Financial management is a dramatically essential skill for gambling enthusiasts for long-timers and newbies. Having a system for adjusting funds, handling wins and losses and minimizing risk is what separates pros from amateurs. Receive these advanced bankroll tips from Lili Bet Casino experts to stretch your money further and withstand the inevitable variance of games of chance.
Know Your Bankroll Budget
The foundation of keeping your head above water as a gambler is having a clear bankroll budget and knowing your limits. Before you ever place a bet, determine:
- Your total available bankroll
- How much you can afford to lose per session
- How long you want your total bankroll to last
Having clear numbers in mind for each of these will stop you from ever betting more than you can handle losing. It also helps you calculate staking sizes and divide your bankroll over multiple sessions. Here’s an example bankroll budget:
| Total Bankroll | $5,000 |
| Loss Limit Per Session | $200 |
| Expected Bankroll Duration | 6 months |
Bet Sizing Matters
One of the fastest ways to torpedo your bankroll is to bet too much each time. Professionals use a calculated method for choosing bet sizes rather than just winging it. A common system is to risk 1-5% of your total bankroll on each bet. At even just 3%, you could lose 33 bets in a row and still have money left. But even this relatively conservative approach requires a large enough bankroll to handle the swings. Another option is to base bets off your session bankroll and loss limit. If you have $500 allotted per session and are willing to lose $200 of it before stopping, you’d want to make $20-$40 bets to last the session. This allows you to play longer without wiping out your entire roll.
Have a Stop Loss & Quit While You’re Ahead
It’s a simple but powerful tactic: determine ahead of time the maximum amount you’re willing to lose per session. This should be 5-10% of your total bankroll. Once you lose this amount, stop playing and walk away for the day. Quitting while ahead is equally important. When you’re up, consider finding money and resist the urge to try to score even bigger wins. This greed is what makes people give back all their profits in one foolish bet. If you’re winning, cash out and let your bankroll live to fight another day.
Sample Stop Loss System
| Total Bankroll | $10,000 |
| Stop Loss Per Session | $500 (5%) |
Have Separate Gambling & Living Funds
One of the worst things you can do is gamble with money needed to cover living expenses like rent and bills. The most basic bankroll management rule is to only play with 100% disposable income. Ideally, your gambling bankroll should be kept separate from regular accounts for paying essential costs. This ensures you don’t tap into vital funds just to chase losses or keep playing. Treating your bankroll as an entertainment budget also prevents overspending on gambling from impacting your necessary lifestyle. And knowing you have the rent covered no matter what happens on the tables or machines gives you more patience to endure variance.
Take Advantage of Bonuses & Rewards
Before contributing your own money, be sure to maximize free plays and bonuses when available. Sign-up offers, free spins and loyalty programs are all house money you can use to build a bankroll. Just make sure you understand the playthrough terms before accepting any bonus. And have a clear budget for what you can afford to deposit once the free cash is gone.
Have a Backup Plan to Rebuild
Even with perfect bankroll management, bad runs happen. That’s the nature of gambling. So resilient gamblers have a backup plan to recoup losses and rebuild their bankroll after getting cleaned out. Methods for replenishing can include taking a break to save up more disposable income, putting entertainment expenses on hold, earning extra money doing side hustles, or waiting for a tax refund or work bonus to use. The key is accepting that going bust is a possibility, limiting the impact so it doesn’t affect your life negatively and having a way to restore the funds over time.
Conclusion
Bankroll management separates recreational gamblers from professionals. By calculating your budget, using stop losses, quitting while you’re ahead, keeping gambling money separate, taking advantage of bonuses and having a backup plan, you can stretch your money much further. While discipline and restraint is required, the payoff is being able to do something you love for longer without going broke. And nothing beats the freedom of stepping away from a table or slot machine when you choose because you’re protecting your bankroll first.