Unit Madness!

It's my opinion that units are severely misunderstood by the masses. When you take into account the very definition of a unit you realize that anyone that plays, let's say, 10 units on their P.O.Y. is either incredibly misinformed or simply ignorant to the intended use and meaning of what a unit is and does for, you, the bettor.

In short units are a percentage of ones bankroll.

This means units are dynamic - they change with your bankroll.

This is why I shake my head at bettors that throw around large unit plays because frankly it's just wrong. Now I'm not telling you how to spend your money gambling (at least I hope it's your money. lol) but what I'm saying is that making those kinds of plays flies in the face of the very definition of a unit - a percentage of ones bankroll. Setting a unit to a fixed dollar amount is not applying the unit to ones bankroll properly.
Why?
Because utilizing a small percentage of ones bankroll protects the bettor from going bankrupt when he/she hits the inevitable losing streak. For example, if you have a bankroll of $500 it is suggested you play no more than $10 (2%) to $25 (5%) per play. Now I know that immediately you're thinking,"$10 to $25 bets with a $500 bankroll? How am I supposed to make money that way?". The short answer is - it's a marathon not a sprint. That's something I'll touch on shortly but for now lets go back to percentages. Although the percentage a bettor uses varies the s... [More]