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A Quick Guide to Staking!
Level stakes, Percentage of Bank, Martindale! Which staking method should you use? This section looks at one of the most popular methods of staking and highlights one of it's drawbacks.
The popular "Percentage of Bank" Method
This is one of the most popular staking methods I have come across. Its concept is quite simple. As you bank grows, so does your stake, and as your bank falls, again so does your stake. The theory is that because you are only betting a percentage of your bank, then your bank should never get to zero. Let's take a quick look at this in practice.
| Bet | Bank | % | Stake | Odds | Result | Return | Bank | Gain |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 100.00 | 10% | 10.00 | 3.00 | Loses | (10.00) | 90.00 | -10.0% |
| 2 | 90.00 | 10% | 9.00 | 3.00 | Loses | (9.00) | 81.00 | -19.0% |
| 3 | 81.00 | 10% | 8.10 | 3.00 | Wins | 16.20 | 97.20 | -2.80% |
The interesting thing about this table is that although you have achieved the true strike rate of 1 out of 3 with true odds of 2/1 (3.0), your betting bank is actually down by 2.8%. This is because you have the least amount of money on the winner. Compare this to a level stake of 10%.
| Bet | Bank | % | Stake | Odds | Result | Return | Bank | Gain |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 100.00 | 10% | 10.00 | 3.00 | Loses | (10.00) | 90.00 | -10.0% |
| 2 | 90.00 | n/a | 10.00 | 3.00 | Loses | (10.00) | 80.00 | -20.0% |
| 3 | 80.00 | n/a | 10.00 | 3.00 | Wins | 20.00) | 100.00 | 0.0% |
As you can see with a level stake, starting at 10% of your bank, then you end up breaking even. Although not ideal, it's a whole lot better than being in a loss situation.
Increasing your Betting Bank with "Level Staking"
This is one of my preferred methods of Staking. To calculate a sensible stake you need to determine how many losses you can sustain without completely wiping out your bank. Use the following forumla to calculate an expected maximum losing sequence.
To use the formula, you need to estimate the average odds and the number of events you are likely to bet on over a period of time. As an example, assume you will be betting on 1000 events and that the average odds will be 2/1 (3.00). Based on this information I need to be prepared to cope with a losing sequence of 17 during those 1000 events. To be safe I now double that losing sequence to about 35, meaning I would be looking at a 35 point bank. So one point as a percentage would be 100 / 35 which is 2.86%. I would therefore calculate my level stake at about 2.75% of my betting bank.
Every time my bank increases I calculate a new Level Stake of 2.75% of the new bank. However, I never reduce my stake, as I can comfortably ride out any losing sequence. Let's have a look at this in practice with an initial stake of 2.75%:
| Bank | Stake | Odds | Result | Profit | New Bank | Gain |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100.00 | 2.75 | 2.63 | Win | 4.48 | 104.48 | 4.48 |
| 104.48 | 2.87 | 6.00 | Lose | (2.87) | 101.61 | 1.61 |
| 101.61 | 2.87 | 2.75 | Lose | (2.87) | 98.74 | (1.26) |
| 98.74 | 2.87 | 1.91 | Win | 2.61 | 101.35 | 1.35 |
| 101.35 | 2.87 | 2.63 | Lose | (2.87) | 98.48 | (1.52) |
| 98.48 | 2.87 | 2.63 | Lose | (2.87) | 95.60 | (4.40) |
| 95.60 | 2.87 | 2.75 | Win | 5.03) | 100.63 | 0.63 |
| 100.63 | 2.87 | 4.33 | Win | 9.57 | 110.20 | 10.20 |
| 110.20 | 3.03 | 2.88 | Lose | (3.03) | 107.17 | 7.17 |
| 107.17 | 3.03 | 2.88 | Lose | (3.03) | 104.14 | 4.14 |
| 104.14 | 3.03 | 4.50 | Win | 10.61 | 114.75 | 14.75 |
| 114.75 | 3.16 | 3.75 | Lose | (3.16) | 111.59 | 11.59 |
| 111.59 | 3.16 | 2.50 | Lose | (3.16) | 108.44 | 8.44 |
| 108.44 | 3.16 | 3.25 | Win | 7.10 | 115.53 | 15.53 |
| 115.63 | 3.18 | 2.38 | Win | 4.38 | 119.92 | 19.92 |
As you can see from these results from the real world for two weeks betting, my stake is recalculated each time my bank increases, resulting in a nice 19% profit.
This may not seem like a lot, but £100 growing at 19% a fortnight would be worth about £7,700 at the end of the year. Start with a £500 betting bank and that figure rises to £38,500. Not bad at all for a part-time income.