How Much Should You Bet On Your Sports Bets?

How Much to Bet On Sports

📈Calculating Your Bet
💰Estimated Profitability
📊The Odds
💡Managing the Risk of Betting

How much should you bet? A basic rule is to never bet more than 10 to 12% of your capital on a given bet. Typically, the average bet should be between 1.5% and 2.5% of your capital.

Calculating Your Bet

Your bet can be calculated based on two criteria:

Estimated Profitability

This refers to the difference between your estimated odds and those given by the sportsbook. The greater the difference, the more the bet appears to be a value bet and therefore profitable in the long term. A more or less significant bet should be adopted based on this parameter.

The Odds

Now, there are three types of betting odds: American, decimal, and fractional. The American odds, as the name suggests, are most commonly used in North America and can be displayed as either a positive or negative number. The way to read them involves making a calculation based on 100 units. In this case, the favored option (team/player) comes with a minus sign (negative) and shows the amount you need to bet to win $100.

Conversely, the underdog is accompanied by a plus sign (positive) and in this case, it shows the winnings you would receive if you bet $100.

For example, seeing a +150 means that for every $100 you bet, you would gain $150 in winnings plus your initial $100 bet; while with a -150 odd, you would need to bet $150 to win $100 plus the initial bet.

Decimal odds are most commonly used in Europe and, as their name suggests, show the total payout of the bet in decimal form if it wins, based on a $1 bet. To illustrate, if you bet an amount at a 1.5 odds, you will be returned €1.50 for every euro bet.

Finally, fractional odds are very common in the United Kingdom and are rarely found elsewhere, so we will briefly explain their function. If you see a 3/1, it means that you can win 3 euros for every euro bet.

Our Advice:

Generally, it is quite rare to have estimated odds much higher than those of the sportsbook. If they are equal or slightly higher (from 1% to 15%), stick to a consistent betting rule. Each bettor can define their own rules based on their personality. However, keep some logic in your calculations. Here are some tips:

Never exceed 10 to 12% of your capital on a single bet. A good rule of thumb is that your average bet per wager should be between 1.5% and 2.5% of your capital.
Maintain stability. In a good period, do not significantly increase your bets. In a bad period, keep a cool head and stable management.
Never regret your bets. If your bets are well-analyzed and properly estimated, they will be profitable in the long term.
Accept variance. Some periods will be very bad, others exceptional. Do not focus solely on the outcome of an individual wager.

Managing the Risk of Betting

Finally, when making the decision on how much we should and want to bet, it is important to consider that there are risks, so having good risk management will help not to give up easily and to make profits in the long term.

Some of the main suggestions to avoid large losses include setting a limit when betting, as mentioned at the beginning, the best option is to establish a percentage of our capital for certain bets so that, in case of a loss, there would not be a significant imbalance.

Likewise, we can use the odds offered by betting houses as a basis to help us make decisions and have a minimal risk margin, not forgetting that diversification could also reduce our probability of losses and, conversely, could help our capital remain profitable.

Check out also our advice for how to make smart sports bets and how to manage your sports bets.

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