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• in Betting by Lucy

Welcome to lesson 4 in my Back to Basics Betting Class!

1. Betting and raising in poker are both considered to be aggressive plays while calling is considered to be a passive play. So essentially, the higher your AF number is, the more often you are betting or raising. Or in other words, the higher your AF number, the more aggressive you are as a poker player.
2. I think that the best strategy in betting is to be very good informed about a game, place a single bet on your bet slip with a good stake. For example betting 1000 euros on a good game you can make 300-400 euros, it is kinda risky but if you can image that you can bet.

Get or make a meal-to-go. Make a meal-to-go for your date. Grab a quick bite from a food truck.

If there is one simple thing you can do to get better at betting, it’s to use a robust staking plan. There is no glamour to it, and very few systems providers explain it properly (except occasionally to go a bit mystical about Fibonacci or something similar!). But in my experience, good staking is the bedrock of successful betting. Do it right, and you’re already halfway there. Do it wrong, and you are almost certain to haemorrhage money.

Here then are the rules that I personally follow. There are other approaches but I don’t believe you can go far wrong with these four ideas.

1. When you’re trying out a new system, please use level staking only. Any decent system can benefit from a good staking plan, but until you’ve proven it’s a decent system, you should be using level stakes. Otherwise the staking plan will distort your results (for better or worse), and cloud the issue (which should simply be – ‘is this system any good?’).

2. There is one exception to rule 1. I will allow myself to adopt a level liability approach for laying systems that permit high prices (i.e. laying to SP), but only as a risk mitigation strategy (which is a fancy way of admitting to cowardice).

Like the bookies, I’m scared to death of the Foinavon effect (i.e. getting torched by some runaway longshot), but unlike them, I am unable to persuade mug punters to take lousy odds from me on rank outsiders. So SP laying it sometimes has to be. But even then, you should keep records of what would have happened if you’d used level stakes.

I have switched to using Chris’s wonderful new spreadsheet to test ZeroHype’s Laying service, precisely because it allows us to track to both fixed liabilities and fixed stakes.

3. Once you have a great system, use ratcheted staking. This means betting with a set percentage of your bank, in such a way that your stakes grow gradually as your bank balance rises. For a low-risk system (e.g. betting at short prices), 5% is an acceptable figure. For higher risk methods, you may wish to consider 3%, or even 2%.

The most important points though are that the chosen percentage should:

• “feel right” – i.e. you don’t get too down if you lose, because you know you have a winning system that will come right in the end
• be a figure you decide on in the morning then stick to all day. Don’t try working it out on the fly as you’ll only get confused.

Ratcheted staking also protects your bank balance if you start to lose, by making it last longer. A 5% ratcheted stake might sound a lot, but it lasts a lot longer than the 20 bets that first come to mind. In fact, after 50 straight losing bets on a £100 bank, you would still have a little money left (£7.69, assuming 1 bet per day). Such is the joy of exponential mathematics! (do I need to get out more!?)

You may be tempted, during a dry spell, to keep on going with the same stakes (a flat £5, in my example) in order to accelerate a recovery, but this is seriously flawed thinking. Be professional and stick to your percentage. If you have a sound system, then it will only be a matter of time before things improve, and your bank starts to climb again.

And of course when you do start to make progress, ratcheting benefits from the miracle of exponential mathematics when going upwards too, so that the results can be extraordinary. I digress slightly, but I love the old ‘wheat on the chessboard problem’, which, paraphrasing Wikipedia, illustrates this point quite wonderfully:

• When the creator of the game of chess showed his invention to the ruler of the country, the ruler was so pleased that he gave the inventor the right to name his prize for the invention. The man, who was very wise, asked the king this: that for the first square of the chess board, he would receive one grain of wheat, two for the second one, four on the third one, and so forth, doubling the amount each time. The ruler, arithmetically unaware, quickly accepted the inventor’s offer, even getting offended by his perceived notion that the inventor was asking for such a low price, and ordered the treasurer to count and hand over the wheat to the inventor. However, when the treasurer took more than a week to calculate the amount of wheat, the ruler asked him for a reason for his tardiness. The treasurer then gave him the result of the calculation, and explained that it would be impossible to give the inventor the reward. The ruler then, to get back at the inventor who tried to outsmart him, cut off the inventor’s head to discourage such trickery!
• On the entire chessboard there would be 2⁶⁴ − 1 = 18,446,744,073,709,551,615 grains of rice, weighing 461,168,602,000 metric tons, which would be a heap of rice larger than Mount Everest. This is around 1,000 times the global production of rice in 2010 (464,000,000 metric tons).

