by Matthew Gover | Date of Publishing: 26 October 2022
While gambling online, several different factors can impact the probability of how much you end up winning. The nature of the game you are playing will contribute significantly to deciding which of these factors is most important. Regardless though, your win rate will be heavily influenced by luck, both good and bad.
One of the most crucial elements governing a player’s success at online gambling is bankroll management, which is often overlooked probably due to it being a subject that doesn’t excite many gamblers. You cannot be a successful gambler though if you don’t recognise the importance of good bankroll management.
So what exactly is betting bankroll management? What is the meaning of bankrolling? And why should every casino gambler, new and old, know about it? To answer all your questions, we have put forth this informative article that will help you familiarise yourself with the different aspects of bankroll management, and aid you in discovering tips and strategies that will hopefully enhance your gambling experience.
Table of Contents
If you have made the decision to read this article you might be wondering, what does bankroll mean?’ or ‘What is a bankroll?’. Maybe up til now you have just deposited some money in an online casino and never gave these concepts a single thought.
A bankroll is the sum of money you set aside for gambling on online casino games. It is crucially not, however, all the money you have in your possession but rather a small portion of it that you are comfortable parting with. It is important to stress that you should never bet with money that you don’t feel comfortable losing. A point that we will continue to touch on throughout this article.
Bankroll management, or bankrolling, is a powerful skill that helps gamblers manage their bankroll by setting certain limits on it. This is to ensure that you don’t end up spending more money than you can afford to, especially during a losing streak, which is to be expected given the nature of the gambling.
Once you have a total amount in mind for the day, you can determine your stakes per hand and plan your gambling sessions accordingly. Once you reach the limit you’ve set, you should stop gambling and call it a day.
The act of setting aside a specific amount of money to gamble with is known as “playing within your bankroll”, while gambling at higher limits with a higher risk of losing is dubbed as “playing outside of your bankroll”.
Gambling, regardless of whether it’s online or offline, is a risky hobby that requires thought and strategy. If you are reckless with your money, it is more than likely that you will lose the money you have allocated to bet with. So whether you like it or not, bankroll management is absolutely essential for a successful gambling career.
If you follow a good bankroll management strategy you should see some of these benefits:
These benefits will only be experienced if you have enough discipline to not break the rules you have set yourself.
We have already established that it is recommended that you should only gamble with what you can afford to lose. However, it is also crucial that you don’t stake too little, either. You need to make sure you gamble with an amount of money where you will be giving your best to the game.
For instance, you can take the example of poker players, who are pros when it comes to bankroll management. The most successful players out of this bunch have the extremely rare ability to not think about the money they are betting with as they know they are betting with an amount of money that will not affect their long-term gambling career. This frees them up to not make decisions based on fear.
Any seasoned casino gambler is familiar with the fact that the moment you stop caring or worrying about your losses or wins, it’s the moment you set out on a losing path. A typical poker player will require the equivalent of 100 and 200 buy-ins to protect themselves from the violent swings.
Bankroll management, when exercised correctly, is a simple practice that enables you to make informed decisions based on realistic expectations while keeping track of your wins and losses. All you need to do is choose a daily or monthly budget and stick to it throughout that gambling session. The most important rule of bankroll management is that, in a session, you must only ever plan to lose around 10% of your bankroll. For a poker player, this number could be much lower.
Variance is another factor that plays a significant role in bankroll management. For example, blackjack games have low variance, meaning that wins are frequent yet not that large. On the other hand, online slot games typically have high variance since big wins aren’t common. But whenever they do come by, they can provide a massive boost to your bankroll. Simply put, if a game has high variance you should place bets that represent a smaller percentage of your bankroll.
Gambling is not a profession but a recreational activity, and it should be treated as such. It should never be taken to the point where you can’t pay your everyday bills because you’ve lost money on gambling. But if you do find yourself spending more money than you should, it’s probably because you have developed a gambling problem. In such cases, you should isolate yourself from gambling and seek professional help.
