If you ask any professional gambler, the most critical aspect of horse race betting is the bankroll.
Your bankroll is what allows you to continue betting; it’s your lifeline, and without it, you can kiss your betting career goodbye. Unless, of course, you want to dip into your savings and establish another bankroll. That is a bad idea since, in the first place, you should never come into a situation like that ever. You must not empty your bankroll.
If you have no idea how to manage your bankroll, then you’re in luck because, in this article, we will be talking about some tips that you can do to make your bankroll last longer and grow it even further.
What is a Bankroll?
A bankroll is essentially the money you put aside for horse racing betting. You can think of it like your horse racing betting bank that you go to whenever you want to bet on horse racing. Your priority should be to make it last longer and grow over time.
Take note, however, that when establishing your bankroll, the money you put in it should be money you’re okay with losing. That means the money you put in your bankroll should not be allotted for something important.
Create a Budget
The most important thing when managing your bankroll is to create a budget. Your budget is a considerable bankroll plan as it dictates how much you spend on each bet and race you want to bet in. Of course, when you create your budget, you should try to stick with it, so everything goes according to plan.
Yes, this might sound obvious, but you’ll be surprised how many people go to the races without a plan. Now, that’s okay if you’re just a casual bettor, but having a budget is essential if you’re serious about it.
Bet Sizing
One of the most common questions that newbies often ask in horse racing betting is, “How much money should I wager in each bet?” Of course, if we’re being honest here, it wholly depends on you, but if you want an exact number, we can recommend one.
Usually, experts would say that each bet should only be 5% of your entire bankroll. That means if you have $100 in your bankroll, you should only put out a maximum of $5 for each bet. But you can also divide that $5 for every race. For example, you can bet $2 for horse A, another $2 for horse B, and a dollar for horse C.
Avoid Betting on Everything
If you’ve been to the races before, you must have heard the saying, “Not all races are created equal.” What this means is that not all races have value bets in it. Some races have horses with little to no value, and sometimes, bookmakers even make false favorites to entice people to bet on that race.
However, you should note that just because a race has a false favorite doesn’t mean that the race itself has no value. You should still handicap the other horses by using speed figures when betting or looking at their track records. What we’re essentially saying here is that you should only wager on a bet with value, and not all races have them.
Make Your Own Rules of Engagement
Now that you know how much and when you should bet, you must consider how you approach each race. This means you must decide which bets you want to make and how to spread your money on each bet. There are a lot of guides regarding this, so we don’t need to give you an example.
What’s more important is that you have to have a plan when you’re planning to bet on a race. Now, you can choose to copy approaches or look up helpful stats to think about with wagering you can see on the internet. Or better yet, you can go through trial and error and finally decide on your approach. In our humble opinion, it’s better to go through the latter as copying one from the internet needs a lot of adjustment for it to work for you.
Don’t Bring Your Credit Card With You
Never bring your finances into horse racing betting. It will only tempt you, especially when you have a losing streak. If you don’t want to lose a lot of money from your savings or, worse, turn into bankruptcy, leave your credit card at home.
Final Words
Your bankroll is the most important aspect of your horse racing betting career, as it’s what will keep you going. Without it, you can’t bet on the races. That said, your priority should be to make it last and grow it over time.
