Setting up a Live Betting Bankroll

Live betting is a huge phenomenon in the sports gambling world. It allows you to place wagers in the middle of matches—something that wasn’t even possible less than two decades ago.

Many gamblers enjoy live betting due to its convenience and endless options. You merely need to grab your phone and head to an online sportsbook’s live wagering section to quickly place wagers.

Of course, this convenience can also make managing a bankroll extremely tough. Therefore, you definitely want to have a solid bankroll management plan in place beforehand.

This guide discusses the many challenges you’ll face when making live wagers. It also covers how you can effectively manage your bankroll and not go overboard with live sports gambling.

The Challenges Presented by Live Betting

Live wagering may be extremely simple to do. However, it also tempts you to make way more wagers than you should. Here are the key obstacles that you face when trying to bet conservatively.

So Many Opportunities

Bookmakers supply lines on whatever types of bets they think will interest customers. They’ve discovered that live betting is especially popular.

With that said, online sportsbooks put out countless live odds over the course of a match. You can wager on everything from who’ll score the next point(s) to which team will cover an adjusted spread.

These lines continually pop up as you’re watching a particular game. Therefore, you have no shortage of chances to keep making bets. Of course, these seemingly limitless opportunities can hit your bankroll hard in the event of a losing streak.

Less Time Too Handicap

Some bettors don’t put much research or thought into the wagers they make. Other sports gamblers actually handicap the odds before gambling.

Hopefully, you’re in the latter category and dedicate some time to your wagers. Of course, you don’t have much time for handicapping live odds.

Bookmakers put out live bets and remove them within minutes. After all, any occurrence within the game could affect the current odds.

You can still improve your chances of winning by having extra knowledge of the players and teams beforehand. But again, you just don’t have as much time to think and/or run the numbers before placing bets.

More Temptation to Chase Losses

Chasing losses can be a problem with both live and pre-match wagering. At least with the latter, though, you don’t have an opportunity to place more bets right away.

Live betting, on the other hand, rolls out line after line. You can lose a wager on which NFL team will score next, then turn around and immediately bet on if the other team’s next drive will result in a touchdown.

When wagering live, you have countless chances to chase losses. Live odds come so quickly that you might not even always ponder losses before placing the next bet.

Live Wagering Bankroll Management Is Crucial

Bankroll management is critical in any type of sports betting. However, it takes on special importance with regard to live wagering.

The latter presents temptation around every corner. It also doesn’t give you much of an opportunity to handicap matches.

With that said, you definitely want to have a good bankroll management plan in place. Otherwise, you risk losing serious money through this type of gambling.

Unfortunately, too many sports gamblers go into live betting blind. They simply make bets based on feeling and don’t worry enough about wins and losses.

Of course, most bettors are merely amateurs who are looking for entertainment. But if you’re somebody who eventually wants to profit from sports gambling, then you should be mindful of your bankroll.

Bankroll management alone won’t improve your odds of winning bets. However, it will make you disciplined and help keep you from blowing through betting funds too quickly.

Key Aspects to Live Betting Bankroll Management

The art of managing your bankroll isn’t overly complicated. Nevertheless, you should take several factors into account when setting up a plan.

Consider Your Experience

You don’t want to go into live betting full of steam if you’re new to live betting. Instead, you should take a more conservative approach when starting out.

After all, live wagering involves specific skills. You should place small bets and/or limit how many wagers you make in the beginning.

But if you have a good grasp on live betting, then you might consider placing more wagers. Assuming your handicapping skills are up to par, you could become a profitable live better rather quickly.

Determine Your Bankroll Size

The most obvious thing to do regarding bankroll management involves deciding how much you can afford to risk. The amount you set aside should be something that you’re totally willing to part with.

Hopefully, you don’t get to the point where you’re down to your last few bets. But in the worst-case scenario, you want to ensure that you’re not risking this month’s house payment.

