Is the 1–3% bankroll strategy realistic for casual bettors?

[Fredomago]

This percentage is quite small if you ask me unless you are talking about gamblers using this as a daily bankroll because anything more than that is just going to be very insignificant and it's better you don't even gamble in the first place. 1 to 3 percent bankroll for the day is a good plan, if you are the type of player that gambles everyday you are definitely going to be in control of how you handle your finances. Setting out a bankroll is important but the most vital thing for a gambler to have is discipline because without it you can set out a bankroll and still end up making more deposits after losing it all.

With such setup, it would test howdiscipline you are when betting, with small percentage of your bankroll most of the time temptation comes out when you lose your pick, especially if you are just using small amount for your stake, there's desire to push for more to quickly recover, though it's going to be depend on how a person will execute the plan and how discpline they are when playing with actual pressure with their deposit.

[leea-1334]

This management thing sounds like something for professionals. What you gonna do with $100, spend months managing it for 20% annual returns? 

@leea-1334, you don’t need to stick with a $100 bankroll forever.

Once you have tested that you can be profitable, like consistently making around 20% profit annually, then the next thing you can do is increase your bankroll. That $100 is just for testing the water and also testing your discipline.

So if you decide to increase your bankroll to $10,000, then 20% of that is already $2,000 per year. If you are satisfied with that kind of result, then you can slowly raise the amount and start your real journey.

Just remember, as we increase the bankroll, the pressure also gets higher. That is why discipline is very necessary. But we can never reach that level if we don’t start small first. It is like practice makes perfect, we need to practice and prove ourselves first before risking bigger money.

But that is my whole point in my original posts

Casual bettors means people like me, $100 is a lot of money already for a month, but it is ok if I consider that it is just a one-off monthly entertainment expense.

Casual implies not professional, implies it is not for profit solely but for enjoyment, if you win something great, if not, wait for next month.

Testing the water and increasing profits and discipline, it stops being fun and it stops being casual.

[Satofan44]

This management thing sounds like something for professionals. What you gonna do with $100, spend months managing it for 20% annual returns? 

20% annually is a good return. You cant expect that to become from gambling, but rather some risky funds. This seems like professional because certain people have over-analysed the system and made it like that. Does not necessarily mean it will always be good.

There is not more than a handful of people that are making 20% annual returns, and for sure there is not a single one on this forum. It is even an insult to suggest the possibility of some returns. Having a one-off return of 20% for one year, is not equal to having 20% annual returns. Anyone can get lucky, doing it once is meaningless. Only if you can sustain it, which you can't, can you call it 20% annual returns since it is plural. 

Once you have tested that you can be profitable, like consistently making around 20% profit annually, then the next thing you can do is increase your bankroll. That $100 is just for testing the water and also testing your discipline.
So if you decide to increase your bankroll to $10,000, then 20% of that is already $2,000 per year. If you are satisfied with that kind of result, then you can slowly raise the amount and start your real journey.

Nobody here is making profit in gambling let alone 20% annually in a consistent way, so let's not entertain the delusions of people who do not know how gambling works. Raising your bankroll to satisfy delusions only leads to large losses and a sure path towards bankruptcy.

I haven't had such rule before but I've tried using a fixed amount per bet just not a fixed percentage like 0.5%, 1%, 5%, etc. I believe the only people that can follow strict sizing rules like that are professional gamblers which much more bigger sports betting portfolio because they might be comfortable with doing 1% to 2% in gambling profits monthly but someone with a small portfolio can't do that unless they accepted the fact that they might not make much and that they have a chance to build their stack slowly and painfully because it would take a lot of wins and a lot of losses too.

False, anyone with even a drop of responsibility should be following such rules. If you are not, then you are not a responsible gambler. The rule that is proposed in this thread is trivial, following it is so easy that it is almost boring.

[GiftedMAN]

With such setup, it would test howdiscipline you are when betting, with small percentage of your bankroll most of the time temptation comes out when you lose your pick, especially if you are just using small amount for your stake, there's desire to push for more to quickly recover, though it's going to be depend on how a person will execute the plan and how discpline they are when playing with actual pressure with their deposit.

Why exactly would a gambler eve subscribe to playing when they know fully well they are under pressure. Sometimes, the best approach and response to certain situations is simply to walk away and not to test or even prove how strong you are. Insisting on playing when one is under pressure can be extremely detrimental to that gambler, even the strongest at this point can fall woefully. This is why part of being displined and psychologically matured is knowing when best to walk away.

