In the first week of this series I discussed having realistic expectations in terms of profit on turnover. Last week I tried to emphasise the fact that you will have losing runs. Today I want to stress that probability will effect your bank.
No matter what you do or how hard you work, how good your information, opinion or judgement is, the laws of probability will effect you.
Successful betting is about maximising your profits while protecting your betting capital and confidence so that you can continue when faced with a significant losing period. The only way you can do this is by getting your bet size right. If you bet too much on each selection then a normally expected losing run could send you broke. If you don’t bet enough then your risk will always be below the level you could actually tolerate and you won’t make as much with your betting capital.
Much has been written on staking and all of us have read those ridiculous articles on double up theories, running two separate banks etc etc. Quite frankly these staking systems do not work and will send you broke.
Google the term ‘risk of ruin’ if you are serious about punting and want to get a grasp on the interrelationships between chance, strike rates, probability, losing/winning sequences and gain an understanding of how variance occurs and the effect it can have on your bank.
This series will continue with the following topics:
4. Understanding market percentages
5. Discipline is the key
6. Betting with ratings.