Bankroll
What does "bankroll" mean in sports betting?
Your bankroll is the money set aside only for betting, separate from bills and savings. You size every bet as a share of it.
A bankroll is a budget, not a bank account. Pick an amount you can lose without it touching rent, bills or savings, and don't top it up after a bad week.
One simple way to size bets is in units, a fixed percentage of the bankroll. Betting a small, steady share keeps one bad stretch from wiping you out. Systems that raise your bet after a loss, like the martingale, do the opposite.
Example
You start with a $1,000 bankroll and a 2% unit, so each standard bet is $20. After a rough month you're down to $800. At 2%, your unit is now $16, so your bets shrink as the bankroll does.
Related terms
Unit
A unit is a fixed slice of your bankroll, commonly 1% to 2%, used to size every bet so stakes stay consistent.
Martingale
A staking system where you double your bet after every loss so one win recovers everything. It risks huge stakes to chase a small gain.
Kelly criterion
The Kelly criterion is a bet-sizing formula that sets your stake as a share of your bankroll, based on your edge and the odds.
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