If you have ever considered taking up online betting as a pastime, it is well advised that you be conscious of how to do it in a safe and secure manner. There is no point denying that some bettors don’t have the best experience in this process, and the best way of avoiding that issue is to be realistic beforehand and know the risks. Some of these are somewhat obvious – checking a betting provider is licensed and knowing the signs of gambling addiction among them – but others take a bit of thinking about.
Among the important issues when it comes to online betting is knowing how to manage your budget, or as it’s better known in the betting industry, your bankroll. When looking at providers on Google, at casinosnotongamstop or a similar site, you’ll find plenty of places that you can sign up to. If you’re going to have more than one account, it’s all the more imperative that you know how to manage your bankroll – so here are some essential tips on how to do just that.
Sequester your bankroll away from other money
You will have certain costs that you need to meet on a weekly or monthly basis: rent or mortgage payments, utility bills, food shopping, clothing and other similar necessities. And the key word there is necessities. Online betting is not a necessity, ever, and if you are short on money it should be the first thing that you cut out of your budget. More importantly, you should have a budget that allows you to keep enough money to make sure these needs are met, and only after that budget is made should you pick an amount for your bankroll. Once that is done, those amounts should not be cross-pollinated. Never dip into money you need for something you want. If you do that, you risk losing more than you can afford to.
Only bet money you can be happy to lose
If you can’t say honestly that you can lose the bet you’re about to make, and be totally OK with that, then don’t make the bet. Whether it’s a small amount or a large one, you have to be ready to mentally write it off your accounts. Because the truth is that you may well lose, and you have to be able to say to yourself “That’s fine, I wasn’t expecting to win”. If you really need to win, then you’re all the more liable to chase your losses, and that is one of the cardinal errors a bettor can make. In the inadvisable case that you are down $10 you really needed, that’s money you can raise or borrow from someone. If you chase the loss and end up down $500, that’s a problem.
Decide whether you will reinvest won money, and how much
When things go well in betting, you end up with more money than you had when you started, and that’s excellent news. Now you need to decide what you’re going to do with that money. You could rebet it and see if it can become more money, or you could decide to withdraw it and add it to your personal budget. What often works best is to decide on a percentage of won money that you will put back into your betting, such as 50%. At that point, if you go back to betting, you can add to your bankroll without ever having to touch earned money.