management: The Flat Betting Approach

What is a flat betting approach in sports betting?

I have written a few different articles on the topic of money management for the sports bettor.  Yes, I believe money management is extremely important.  Some of the other approaches explored are the Martingale sports betting system, the Paroli betting system and the Kelly Criterion.

Truthfully, I was a little surprised by the fact that I had not yet written about a flat betting approach to sports betting.  Well, time to power up my laptop and discuss it here and now.

What Is a Flat Betting Approach?

To wager with a flat betting approach, you do not need some crazy advanced degree in mathematics.  A flat betting approach is not overly complicated, nor is it hype-filled or flashy.  What it is it is, and what it does it does.

A flat betting approach is a strategy where you wager an equal amount of money on every single game, regardless of your confidence level.  What flat betting does is permit you to stay well-organized, well-structured and very consistent.  By incorporating a flat betting approach to your well thought out and back tested strategy, you will be better able to withstand a betting slump, stay in the game longer and increase your long-term success in sports handicapping.

Because I am not a wordsmith and most likely if I said it, somebody else said it better than me before, here is a quick YouTube video on the topic.  This video is also listed in my article entitled, 7 Great Sports Handicapping Videos on YouTube.  The video is entitled How to win in sports betting with proper money management, and the video is brought to you by Rick Steel of ProfessionalSportsHandicapping.com.

So How Does a Flat Betting Approach Work?

While many money management approaches may appear to immediately improve your results over the short-term, a losing streak (and who hasn’t come across a few) could potentially damage your bankroll substantially.  A flat betting approach, however, will limit the risk.

As previously mentioned above, flat betting involves wagering an equal amount of money per play.  For example, given a $1000 bankroll, you may wish to play 2% of your bankroll per wager.  This would mean that you simply put down $20 per bet.  It does not matter how confident you are in the team.  It does not matter if the game is the only one fitting into your handicapping strategy on that particular day or week.  2% of your bankroll.  $20.  That is it.

If your bet wins, you take your profits and place them back into your bankroll.  Now, the next day, that 2% will have more behind it.  If that wager loses, again simply take 2% of your new bankroll’s balance and that would be your new amount wagered.

What Percentage Is Recommended to Use?

Above we briefly discussed a flat betting approach, and we use 2% of bankroll as an example.  While many handicappers use this 2% mark in their own strategy, there really is no “set in stone” amount necessary to wager with.  Many handicappers advocate using a figure between 1% and 5%.  In Rick Steel’s video above, he stresses using 2% of your bankroll.  I have seen various other articles that advocate using 3% of total bankroll.

The Miller Strategy of a Flat Betting Approach

One offspring of a flat betting approach was conceived by a gentleman named J.R. Miller.  Mr. Miller has written a couple of books on the topic of sports handicapping.  His approach has a sports handicapper focus on wagers as close to a 50/50 odds ratio as possible, using 1% of your starting bankroll until 25% increase in bankroll is achieved.  At that point, when your bankroll has increased by 25% (as an example, went from $1000 to $1250), you would update the amount to wager.  Using the same example, you would then go from $10 of your $1000 bankroll (1% of your bankroll) to $12.50 of your now $1250 bankroll (still 1% of your bankroll).

J.R. Miller also advocates using 1% of your total bankroll, believing that 2% or more is simply too risky.

Conclusion

Money management in sports betting is vital.  I believe back testing your strategy and developing a game plan with a solid money management approach is of the utmost importance to any successful betting venture.  You need discipline with this strategy.  When you have a sure thing in your mind, you may need to draw that back a little and make sure you stick with the percentage of your bankroll you have determined previously.  I do believe this money management strategy, however, is an appropriate one for long term success.

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