Nowadays of course, you are more likely to find that your account is simply closed by your bookie without the need for decapitation, but it is still a problem that a sensible staking plan can easily leave you with… so do look at my article on eight ways to stop your bookie from closing you down.

4. Never chase losses. It really is the fastest way to the poor house. Everyone knows this deep down, but somehow it’s easy to forget when things are going against you.

Why do so many people do it? Because they keep losing, and they want a quick way out, that’s why. Hence the popularity of systems like Fancy Fillies, which has a cute name, but is little more than a well-packaged, loss-chasing plan.

I ditched the Fancy Fillies system after a handful of bets on account of its suicidal approach to staking. This sort of stuff should be avoided at all costs.

And of course, if you really want to play Russian roulette, there’s always Martingale…

And that’s all there is to it!

Lucy x

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Just because you like to bet much larger amounts than the average Joe does not mean you shouldn’t get to reap the benefits and rewards of using online gambling. What it does mean, though, is that you need to put a lot more time into selecting your future high-stakes sports betting home. As the minority among sports bettors across the globe, the resources to help you make this decision are rather limited.

Luckily for you, though, we’re going to dive head-first into this topic today. Now, before we get started, some of you may be ready to get your bets in now and don’t need the reason for the season. If that’s the category you fall into, here you go. Below, you’ll find the list of the top-rated, most-trusted high-stakes betting sites available. You can rest assured that your online betting experience will be top-notch with any of these highly recommended providers.

For the rest of you that are still wanting to do a little research before pulling the trigger, we completely understand. On the remainder of this page, you’re going to find two key sections put together by our team of high-stakes betting sites experts. First, you’ll see the criteria that a betting site needs to have if you’d going to be placing big wagers there. Second, we’re going to walk you through some tips you need to know to choose a high-stakes betting site and make sure that you’re protected.

The Criteria a High-Stakes Betting Site Must Have

If you’re only betting a few bucks here and there on a game, there are certain betting site attributes you can probably deal with missing out on. Since the amount you’re wagering is small, the risk and need for these qualities is typically low. But when you start betting large amounts, things that are on the wish list move over to the must-have list.

Below, you’ll find our list of the most important things that a high-stakes betting site needs to have to be worth your time and money. These things are non-negotiable and can be used as a checklist when evaluating where it is you’d like to place your bets. Keep in mind that these are the main criteria we used when coming up with our list of recommendations you see above.

High Deposit and Withdrawal Limits

Two of the biggest hurdles that high-stakes bettors run into when trying to get action online is the deposit and withdrawal limits at most sites. While a few thousand dollars is plenty for 99% of sports bettors, it falls short for big players or those looking for a big rush. If you typically bet several thousand a game at a brick-and-mortar sportsbook, what good is it going to do you if you can only get a couple thousand online at a time? Are you just going to take weeks to get enough on to place all your bets?

This is why certain sites have taken on the task of catering to high-stakes players. These sites will have deposit limits where you can get sizeable chunks of your bankroll on in a very short period of time. Additionally, the sites also need to provide withdrawal limits that are comparable. If the site lets you put $50k online in one transaction but then only lets you withdraw $500 at a time, you’ll be waiting years to get all your money and winnings off. This is unacceptable.

High-stakes sports betting sites must have options on both sides of the transaction to accommodate your larger transactions.

Fast Payouts and Adequate Options

Not only do high-stakes betting sites need to have large payout limits, but they also need to have adequate payout options that are fast. Now, you’ll notice that we said adequate payout options and not a bunch of payout options. It’s okay in our book for a sportsbook to have only a few payout options for big withdrawals as long as those options are adequate.