[Rashlyowl]

You're damn right it's a matter of choice, because not everyone is really interested or is moved by the possibility of actually winning huge amounts of money. For some, gambling more or less about they win but how much they enjoy spending time in the casino, so yeah, whether they win so much or not doesn't really matter to them, as long as they enjoy the experience.

Yes, it's simply a matter of preference. From your answer, I can tell that you're most likely a small-stakes gambler who wants to enjoy your time while gambling. I'm on the opposite side, I usually make big bets in hopes of a big win, someone in our community once said: 'If you want to get a big catch, use big bait'.

[Sonia_123]

The 1-3% strategy remains the best strategy any gambler can adopt to be successful, gambling above that will be leading to chasing losses but you must be well disciplined in other to achieve this by setting a bankroll and time limit to help you manage your funds properly.

[Cointxz]

The 1-3% strategy remains the best strategy any gambler can adopt to be successful, gambling above that will be leading to chasing losses but you must be well disciplined in other to achieve this by setting a bankroll and time limit to help you manage your funds properly.

It’s partly correct since there’s no guarantee that even following this bankroll strategy will not make you chase loss since the main trigger of chasing losses is the losing streak that creates stress to gambler and result to eagerness on getting it back again.

Playing on this bankroll level might probably just make you stay focus since the losses is just minimal per lose bet but every people has different reaction on how they handle losses.

[Fredomago]

With such setup, it would test howdiscipline you are when betting, with small percentage of your bankroll most of the time temptation comes out when you lose your pick, especially if you are just using small amount for your stake, there's desire to push for more to quickly recover, though it's going to be depend on how a person will execute the plan and how discpline they are when playing with actual pressure with their deposit.

Why exactly would a gambler eve subscribe to playing when they know fully well they are under pressure. Sometimes, the best approach and response to certain situations is simply to walk away and not to test or even prove how strong you are. Insisting on playing when one is under pressure can be extremely detrimental to that gambler, even the strongest at this point can fall woefully. This is why part of being displined and psychologically matured is knowing when best to walk away.

I agree to that statement, it's a must to know when to quit and let things go, whatever happened to must keep yourself in-line wth your set plan, though like what I mentioned it's going to be depend on how a gambler will push with their set strategy, but similar to what you said, being discipline means that you are also capable to handle tough situation as you need to make a call when you already reached the position that you need to execute your exit plan, no other option or any second thoughts but to excute your hard stop.

[Hispo]

The 1-3% strategy remains the best strategy any gambler can adopt to be successful, gambling above that will be leading to chasing losses but you must be well disciplined in other to achieve this by setting a bankroll and time limit to help you manage your funds properly.

It’s partly correct since there’s no guarantee that even following this bankroll strategy will not make you chase loss since the main trigger of chasing losses is the losing streak that creates stress to gambler and result to eagerness on getting it back again.

Playing on this bankroll level might probably just make you stay focus since the losses is just minimal per lose bet but every people has different reaction on how they handle losses.

Even with these levels of bankroll management and having small wager, there is no warranty one won't fall for chasing losses during a gambling session. Even if the loading streak made us lose only a few dollars, people do not see that money in terms of absolute dollars, but rather as a percentage of their total bankroll.
So I would expect someone in a losing streak with a small bankroll to continue to increase their risk with their remaining balance in order to try to get their money back.

In the end, that manners is discipline and self-control, without them the size of our bankroll is rather irrelevant.

By the way, having such a small bankroll when compared to the size of one income could ironically be frustrating to people who have an expectation before even logging on their gambling account.

[purple_sparkles]

I think that such a small percentage of the total bankroll is a good approach because playing with money that feels insignificant doesn’t create excessive emotional attachment or pressure. It allows you to stay calm and not worry too much even in case of a loss. Everyone has their own strategy when it comes to gambling, and I personally like this one.

[ultrloa]

I think that such a small percentage of the total bankroll is a good approach because playing with money that feels insignificant doesn’t create excessive emotional attachment or pressure. It allows you to stay calm and not worry too much even in case of a loss. Everyone has their own strategy when it comes to gambling, and I personally like this one.

Well I also see it as ideal approach if the person could really follow that bankroll percentage to use. Because people could feel less pain once they lose and for sure they can maintain their cool especially that percentage is not really big.

