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In my last post I looked at the positives and negatives of following systems or tipsters and I came to the conclusion that finding a system with an edge was probably the best method to employ as it takes a lot of the emotion out picking your selections and also a high turnover of bets were preferable to only being very selective.
With the above in mind I thought I would take a look at the betting bank and how this subject and basic fundamental is often overlooked by the novice punter who is looking to make a long term profit.
Before you begin placing any bets it is vital that you decide what you want out of your betting. You have to decide one of two things.
1. Are you just betting for fun?
Now there is absolutely nothing wrong with placing a few bets on the weekend hoping for the large win on various doubles, trebles and accumulators and generally these people bet out of their pocket by which I mean they have a varying amount of money each week they can play with and if they win some money they probably have another few bets and if they lose all their money then they wait until the following week or month and they start the process again.
The only comment I would make on the above is that if you take this approach you will never make a long term profit from your betting unless you hit on a very big paying accumulator.
2. You are betting to make a steady profit
The second approach means you are looking to get a positive return for your efforts
Now the only way that you are going to do this is by setting aside a betting bank. This very simple fundamental is the first obstacle in your road to success.
Anybody who is successful at betting is correctly capitalised and working to a betting bank
RULES FOR YOUR BETTING BANK
However large or small your betting bank you should follow these simple rules.
A. Only bet with money that you can afford to lose.
This is most important, money used for betting should only come from your disposable income. If you have priorities such as rent, mortgage utility bills etc. then these should always be paid first.
I will repeat this as it is vitally important
ONLY PLAY WITH MONEY THAT YOU CAN AFFORD TO LOSE
B. Your betting bank is purely personal
With the above in mind the amount of money in your betting bank is purely personal. I always like to work to bank of 50 points as I am fairly cautious by nature.
Now if you work to a bank of 50 points and your bank is only £100 then you are working to £2 a point.
If your bank is £500 then you are working to £10 a point.
On various forums and social media on the internet you will always find people bragging about how much they place on their selections and this can then lead to a keep up with the Joneses mentality.
The bottom line is you have decided to do this properly and grow your betting bank steadily. If this means you are starting with £100 then that is your reality.
Never feel inferior if this is all you are playing with as if you are following a sound system then over a few years this bank can grow to a substantial amount and if you find that you are successful then you can always add funds to the bank as and when they become available.
C. Never borrow money to bet with.
Even if you believe that you have found one of the most profitable systems never borrow the money to bet with as you can almost guarantee that if you do this the system you are following will go through a losing run which in turn will badly effect your mind set
When placing money on a betting system the process needs to be as stress free as possible. If you have borrowed money this will only add to the possible stress.
D. Make sure that the money is used for NO OTHER PURPOSE
Your betting bank should be used for no other purpose. This is vitally important as it lets you follow your system through without fear and worry. It also means that when you go through the inevitable losing run by having this money you will still be in the game.
It is amazing the number of people who have a betting bank and start following a system only to give in after a losing run, to then only see the system make a recovery and go on to make some good profits. The probable reason for this is they either don’t have a betting bank or they have dipped into their bank and used the money to fund another purpose or purchase.
Again your betting bank is there for a reason always ensure it is there and available for no other purpose.
E. Understand that you could lose this money
It is extremely important that you fully understand that if everything goes against you then you could actually lose your whole bank. If you are following a proven system with an edge then this would seem extremely unlikely. However it is possible and you should always except this and take responsibility that you could end up with nothing.
COMPARE YOUR BETTING BANK WITH HOLDING SHARES
One of the best comparisons is to compare your betting bank with the similar investment process of purchasing shares.
If you equate it to the following example it gives a clearer picture of what you are trying to achieve and how a correctly capitalised investment/bank should be utilised.
Two years ago nearly to the day after discussing the financial markets with a colleague I decided to invest in Lloyds Bank shares and purchased 9000 at 0.56 p for around £5000
As it transpired the market decided to go against me and 12 months later the shares dipped to around 0.24 p which meant my holdings were now £2160 which meant if I sold them that day I would have shown a loss of £2840.
However as I had put this money aside to purchase these shares and the money was used for that purpose only I was able to ride out this bad run and now the shares are priced at 0.59p which means my holdings are now back up to £5310
Now the above example is exactly the way that you should utilise your betting bank by putting that money aside and being prepared to take the rough with the smooth. Now my mind set on the above was I don’t need to sell these shares and unless I have to I have not lost any money.
If you take exactly the same approach with your betting bank then you are putting yourself in the correct mind-set to follow your system through correctly and with confidence.
BASEBALL BETTING EXAMPLE
If we look at last season’s baseball results here
On the 25th of June the system was showing a profit of +16.92 pts.
Now let’s say for example you decided to follow the system from that day and you also decided to invest a bank of £1000 to this project and to a 50 point bank this means you would be staking at £20 a point
Now the system went through a terrible run and on the 14th of July the profits went down to +1.51 pts
Which means in this 3 week period a loss of 15.41 pts which equates to a loss of £308.20
So your betting bank would then have gone from £1000 to £691.80
The system then made a steady recovery and ended up +30.43 which means that monetary wise the system gained 28.92 points which meant that the bank would have finished £1270.20
Again this shows the advantage of being correctly capitalised. Many inexperienced punters would have jumped ship long before and this is why there are very few long term profitable punters.
SUMMARY
To summarise providing you ensure that you are following a system with an edge and you are correctly capitalised with a bank that it used for no other purpose with money that you can afford to lose then you are dramatically increasing your chances of success.