Much has already been and even more will be said about the fact that even a most talented bettor will never achieve anything if he doesn't use a fine financial strategy. Generally speaking, before you start betting, you should already know which financial strategy you will follow. What's a financial strategy? Simply put, it's something that determines how much, when and on what you will bet. Fortunately it's a rather old problem, so there are lots of solutions, and here I'll tell you about some of them.
Not aggressive strategies Here belong all strategies that don't try to win back the money lost on the previous bet immediately by increasing the stake. 1. Flat Definitely one of the most simple and reliable systems, ideal for beginners. The essence is very simple - you divide your bank, say, into 50 parts and bet this 1/50 on each event. After you have made 50 bets you start all over again dividing your new bank into 50 parts. The number 50 doesn't come from nowhere, I think that it's optimal to bet 2% on 1 event. Flat betting will prevent you from increasing the stake after a few successful bets in a row, which almost always (!) leads to bankrupcy of beginner bettors. 2. Bank percentage This system is very much alike the previous one, only you'll have to recalculate your bank each day. 3. Kelly criteria This strategy suits to advanced bettors and computer programmes that can evaluate the probability of the winning very accurately. Stake is calculated accorording to this formula: S = (K*W-1)/(K-1), where S is our stake, K - odds, W - probality. For example, our bank is $1000 and probability is 25% at the odds of 6.0, then the stake should be S = (6*0.25-1)/(6-1)=0.1 or 10% of bank, which makes $100 4. Fixed profit Rarely used strategy, but the list wouldn't have been full without it. The essence of this strategy is in predetermining the profit rather than the stake. Stake is calculated like this: S = P/(K-1), where where S is our stake, K - odds, P - predetermined fixed profit. Aggressive financial strategies These strategies are all about increasing the stake. They are called aggressive because despite they give a chance to win more, also more can be lost. Most of these strategies were developed for roulette. 5. Martingale The most well-known strategy in the world. According to it after each lost bet we should increase the stake so that it makes up for losses and brings profit equal to the first bet. Here's an example: First bet: odds - 2.0, stake $100 - loss (bank-$100) Second bet: odds - 2.0, stake $100 - loss (bank-$200) Third bet: odds - 2.0, stake $150 - win (bank+$100) 6. d'Alambert Another rarely used strategy: after a successful bet you decrease your stake, after an unsuccessful you increase it. 7. Counter d'Alambert You do everything vice versa: after a successful bet you increase your stake, after an unsuccessful you decrease it. Suits people who win and lose in streaks :) 8. Long term combo I have invented this strategy myself, though I don't consider myself to be a great inventor. If you bet rather rarely and on events with low odds but that win rather often, this system will help you to increase winnings. It is very much alike a simple combo, but it has a number of advantages, namely: 1) you can bet on events with different bookmakers, so better odds are available 2) one lost bet doesn't put an end to the whole combo, only that part of it that was bet upon earlier is lost I'll explain how it works on an example: Say you've found the following bet offer: 01.09.2006 Celtic - Livingston, Celtic to win @ 1.25 you bet $100 If the wager wins, on the next event (on another day) you bet all the money you won ($125) You continue betting like this until cumulative odds reach some predefined value. For me it was 3.0 After that I started all over again with $100 |