I think only few people can able to do that, since there are lots of gambler want to deposit more because there urge to play prevails and they want to continue their game session then hope to win some prize. But everyone have their own strategy, but its good if they know this so that they can possibly control their spending's.

[Zadicar]

The 1-3% strategy remains the best strategy any gambler can adopt to be successful, gambling above that will be leading to chasing losses but you must be well disciplined in other to achieve this by setting a bankroll and time limit to help you manage your funds properly.

It’s partly correct since there’s no guarantee that even following this bankroll strategy will not make you chase loss since the main trigger of chasing losses is the losing streak that creates stress to gambler and result to eagerness on getting it back again.

Playing on this bankroll level might probably just make you stay focus since the losses is just minimal per lose bet but every people has different reaction on how they handle losses.

Even with these levels of bankroll management and having small wager, there is no warranty one won't fall for chasing losses during a gambling session. Even if the loading streak made us lose only a few dollars, people do not see that money in terms of absolute dollars, but rather as a percentage of their total bankroll.
So I would expect someone in a losing streak with a small bankroll to continue to increase their risk with their remaining balance in order to try to get their money back.

In the end, that manners is discipline and self-control, without them the size of our bankroll is rather irrelevant.

By the way, having such a small bankroll when compared to the size of one income could ironically be frustrating to people who have an expectation before even logging on their gambling account.

Can totally attest to this on which even how you would be having those bankroll management on which a few % of your total bankroll then as the game goes on and as you do accumulate loses, then you would be starting up on having those kind of adjustments because the main thing that you would be having in mind is that you would be able to patch up those loses that you have on much more bigger winning. Therefore, you would be deciding on climbing up your bet amount on gradual because of this kind of mentality until you wouldnt be able to notice that you are already go past beyong your bankroll management limit on which this is the usual case that do happen for most gamblers. This is why most of gamblers do ending up on busting up their bankroll entirely in a short period of time rather than on trying out to maximize their gambling session on cutting those betting amounts but still ending up on busting it up due to sudden change of behavior and mentality.

[xenomorfo]

That's a neat trick, sessions.
If you play very little, as you rightly say, each session can last 3-4 hours.
This is because gaming is precisely a way to pass time, if it ends immediately the fun disappears immediately.
This is obviously in my opinion, i exclusively play poker with friends in the evening.

Poker is a challenging game, played it some years back, and enjoyed how it works with those hands, but the only threat i had with Poker is that i could easily go all in believing that i have the best hand in the room, which may backfire and take me out of the game. Also this strategy may not work accurately on poker depending on the progress of the game, and how you advance to the next stage.

it happens, i can tell you that in my opinion it's the beauty of the game itself, which is very beautiful.
be careful, there are many variations of poker, and the old ones are slow and boring. i recommend you try Texas Holdem, which is more dynamic and fun and has more nice hands.

[nimogsm]

I think that such a small percentage of the total bankroll is a good approach because playing with money that feels insignificant doesn’t create excessive emotional attachment or pressure. It allows you to stay calm and not worry too much even in case of a loss. Everyone has their own strategy when it comes to gambling, and I personally like this one.

This is a really good strategy. Each new bet won't be felt much, even in terms of losses, since 1% of the bankroll can afford 99 more bets and thus extend the game over time. I've been playing only with small amounts for a long time now, and with a fixed monthly budget, my finances stay in order and I don't worry about spending more than I planned. Sometimes I don't play at all, and I can spend the money as I see fit or carry it over to the next month for gambling.

[swogerino]

I think the same when I gamble in sports, you can easily explore a lot of betting in consecutive days, let's say 30 days minimum if you put a 3% in a single bet or a single parlay ticket daily. Of course emotions run low when the budget spent for the day is not big and as such the level of stress and anxiety is almost zero. I am doing this myself from some days where I only spend 1 dollar a day maximum and have fun trying my combinations as I usually play parlay bets, I don't feel anxiety at all much different compared to slots.

[Alex077]

Most guides about sports betting always talk about bankroll management, and the common advice I see is to only bet around 1–3% of your bankroll per bet...

I think first of all the 1–3% rule really does make sense in one case - when the user wants to keep gambling long-term and avoid losing their entire bankroll after just a few bad bets in a row - that’s basically the whole point of it. But when it comes to regular gamblers, in reality most people rarely stick strictly to those conservative 1–3% rules and that is reality. This happens especially often after losses, when people get the urge to win their money back faster.
At my opinion even good analysis can’t protect you from long losing streaks, while aggressive betting can destroy a bankroll very quickly.