The size of your casino bankroll depends on various factors, but ideally, it should be determined by keeping your goals and gambling experience in mind. Ultimately, this should be an amount of money you can afford to risk in an online casino.
Instead of trying to make money via online gambling, casual players visit casinos for recreational purposes. They use a little bit of cash to play with and are comfortable losing it as they view the money they are given as a means of entertainment. Seasoned players, on the other hand, set up goals and have a better understanding of the risks and rewards they might ultimately face; therefore, the money they gamble with is both tailored to what they can afford and their skill set.
When configuring your casino bankroll, make sure to consider the following aspects:
Many experts suggest you wager no more than 1 to 3% of your bankroll for a single bet in one gambling session. You may lose your planned bankroll quicker than you’ve intended, which can, in turn, entice you to break your budget so that you can continue gambling.
On the contrary, if you bet too low, you may get bored with your outcomes since you’ll be less likely to win in the way of considerable gains. This could tempt you to raise your stakes significantly, which takes us back to the issue of betting too high.
To avoid this and find a betting level that’s neither too high nor too low, estimate the time along with the number of rounds of the game you plan to play during this period. Then, divide the money you’ve set aside for that session by the number of rounds, and you’ll get a betting level that you’ll be able to handle. Consequently, you wouldn’t go over your set budget even if you end up losing every single round.
The game you choose should determine how you evaluate your bankrolls. Make sure to play a game that you are familiar with. If you are a newbie and don’t know how to gamble, play demo versions first to acquaint yourself with it. If you go ahead anyway, you are setting yourself up for failure.
If you want to boost your bankroll without experiencing big losses, you should seek out less volatile games with lower house edges. Games that you should consider playing include
If you are wondering how to make money via online gambling, we are here to tell you that you can’t be successful without being lucky. However, you can extend the time you spend on gambling and increase your chances of winning if you:
Make sure to play with smaller limits. Betting a lot means that your session will be over quickly. If you have a bankroll of £500 for example you might not want to place a bet any higher than £5. If your bankroll increases to £1000 you can change this amount to £10.
Taking breaks between playing different casino games can help clear your mind, manage your emotions, assess your bankroll, and keep track of your wins and losses. It also means that while you take these breaks, you extend the time you spend on gambling.
Sometimes you might find yourself stuck in a losing streak. Often, this causes gamblers to ignore all rational thoughts and toss their bankroll management tactics out the window as they try to win their lost money back. This leads to greater losses and an empty bankroll. In poker playing differently due to your emotions is described as tilt and this is something all players should seek to avoid.
Playing casino games with a lower house edge means losing less of your bankroll to the casino over time. If you wish to make your bankroll and gambling time last longer, you should go for games with a lower house edge and high RTPs, such as baccarat, blackjack, roulette, etc.
If you wish to boost your casino bankroll, consider the following tips:
Author: Matthew Gover.
After graduating, Matthew began working as an English teacher abroad, initially in Spain and then Vietnam before finally coming back to the UK to settle. Matthew has always had a love for writing and an even bigger love for the igaming industry... Read More
Related Guides
How To Play Roulette – Guide For Beginners
5/5 – (1 vote) How to Play Roulette Roulette, meaning ‘little wheel’ in French, is one of the most popular and entertaining casino games in the world. There are so many variations and betting options – it’s easy to see why the title is such a crowd-pleaser. Here at JeffBet, we aim to bring the […]
Continue Reading...
How To Play Blackjack – Guide For Beginners
5/5 – (1 vote) How to Play Blackjack There aren’t too many rules for playing blackjack, compared to poker for instance. This is one of the many reasons why players have enjoyed this casino table game for over 250 years! With a fairly low house-edge and various opportunities to strategize, there is no sign of […]
Continue Reading...
How To Play Baccarat – Guide For Beginners
4.7/5 – (3 votes) How to Play Baccarat Whether it’s the famous scenes in the 007 spy movies, or you’ve seen it being played at a land-based casino – baccarat is one of the most popular games of chance around. This casino game has been played for more than 600 years and it’s never been […]
Continue Reading...
