| Bet | Units | Stake | Of bankroll | Use for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low | 0.5 | $10 | 1% | Leans and small edges |
| Standard | 1 | $20 | 2% | Your regular plays |
| Strong | 2 | $40 | 4% | High-confidence plays |
| Max | 3 | $60 | 6% | Best bets only |
Enough cushion, but a long cold spell would hurt. Streaks of 10 or more happen to winning bettors too.
| Win rate | Record | Profit | ROI | Bankroll after |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 60% | 60–40 | +$290.91 | +14.5% | $1,291 |
| 55% | 55–45 | +$100 | +5.0% | $1,100 |
| 52.4% | 52.4–47.6 | +$0.73 | +0.0% | $1,001 |
| 50% | 50–50 | −$90.91 | −4.5% | $909.09 |
| 45% | 45–55 | −$281.82 | −14.1% | $718.18 |
You need 52.4% to break even at −110. Aim for 55% or better to make steady money.
- Recalculate quarterly. Move the unit with the bankroll.
- Stick to the plan. Same unit through the downswings.
- Track every bet. Win rate and ROI tell you if it works.
- Keep it separate. Never dip into rent or savings.
- Chase losses. Raising stakes to get even is the fastest way to go broke.
- Bet over 5%. Not even on a sure thing.
- Lean on parlays. The vig compounds with every leg.
- Bet emotionally. Follow your system, not your mood.
Units
A unit is your standard bet, a fixed share of your bankroll. With $1,000 at 2% a unit is $20: half a unit ($10) on a lean, two ($40) on a strong play, three ($60) at most.
Betting in units keeps one bad week from wiping you out. Recalculate every few months so the unit grows or shrinks with the bankroll.
Picking a risk
Most professionals bet 1–2% a unit. Going bigger grows a winning bankroll faster but makes going broke far more likely.
A 55% bettor at −110 with $1,000 and $20 units makes about $1 a bet on average, so roughly $1,200 after 200 bets. Betting $100 (10%) a time, the same bettor has about a 1 in 3 chance of going broke in the long run.
Using the bankroll calculator
Set a unit size you can live with: your standard bet as a share of your bankroll, with what losing runs and a season at −110 do to it.
- 1Choose whether to work out your unit size or the bankroll you need.
- 2Enter your bankroll (or unit) and pick a risk per unit, from safe to ballistic.
- 3Read your unit, bet sizes by confidence, and how the bankroll holds up through losing streaks.
Questions bettors ask
How big should a betting unit be?
Most bettors use 1 to 2% of their bankroll, and up to about 2.5% is still moderate. With $1,000 at 2%, a unit is $20. Going above 3 to 5% makes a losing run far more likely to wipe you out.
What win rate do I need to break even?
At standard −110 odds you need to win 52.4% of your bets (110 ÷ 210) just to break even, because of the vig. Better prices lower that number, which is why shopping lines matters.
How often should I change my unit size?
Recalculate every few months, or after a big swing, so the unit grows with a winning bankroll and shrinks after losses. Don't raise it to chase losses.
How many losses can my bankroll take?
Betting a flat unit, 100 ÷ your risk per unit: at 2% that's 50 straight losses to zero. Real runs are rarely that long, but streaks of 8 to 10 losses happen to winning bettors.