If you’re like most gamblers, you don’t have thousands of dollars to gamble with and instead have a relatively small bankroll. However, you can always slowly add to this amount over time.

Decide on a Unit Size

After determining a starting bankroll amount, you should decide what size of wagers to place. The idea here is to choose reasonable bets that help you experience more long-term success.

Generally speaking, many sports gamblers break their bankroll down into 100 units. They risk between one to three units per wager. The latter range is only reserved for when they feel particularly confident about a bet.

Depending on how many live wagers you plan on making per day/week (discussed next), though, you may deviate from this plan. If you’re a high-volume gambler, then you should consider breaking your funds down into 150 or 200 units.

Here’s an example:

• Your bankroll is worth $3,000.
• You plan to focus exclusively on live betting.
• You want 150 units.
• 3,000 / 150 = $20
• Based on this plan, each unit should be worth $20.

Again, some flexibility exists when deciding exactly how many units you want in your bankroll. Assuming you mainly/exclusively place live bets, then you might want to have more than the standard 100 units.

Limit Your Daily Wagers

As described before, live betting can tempt to you to place many wagers. You might even end up chasing losses if you get too carried away.

With that said, one of the key elements to any good bankroll plan involves placing a limit on your daily bets. You might even consider putting a similar limit on how many wagers your make per week.

Here’s an example on deciding this:

• You have 150 units.
• You want to ensure that you have 30 days’ worth of units.
• 150 / 30 = 5
• You should only place up to 5 wagers per day.

Nothing forces you to stick to plans like these. But if you have a solid bet limit going into the matter, then you’re more likely to keep your daily/weekly wagers to a reasonable amount.

Track Results

Bookmakers don’t keep track success rates for you. Instead, you need to document how you’re doing with live wagering.

This process involves tracking each bet you place and any other relevant information. Here’s an example on what to include for each bet:

• Match
• Date
• Bet size
• Win/loss

Tracking results won’t transform you into the world’s best handicapper. This practice will, however, give you an idea on your success rate.

It also helps slow you down so that you’re not placing too many bets in a row. After all, you’ll be putting down information for each wager both before and after the fact.

Supplement Your Bankroll With Betting Bonuses

Online sportsbooks offer bonuses when you sign up and place a deposit. Some of them also feature additional promotions that allow you to continue picking up free cash.

You definitely want to take advantage of these offers. After all, live betting bonuses can supplement your winnings or at least soften losses.

The key involves finding out everything that you must know about an offer before pursuing it. This way, you’ll cash in on a bonus instead of accidentally violating one of the terms and conditions.

How Much Will Bankroll Management Improve Your Success?

Bankroll management isn’t a magic pill that helps you become a winning gambler. Instead, it merely helps you take a more disciplined approach to live betting.

Ideally, you’ll also improve your handicapping and knowledge of a given sport(s) on the side. By combining quality handicapping with bankroll management, you stand a better chance of eventually winning profits.

Of course, the average bettor loses money over time. You can’t beat yourself up over early losses. But with a solid bankroll plan, you’ll at least survive while learning the ropes.

Assuming you ever do become a sharp, managing your bankroll becomes even more important. It allows you to survive losing streaks that come about due to bad luck. Once you survive such losing streaks, your advantage will shine through again.

The basics come first, though. You simply want to get a handle on bankroll management and stick with your plan. You should also continually learn betting tips to boost your odds of winning.

Conclusion

Live wagering is an excellent way to spice up your sports gambling experience. However, it’s also the toughest form of betting to deal with from a bankroll perspective.

It provides numerous chances to place wagers. These many opportunities can cause you to bet too much or, even worse, chase losses.

Luckily, though, you can still enjoy live betting without assuming too much risk. You just need to have a good bankroll plan to start with.

The main elements of live wagering bankroll management involve choosing a unit size, breaking your funds down into units, and limiting your daily or weekly bets.

From here, you need the discipline to stick with the plan. You might also spend time learning additional handicapping knowledge to boost your win rate.