By AlbertaGambles · Last updated: September 30, 2026
Bankroll Management
The only betting skill that matters. You can pick winners and still go broke without it. Here is how to size your bets so a bad week never becomes a disaster.
What is a bankroll?
Your bankroll is the total amount of money you have set aside for betting, separate from rent, bills, and savings. It is not “whatever is in my chequing account.” It is a dedicated number you decide in advance. Every staking decision flows from it.
If you cannot afford to lose it, it is not a bankroll. That is the entire philosophy in one sentence.
The 1 to 3 percent rule
Bet 1 to 3 percent of your bankroll on any single wager. That is it. That is the rule that keeps professionals solvent and the absence of it that ruins everyone else.
With a 1,000 dollar bankroll, your standard bet is 10 to 30 dollars. At decimal odds of 2.50, a 20 dollar bet returns 50 dollars. Nothing about the odds changes the staking rule: the percentage stays the same whether you are betting a 1.40 favourite or a 5.00 longshot.
Units: the honest scoreboard
A unit is your standard bet size, usually 1 percent of your bankroll. Instead of saying “I am up 400 dollars,” say “I am up 8 units.” Units let you compare results across different bankroll sizes and across time as your bankroll grows.
Anyone selling picks quotes units. Anyone quoting only dollars is usually hiding the size of the bets behind the wins. Track both, but judge yourself in units.
Flat betting: the best default
Flat betting means wagering the same amount, usually 1 unit, on every bet regardless of confidence. It is boring and it works. Most bettors who try clever staking schemes would have done better flat betting.
More aggressive systems exist. The Kelly criterion sizes bets from your estimated edge, but it assumes your edge estimates are accurate, and most bettors overestimate theirs. Martingale, doubling after every loss, is not a strategy, it is a countdown to ruin. Flat bet until you have hundreds of tracked bets proving you beat the closing line.
Use the tools the books must give you
Every regulated site in Alberta and Ontario must offer deposit limits, loss limits, and time-outs. Set a weekly deposit limit the day you open an account, before you have any reason to need it. It takes two minutes and it is the cheapest insurance in betting.
When to resize your bets
Your bankroll moves, so your unit size should move with it. Re-baseline once a month, not after every bet. If your 1,000 dollar bankroll grows to 1,400, your 2 percent bet becomes 28 dollars. If it shrinks to 700, your bet becomes 14 dollars. This is the quiet magic of percentage staking: your bets automatically get smaller during losing streaks, which is exactly when discipline matters most.
Never resize upward mid-tilt to chase. Resizing is a scheduled administrative task, not an emotional decision.
Five mistakes that kill bankrolls
- Chasing losses. Doubling your next bet to “get it back” is how a bad day becomes a bad month.
- Betting without a set bankroll. If the number is not written down, you do not have one.
- Counting winnings as income. Until you withdraw it, profit is just bankroll. Re-baseline monthly and withdraw on schedule if that is your plan.
- Changing unit size by feel. “I really like this one” is not a staking plan.
- Ignoring the vig. At standard 1.91 lines you need to win 52.4 percent of bets to break even. Your staking plan has to survive that math.
Quick-start checklist
- Write down your bankroll number today.
- Set your unit at 1 to 2 percent of it.
- Set a weekly deposit limit on every site you use.
- Track every bet with stake and odds, in units.
- Re-baseline your unit size once a month.
Frequently Asked Questions
How big should my starting bankroll be?
Your bankroll is money you can afford to lose, full stop. For a recreational bettor, that is often somewhere between a couple hundred and a few thousand dollars, depending on your budget. What matters more than the exact number is that losing it would not affect your rent, bills, or savings.
How much should I stake on each bet?
Most sharp bettors risk 1 to 2 percent of their bankroll per bet and rarely go above 5 percent on a single play. With a $1,000 bankroll, that means $10 to $20 standard bets. Keeping stakes small is what lets you survive the losing streaks that every bettor hits.
What is the difference between flat staking and percentage staking?
Flat staking means betting the same dollar amount every time, like $20 a bet no matter what. Percentage staking means betting a fixed share of your current bankroll, so your stakes shrink after losses and grow after wins. Percentage staking protects you better during cold streaks, which is why most serious bettors prefer it.
What is a stop-loss, and do I really need one?
A stop-loss is a pre-set loss limit for a day or a week, after which you walk away no matter what. If your daily stop-loss is $100 and you are down $100 by the third quarter, you are done for the day. It exists because tilt chasing, doubling up to win it back, is how bankrolls actually die.