[mv09]

One of the ways you all make money is by being able to manage your money effectively. Im new to gambling, so I was wondering how you all manage yours. Lots of straight bets? 3 team parlays? Teasers? How much % of your bankroll on a particular game.
Any tips from Vets would be great. thx.

[White_Tiger]

97% straight bets, 2% Teasers and 1% ML for me.
I never bet more than 5% of my BR in 1 game. If i have 2k BR the min bet is $10 the max bet is $100.

I hope it'll help.
BOL.
WT.

[jjgold]

95% straight bets

5 % reverses

[Justin7]

mv09,

Are you playing to make money, or for recreation? That is the most important initial question.

[HedgeHog]

25% parlays (correlated)
25% If bets (correlated)
25% props (adjusted lines, top 5 nascar, top 5 golf, etc...)
20% straight
5% Misc (teasers)

[LT Profits]

80% straight bets
20% parlays (preferably 3x2 round robins)

Also try and bet 2.5% of bankroll on every game with little to no variation

So if you like 3 games:

2% BR on straight bets
.5% BR three-team round robin by 2s

[mv09]

Originally Posted by Justin7

mv09,

Are you playing to make money, or for recreation? That is the most important initial question.

Little of Both.

I liked the extra excitiment, but the money is good too. Ive been winning for the past 3 months or so, but Ive lost a couple of 3-4 team parlays because of 1 team, so I was just wondering if parlays were common between the vets.

[LT Profits]

My advice is if you are serious about this, never parlay more than two teams. If you are looking for fun instead, then knock yourself out with those four-team and up parlays for sh!ts and giggles, as long as the risk amount is miniscule.

[SBR Lou]

Originally Posted by mv09

but Ive lost a couple of 3-4 team parlays because of 1 team, so I was just wondering if parlays were common between the vets.

Stay away from those, mostly sucker bets. Just make straight bets, and throw in a little extra tease/or whatever floats your boat every now and then.

[pavyracer]

Originally Posted by mv09

Little of Both.

I liked the extra excitiment, but the money is good too. Ive been winning for the past 3 months or so, but Ive lost a couple of 3-4 team parlays because of 1 team, so I was just wondering if parlays were common between the vets.

If you are only losing one team out of your parlays then try round robin wagers. You can make a profit by getting three out of 4.

[moses millsap]

75% ML's
25% Sides/Totals

[Tchocky]

I have no money management skills. I tend to give back all my winnings and end up flat. I guess that's better than being in the hole.

[SBR Lou]

Originally Posted by Tchocky

I have no money management skills. I tend to give back all my winnings and end up flat. I guess that's better than being in the hole.

Yes indeed.

[Doc JS]

The hardest thing for me is not to chase...

[Zeroed]

Many guys on forums talk like it would be easy to only use 2% of your bankroll per bet and so on.

If you realize that you are a compulsive gambler you should just think about stoping it, instead of fooling yourself with terms like "money management", before it gets the best of you.

[curious]

Originally Posted by mv09

One of the ways you all make money is by being able to manage your money effectively. Im new to gambling, so I was wondering how you all manage yours. Lots of straight bets? 3 team parlays? Teasers? How much % of your bankroll on a particular game.
Any tips from Vets would be great. thx.

Straight bets where you know you have an edge. Bet size is the expected value as a %-1 x bankroll.

Now, the hard part is knowing what your expected value is as a %.

[mv09]

Originally Posted by Zeroed

If you realize that you are a compulsive gambler you should just think about stoping it, instead of fooling yourself with terms like "money management", before it gets the best of you.

I really only bet on NFL and NCAAF since Baseball is such a luck sport most of the time. My bankroll is about $100-200ish and bets range about $5-10 bucks so I wouldnt consider myself compulsive at all

[Kaps]

3 team dog parlays in baseball....but you better have patience cause you can hit a big dryspell and then loook out

[gmoney641]

If you are betting for the long term and for profit then you should primarily stick to straight bets.

I would recommend not wagering more than 3% of your bankroll on any one game. Some experts recommend 1% on each game across the board, but I have found 2-3% works better for me. The higher your percentage then the higher risk of ruin you have.

I use parlays for three reasons: to limit my downside, the plays are correlated, or if I feel very confident in a few games that are being played at the same time. For example if I have a nice morning college slate of games I feel good about I will bet them all straight and then take the top 3 or 4 and put them in a parlay. Never parlay a game in the morning with a game in the evening as you will receive better odds if you bet it straight and then roll over all the money later on.

One mistake I found myself making with parlays early on is I would parlay games I was not very confident in. This is a mistake. You want to parlay your best games as presumably they have the best chance of winning.

IF bets are the same as parlays.

I never bet teasers, well never say never, sometimes I will tease an NFL game, but never in college and rarely in the NFL.

[rm18]

Parlays are often great bets for pros. You get better odds 2.8/1 at some square books. The 6/1 at most books is better than real odds, many books will have plenty of good numbers you can throw into these 3 teamers. Also good for circumventing limits and bankroll management. My limits at a place may be $500 but I can get 5k down by parlaying and if betting

[imgv94]

I've been very disciplined this season.

I learned from many mistakes I've made in the past such as betting too much on games, chasing, putting all your eggs in one basket, stuff like that.


I had a disastrous NFL two weeks ago (going 2-7) but, I lost less 8% of my entire bankroll. The old me would of lost at least 25% probably more, and I can assure you I would of went into chase mode.

MM is more important than picking winners. I've learned the hard way.

[HedgeHog]

Originally Posted by rm18

Parlays are often great bets for pros. You get better odds 2.8/1 at some square books. The 6/1 at most books is better than real odds, many books will have plenty of good numbers you can throw into these 3 teamers. Also good for circumventing limits and bankroll management. My limits at a place may be $500 but I can get 5k down by parlaying and if betting

Which books are currently paying 14/5 on pars?

[rm18]

betpop is the only one I would advocate playing at for the safety of your money offering 14/5 and 6.5/1

[SBR Lou]

Originally Posted by imgv94

MM is more important than picking winners. I've learned the hard way.

This is very true, it's something that is learned over time, and even then it's tough to stick to.

My first experience having made a grand in a day was as a kid gambling on games, so as you can expect I also slammed my head into the wall a lot. Overall when you know you've found a very profitable scenario, it takes extreme discipline to follow these % rule of thumbs. And you feel sick afterward when you do and it cashes as big as you figured.

[atakdog]

Originally Posted by curious

Straight bets where you know you have an edge. Bet size is the expected value as a %-1 x bankroll.

Now, the hard part is knowing what your expected value is as a %.

This is the generally accepted way to maximize the rate of bankroll growth, assuming you are making winning plays. Note, however, that it's actually rational to play parlays also, when your straight bets are simultaneous. Ganch has posted about it, and there's a calculator here for figuring how big the parlays should theoretically be. In practice, your parlays will be much smaller than your straight bets, and the amounts bet on the many-play parlays will be minuscule.

Basically, those big parlays are for fun.

[atakdog]

Originally Posted by imgv94

MM is more important than picking winners. I've learned the hard way.

I see this opinion a lot. I don't get it.

If you pick winners consistently but are foolish about how and when, you should still win, provided you never bet your last dime. On the other hand, if you’re a brilliant Kelly-calculator but your bets don't win...

[bigboydan]

Originally Posted by Doc JS

The hardest thing for me is not to chase...

That seems to be the hardest thing for everyone not to do Doc.