Definition
Bankroll Management
Also known as Money Management, Staking Plan, BRM
By Abhinav VasudevanReviewed Editorial policy
In short
Bankroll management is the practice of sizing every bet as a fixed fraction of your total gambling funds, so that no losing run can wipe you out and no winning run tempts you into bets you would not normally place.
Bankroll management is the set of rules that decides how much you bet, written down before you start rather than chosen in the moment. It is the least interesting topic in gambling and the one that most reliably separates people who last from people who do not.
The core rule
Bet a fixed small percentage of your current bankroll, typically 1% to 2%. That is the entire method. Everything else is elaboration.
At 1% of a £1,000 bankroll you bet £10. If the bankroll falls to £800, you bet £8. If it grows to £1,200, you bet £12. Stakes scale with the bankroll automatically, which means losing runs shrink your exposure exactly when it needs shrinking.
Why a fixed fraction survives what fixed amounts do not
A staking plan has one job: make ruin impossible rather than merely unlikely.
Bet a flat £50 from a £1,000 bankroll and twenty consecutive losses end you. Twenty consecutive losses sounds absurd until you notice that at even money it happens roughly once in a million sequences, but at 1-in-5 shots, losing runs of twenty are routine. Bet 1% and twenty losses leave you with about £818, because each bet shrank as the bankroll did.
This is the practical value of fractional staking. It cannot be wiped out by a losing run, only worn down.
Progressive staking does the opposite
Systems that raise stakes after losses, Martingale being the famous one, invert this. Double after every loss and you recover everything with one win, which is true and is why the system is persuasive.
It fails on two things that always apply. Table limits cap the sequence, so there is a point past which you cannot double. And your bankroll is finite, so a run of ten losses at a £10 base stake requires £10,230 to continue. Martingale converts a large number of small wins into a rare catastrophic loss; it does not change expected value, which is fixed by the house edge and unaffected by the order or size of bets.
No staking plan changes expected value. This is worth stating plainly, because a great deal of content implies otherwise. Staking controls variance and survival time. It does not turn a losing game into a winning one.
Rules worth writing down
- One unit is 1–2% of the bankroll. Recalculate periodically, not after every bet.
- Cap total exposure. No more than 5% of the bankroll in open bets at once.
- Set a stop for the session, in money and in time, before starting.
- Never top up mid-session. A bankroll that can be refilled is not a bankroll.
- Keep winnings in the bankroll or withdraw them: do not treat them as separate free money, which is how bet sizes quietly triple.
Common questions
What percentage of my bankroll should I bet?
One to two percent per bet is the usual guidance. At 1%, twenty consecutive losses leave you with about 82% of your bankroll, because each bet shrinks as the balance does. At a flat 5% the same run would be close to ruinous.
Does the Martingale system work?
No. Doubling after every loss recovers your losses with one win, which is true and is why it persuades people. It fails on table limits and on a finite bankroll, and it does not change expected value because each spin is independent of the last.
Is flat staking or proportional staking better?
Proportional staking scales bets with your bankroll, so losing runs automatically reduce your exposure. Flat staking is simpler and nearly as effective. Both beat any progressive system that raises stakes after losses.