What Is A Bankroll?

Your bankroll is the amount of money you have at your disposal in each sportsbook. Think of it as your available funds for the wagers you are placing. How large your sportsbook bankroll is depends on your personal situation, including how much you typically wager, how often you place bets, and how much money you are comfortable losing. 

The higher the bankroll, the more money you are able to wager. For example, if you have a $100 bankroll, your bets will probably range from $5-$10 on each bet. If you are wagering around 5% of your bankroll per bet, then the more money in your bankroll, the higher bets you can wager. You will want to have an even bankroll in each sportsbook, meaning you have the same amount of money in each book. The reason is because you are likely to have equal bets over the course of the night, because you are betting each side of the bet on each book.

I personally keep around an $18,000 bankroll for each of my sportsbooks that I can place a $1,000 live arb on. That way, during the course of a three hour game stretch, I shouldn’t run out of funds. I typically place $1,000 on the underdog and anywhere from $1,000-$10,000 on the favorite.

You can always deposit more to your sportsbook bankroll, but that could eat time away from acting on opportunities during games. You want to have enough funds in your bankroll to be able to place sufficient bets on both sides of the wager. If you place your bet on one side, but don’t have enough money for the other side, then it could leave you high and dry and in a position to take a loss. 

Why is it important?

Your sportsbook bankroll is important because it basically dictates how much you can wager on each live arb bet opportunity. It also reflects how much you are comfortable wagering. It’s a balance. You should not place more funds in your bankroll than you are comfortable betting and even losing, but you need enough money in there to effectively take advantage of arbitrage betting opportunities in a timely manner as they appear.