Staking and money management

You can be a sharp form reader and still lose money if you don’t manage your bank properly. Staking is the part of betting most people overlook, and it’s the part that often makes the difference between a punter who lasts and one who burns through their bank after a few bad runs.

These guides cover how to structure your betting bank, which staking plans are worth considering (and which aren’t), and how to apply the maths behind optimal bet sizing. No system guarantees a profit, but the right approach to money management keeps you in the game long enough to find out if your edge is real.

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Guides in this section

  • How to trade horse racing on Betfair

    Most people who use a betting exchange like Betfair are punting, just with a different counterparty. Trading is a different activity entirely. Done well, it can produce small, repeatable profits regardless of which horse wins. Done poorly, it can drain a bank faster than punting.
    Read the guide

  • The plateau a free horse race staking plan

    Incrementally increasing betting stakes in controllable small amounts when on a winning streak is an approach that has been around for a long time, although not used much previously. The main reason for that is because of the previously long-winded manual processing of the mathematics
    Read the guide

  • How to spot a vulnerable horse racing favourite

    Laying favourites is one of those strategies that sounds easy: pick a short-priced runner, bet against it, collect when it loses. Around two-thirds of all favourites lose their race, so what could go wrong? Plenty, as it turns out. The reason most lay-the-favourite punters fail
    Read the guide

  • The Kelly Criterion explained

    The Kelly Criterion is a staking formula. Not a selection method, not a winners machine. It tells you how much of your betting bank to put on a bet, based on your edge and the price on offer. For punters with a measurable edge (meaning
    Read the guide

  • Where to go next

    If you haven’t already, work through the Betting strategy guides alongside these — money management and strategy work best together. And for free tips on today’s racing, visit our racing tips page.