Flat betting is the easiest and best way to manage your bankroll during sports betting. It's a consistent and disciplined betting strategy involving betting the same amount of money in every game, whatever your confidence level. Flat betting may not offer the massive instant gains you're looking for, but it's a great strategy that lets you stay in the game longer with consistent profits.

How Much Should You Bet On A Game?

To know how much you should bet on a match, look at your starting bankroll amount and divide it into equal units. You must decide the unit amount, which then will be your unit size. This is the amount of money you'll be betting at every game.

We recommend risking between 1% to 5% of your bankroll on every bet. Professional bettors usually risk only 1% or 2% of their bankroll per bet. This amount seems low to you, but keep in mind that the pros start with massive bankrolls that can be over $100,000, $500,000, or even over the million-dollar mark. This means that 1% of their stake is about $1,000 to $10,000 per match.

If you feel like taking more risks, you can raise your unit amount to 4% or 5% per bet. But you should not go over 5%. Consider it a red line you shouldn't cross. If you're willing to bet more than 5%, then expect bigger risks and extreme fluctuations in your bankroll. All it takes is one losing streak to wipe out your bankroll if you're risking more than 5% per play.

Importance of Flat Betting

To see why flat betting is so important, let's assume that you have $1,000 in your bankroll. Then you decide to bet four games with $250 per game. This means that you're betting 25% of your bankroll. It would be great if you win all four games, but that's just unrealistic, especially for new bettors.

New bettors are always excited to make their first bet, and no one wants to be taken down on their first go, but you need to be prepared for what's to come. You can easily lose all four bets, leaving you no more money to bet with. You'll be taken out of the game before it even starts.

Now, let's say that you've decreased your bet size to $100 a game, which means that it's 10% of your bankroll per bet. If you've lost all your four bets, then you've only cut your bankroll from $1000 to $600. It's a better option than betting $250 per match and ending up losing all your bankroll, but even this is still a considerable risk.

Then let's consider betting 5% of your bankroll per game, which is $50 per match. This means that losing all four games will drop you down to $800. If you bet 3% of your bankroll, which is $30 per match, your total bankroll will decrease to $880. As you can see, smaller risks can provide you with a longer path to learn from your mistakes and prepare you for any obstacles you need to overcome as a new bettor.

Flat Betting Lets You Eliminate Negative Bias

Besides saving yourself from bankruptcy due to an unlucky night or a sustained bad streak, flat betting also lets you eliminate negative bias that can prevent your winnings. For example, imagine if you've put $1000 in your bankroll to make two bets. One of the matches is something you love and the other you're not entirely confident in, which means it's more to a lean. Because of this, you bet 10% on your desired game ($100) and only bet 5% on the game you're leaning on ($50). If you win the match you lean on but lose the game you love, you'll end up losing $50. However, if you've used a flat betting strategy and risked 5% for both games, you would have broken even your bankroll instead of losing anything.

Once you've determined your unit size and percentage, stick with it. Don't make any daily or even monthly changes just because of your performance.

Remember that flat betting is a long-term game. It's an investment with ups and downs along the way.

Just because you had a good week doesn't mean that you should adjust your bankroll upward. This will lead to a losing skid and losing it all because of your increased risk on every bet.

Conclusion - Flat Betting and Bankroll Management

Bankroll management is a crucial part of becoming a successful sports bettor. It ensures your overall bankroll in the long term, which is the fundamentals of profits for every sports bettor.

Setting a good and consistent unit size is the first step for good bankroll management, and a few betting methods allow you to increase your betting size depending on your confidence. Once you're comfortable with your unit size and bankroll, make sure to track your results, so you'll know which areas you're making the most profit and which ones need improvement. Read our bankroll management guideline to make it clearer.

If you can successfully manage these factors and accurately handicap matches, you can sit back and watch your bankroll grow over time.