Introduction

Your betting/trading bank is an amount of capital that you have put aside exclusively for the purpose of betting and trading.

The aim is to increase your bank over time as safely as possible. Set reasonable, long-term targets and break them down into smaller, manageable amounts.

Every time you trade, you work towards your target.

As your bank grows, the 'snowball' effect takes over and things get very exciting!

Bank Size

When starting out, it doesn't matter how big or small your bank is. All you need to do for the first few months is find your feet and, hopefully, see some bank growth.

Don't worry if you're not able to get into profit right away. If betting/trading was easy, everyone would do it rather than go to work on a Monday morning!

As the old saying goes, "learn before you earn".

If you know that you struggle with discipline, it makes sense to start with a very small bank.

Many new bettors/traders come from a gambling background and are used to chasing winners, so doing things properly is a bit of an adjustment.

Put aside a very small bank and prove to yourself that you can be patient and disciplined.

Remember... it's much easier to get into good habits from day one than it is to get out of bad habits later on.

Keep Your Bank Separate

I can't stress enough how important it is that you keep your bank completely separate from all other funds.

It's an amount of money that will determine your staking on each bet and trade, so throwing a few quid into Betfair on a Saturday afternoon is not good enough.

Well... it is if you consider betting and trading to be a bit of entertainment for a Saturday afternoon and that's all you want from it.

But if you want to learn how to bet/trade properly and enjoy long-term bank growth, you must have a more structured approach.

There's no problem keeping your bank in Betfair to start with, but make sure that you set a strong password that you have not used at any other website.

As your bank grows, it makes sense to keep a small percentage in Betfair for betting and trading then put the rest to work in a savings account or other investments.

The 8 Rules of Bank Management

Managing your bank properly requires patience and discipline.

Here's a set of rules to stick to...

1. Maintain disciplineEach day, work from a plan. If you have a shortlist of potential bets or trades that you have researched, stick to that shortlist and never be tempted to deviate from it.

Maintaining discipline is the biggest failing and it's the most difficult to get right.2. Be patientSometimes, a game you were intending to get into is postponed, or perhaps the first goal is scored too early. Do not try and replace it with another game that you have not researched!

Be patient and wait for the right opportunities to come along.3. Don't over tradeIt is very easy to be tempted into too many bets or trades. Doing this will inevitably lead to losses in the long run, so don't give in to that temptation. You have a plan, stick to it.4. Stake sensiblyYour stake will be related to the size of your bank. It would be incredibly foolish to go into any bet or trade with liabilities too big for your bank, so don't be a fool!5. Limit lossesOne of the keys to successful betting and trading is avoiding big losses. There's nothing worse than growing your bank steadily, only for one loss to undo all your hard work.

The best bets and trades are those in which your potential profit is higher than your potential loss.6. Record resultsThis is never going to be the most exciting task, but you have to keep a record of your results. There's no other way to know what's working and what isn't... just do it!7. Analyse resultsOf course, you also need to look at your results from time to time. Find out what's profitable and what isn't, do more profitable betting/trading and work on the things that are letting you down.

You'll be amazed how small tweaks make the world of difference to your profitability!8. Compound as you goEinstein said, "compounding is the 8th wonder of the world". By increasing your bank you will also be increasing your stake size, making your wins bigger and growing your bank even faster.

It is quite incredible how quickly a bank can grow by compounding, as you will discover.

Your Betting/Trading Bank

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