[hedgeh0g]

Of course it's realistic, but here I would most question the player's strict discipline, because I believe that players, no matter what game—poker, betting, or casino—have a very hard time betting in that 1-3% range for long. At some point, any player will simply want to raise their stakes more and more. I've been there myself, because the same old bets became too boring for me, even though up until that point I considered myself disciplined. There's no need to harbor illusions; we all want something more, because we're human beings and can't be robots that will bet 1% of their bankroll for years on end, unless they're professionals, of course.

[Satofan44]

You're damn right it's a matter of choice, because not everyone is really interested or is moved by the possibility of actually winning huge amounts of money. For some, gambling more or less about they win but how much they enjoy spending time in the casino, so yeah, whether they win so much or not doesn't really matter to them, as long as they enjoy the experience.

Yes, it's simply a matter of preference. From your answer, I can tell that you're most likely a small-stakes gambler who wants to enjoy your time while gambling. I'm on the opposite side, I usually make big bets in hopes of a big win, someone in our community once said: 'If you want to get a big catch, use big bait'.

Preferences as an excuse are bullshit, there are right and there are wrong decisions. Most people are cowards and when they do something wrong, say gamble the wrong way and get exposed or confronted with it they will make up all sorts of nonsense to justify their errors. The right thing would be to admit that you are wrong, but most people won't do that that is why they stay poor and dumb. I'll upgrade your statement to: If you want to bankrupt yourself, use big bait.

Of course it's realistic, but here I would most question the player's strict discipline, because I believe that players, no matter what game—poker, betting, or casino—have a very hard time betting in that 1-3% range for long. At some point, any player will simply want to raise their stakes more and more. I've been there myself, because the same old bets became too boring for me, even though up until that point I considered myself disciplined.

If you are limited with discipline, that does not mean that everyone else is limited. If you are not able to control yourself and stick to a strategy, that does not mean that everyone else has the same issue. The reality is that sticking to such betting is trivial in the effort required and everyone who is unable to do so is already halfway addicted to gambling. There is no reason to raise stakes "more and more" unless you start becoming delusional about the possibility of profiting in gambling.

There's no need to harbor illusions; we all want something more, because we're human beings and can't be robots that will bet 1% of their bankroll for years on end, unless they're professionals, of course.

Completely false and fabricated nonsense. Just because the majority of humans are obese or overweight that does not mean that this is the normal state of human beings, use your brain for Christ's sake.

[junder]

Why exactly would a gambler eve subscribe to playing when they know fully well they are under pressure. Sometimes, the best approach and response to certain situations is simply to walk away and not to test or even prove how strong you are. Insisting on playing when one is under pressure can be extremely detrimental to that gambler, even the strongest at this point can fall woefully. This is why part of being displined and psychologically matured is knowing when best to walk away.

Playing continuously under pressure is certainly the concept of forcing yourself and in my opinion this can have an impact on mental health because excessive pressure can make us mentally bad, we must know when to stop even when we make a profit does not mean it is better to continue.
 

Discipline is one of the important factors in betting, we must be able to be smart to make decisions, by continuing to play even though it is in accordance with our abilities but the risk is not small.

[lombok]

Why exactly would a gambler eve subscribe to playing when they know fully well they are under pressure. Sometimes, the best approach and response to certain situations is simply to walk away and not to test or even prove how strong you are. Insisting on playing when one is under pressure can be extremely detrimental to that gambler, even the strongest at this point can fall woefully. This is why part of being displined and psychologically matured is knowing when best to walk away.

Playing continuously under pressure is certainly the concept of forcing yourself and in my opinion this can have an impact on mental health because excessive pressure can make us mentally bad, we must know when to stop even when we make a profit does not mean it is better to continue.
 

Discipline is one of the important factors in betting, we must be able to be smart to make decisions, by continuing to play even though it is in accordance with our abilities but the risk is not small.

It is a strong self control mechanism to have the principle of immediately quitting gambling, even upon winning it. It shows how you are able to resist the human tendency to become greedy and therefore always want more when you feel like you are winning. Keep your wits to say when enough is enough since it is that capacity to slide at the appropriate time that makes the difference between those who are in control and those controlled.