Bankroll management and unit staking

Last updated: 13 July 2026 · 5 min read

More bettors are ruined by staking than by bad picks. This guide covers the unit system we use on every tip: what a bankroll is, how big a unit should be, and why losing runs are survivable if you plan for them.

What a bankroll is

A bankroll is money set aside solely for betting — an amount you could lose in its entirety without it touching your life. It is not "whatever's spare this month". Decide the figure once, in advance, and treat it as the whole budget for the season.

What a unit is

A unit is a fixed slice of that bankroll — most commonly 1–2%. With a £500 bankroll, one unit is £5–£10. Every ProMatchTips tip carries a stake in units, and you translate units into money using your own bankroll, so the same tip scales safely from a £100 pot to a £10,000 one.

• Results become comparable — profit measured in units means our record reads the same for every subscriber, and lets you compare tipsters honestly.
• Stakes stay proportional — as the bankroll grows or shrinks, the money value of a unit moves with it.
• Emotion is removed — the stake was decided before kickoff, not after a frustrating loss.

Losing runs are normal — plan for them

Even genuinely profitable betting loses often. A bettor who wins 45% of the time — comfortably profitable at average odds above about 2.25 — is all but guaranteed to hit six straight losses somewhere in a couple of hundred bets. The question is never whether a losing run comes; it's whether your staking survives it.

At 1% units, a ten-loss run costs about 10% of the bankroll — painful, survivable. At 10% stakes, the same run is ruin. Drawdowns recover; ruin is permanent. That asymmetry is the whole argument for small, flat stakes.

Simple rules that work

• Decide the bankroll once, in writing, before the first bet.
• Bet flat units of 1–2% — resist the "sure thing" that deserves 10%.
• Never chase. A bigger stake after a loss doesn't win the money back; it just raises the cost of the next loss.
• Re-size the unit on a schedule — monthly, say — never straight after a big night in either direction.
• If the bankroll is gone, stop. That money bought the entertainment; it owes you nothing.

Why we publish stakes in units

Unit staking is what makes a track record mean something: profit per unit staked can be checked, compared and audited. Every pick on our public record carries its stake, and our guide to judging a tipster's record shows how to use that information — on us or anyone else.

Bet responsibly

Betting is for adults (18+) and should only ever be entertainment paid for with money you can afford to lose. Chasing losses is the clearest warning sign there is. If it stops feeling that way, stop — our responsible gambling page lists free, confidential organisations that can help.