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Strategy

Bankroll / Unit Calculator

Find your unit size and recommended stake based on bankroll, risk tolerance, and your edge. Doubles as your starting point for tracking results.

New to this? Start with:Kelly Calculator

Quick start

  1. Enter your bankroll in dollars
  2. Pick a risk tolerance (Conservative / Moderate / Aggressive)
  3. Enter your edge % and average odds — see recommended unit + stake

Try a typical sharp setup

$1000 bankroll, Moderate risk, 5% edge, decimal 2.0 → $25 unit, 40 units, ~$50 recommended stake (2 units).

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Range$0 – $10,000
Risk Tolerance

2.5% unit size. Half Kelly cap. Balanced choice — most professionals operate here.

How much better your true probability estimate is than the line's implied probability. Typical sharp edges run 2-5%.

The typical price you bet (e.g. 1.91 for -110 American). Affects Kelly stake sizing.

Enter your bankroll, edge, and average odds to see your unit size and recommended stake.

Copy a link that opens this calculator with your current values.

How to Use the Bankroll Calculator

Enter your Bankroll — only money you can afford to lose. Pick Risk Tolerance: Conservative (1% units, quarter Kelly), Moderate (2.5%, half Kelly), or Aggressive (5%, full Kelly). Enter your Expected Edge as a percentage (typical sharp edges run 2-5%) and the Average Decimal Odds you bet at.

The calculator returns the unit size, total units in bankroll, recommended dollar stake, recommended units per bet, and stop-loss threshold.

Worked example: $1000 bankroll, Moderate risk, 5% edge, decimal 2.0. Unit size = $25 (2.5% of $1000). Units in bankroll = 40. Recommended stake = $50 (half Kelly), which equals 2 units. Stop-loss = $250 (25% drawdown).

Once you have a unit size, the next step is logging every bet in the tracker to validate your edge over time.

How it works

Your unit size is a fixed percentage of your bankroll. Sizing every bet in units (not dollars) keeps your strategy consistent as the bankroll grows or shrinks. The recommended stake is a Kelly-capped dollar amount based on your edge and odds.

  1. Enter your bankroll — The full amount you've set aside for sports betting — money you can afford to lose.
  2. Pick risk tolerance — Conservative = 1% units / quarter Kelly. Moderate = 2.5% / half Kelly. Aggressive = 5% / full Kelly.
  3. Enter your edge and odds — Edge % is how much your true-prob estimate beats the line. Odds is the typical price you bet.

Related tools and guides

Use the Kelly calculator to size a single bet from a specific edge, the Pro Toolkit for the full no-vig → EV → Kelly pipeline, and the bankroll-management guide for the strategy behind unit sizing.

Strategy

Kelly Calculator

Optimal stake size based on your edge and bankroll

Advanced

Pro Betting Toolkit

All-in-one no-vig, EV, and Kelly pipeline

Advanced

Bankroll Management Guide

Learn how to protect and grow your betting budget

Bankroll Management FAQs

A fixed percentage of your bankroll used as the base bet size — typically 1-3% depending on risk tolerance. Sizing in units keeps strategy consistent as bankroll grows or shrinks.

Start Conservative (1% units, quarter Kelly) if new. Moderate (2.5%, half Kelly) is the most common pro choice. Aggressive (5%, full Kelly) needs very accurate edge estimates.

Kelly sizing recommends more than base unit when edge is high. A 5% edge at decimal 2.0 with Moderate risk = 2-unit recommendation. Risk tolerance caps prevent over-betting.

A checkpoint, not a stop. Hitting 25-30% drawdown means either variance caught up OR your edge was inflated. Pause to reassess before sizing back up.