Basically, as long as the sportsbook has a way of getting you your money quickly, that’s all that matters. Now, a lot of the sites we’ve recommended do have several options for withdrawing large sums, but this isn’t something that we personally require. That being said, more options are always great in case anything changes, and you decide you’d like to receive your winnings in a different manner.

Regarding speed, this is also something that is relative. In the real world (outside of gambling and sports betting), if you make a large account transfer or movement of money, it can take a little extra time. This is usually to make sure that no mistakes are made and that the money is protected. We’re completely okay with this, as long as the cashouts come quickly and on time with what is laid out by the site.

Good Bets To Make

If they say it’s going to take three days, we’re completely fine as long as it doesn’t take any longer than that. When unnecessary delays start happening with large sums of money, we’re not okay with that, and you shouldn’t be either when you’re a big player.

Higher Bet Limits

Just because a sportsbook lets you load a lot of money into your account does not mean it gets the check mark of approval just yet. The sportsbook also needs to have higher betting limits on the sports that you want to bet. If you have $50k in your account but can only bet $500 a game, you’re probably not going to be very happy. You’ll basically have a bunch of money sitting in your account that you won’t be able to put into play because of the limits.

One of the biggest differences you will see across even the sites we recommend are the bet limits. The best advice we can give is to check out each site for the types of bets you like to make. Before you put any money on, make sure that they have the limits that you want. As you will see in our tips below, there are some ways to work around this if you aren’t pleased with the initial number you see. For the most part, though, we expect the limits at the high-stakes betting sites we recommended to be great for most of you.

VIP and Rewards Programs

Almost every sportsbook online has some sort of VIP or rewards program. However, most of these VIP and rewards programs are directed towards the “normal” sports bettors. Don’t worry; we aren’t calling you weird or not normal. What we mean is that the majority of bettors with any site are going to be lower-limit bettors that bet only a fraction of what you do. While a $200 deposit bonus might be great for them, it’s probably not even going to get you to bat an eye.

Now, if you’ve read any of our other resources, you know that bonuses and promotions are the very last thing we look at when evaluating an online sports betting site. Things are no different when it comes to high-stakes betting sites, but that doesn’t mean we don’t still want to get everything we can.

Look for sites that have programs you can take advantage of. Typically, this won’t be much to do with deposit bonuses, but cash-back or frequent player point promotions will be popular. If you check the website and don’t see a promotion you like, you should just check another site, right? Not so fast.

What we’d like for you to take away here is that if you can get your hands on a great promotion or rewards program, awesome. If the site you want to bet at has everything you want but no promotions, it might still be worth betting there. Bonuses and promotions should be treated as a “cherry on top” and not a make-or-break site characteristic.

Top-Notch Customer Service

When you’re dealing with larger sums of money, you’re going to want to be able to get help with your issues and answers to your questions much quicker. You’re not going to be wanting to wait around when you’ve got issues that need to (and deserve) to be taken care of quickly. For this reason, the quality of the customer service offered by a betting site is a big deal to us.

Additionally, we take a look at what options are offered to higher-limit players. These are things that you’re not going to see listed on the site, but they may be available for bettors like you. What does this look like? Well, what we like to see is some sort of dedicated line to someone within the company or a way to “skip the line” to get priority support.

This can look a lot of different ways, but we want to see a site offering you some sort of priority support. If they don’t take the time to set up some way for you to be better taken care of, then they aren’t doing a great job as a high-stakes betting site.

The Best Site Security

This is a must. When you have large amounts of money anywhere, you’re going to want the best of security. Whether this is a bank or an online sportsbook, the security needs are exactly the same. What we require from a high-stakes betting site to get our seal of approval is security against external threats as well as security from internal threats.

For this reason, we look extensively at the security measures an online sports betting site has in place. Do they have the right encryption in place? Do they have the right safeguards to keep their staff on a need-to-know basis? Is their software up to date and regularly updated with security patches? Do they have a dedicated team working on-site security? Are they up to date on protection measures for new and evolving threats?

These are just a few of the questions we ask and research when evaluating the quality of a high-stakes betting site. There is no room for error here. If even one aspect of their site security is not perfect, we don’t want anything to do with them, and you shouldn’t, either.

A Solid, Documented Industry Track Record

There are many times that we recommend newer sports betting sites to our readers. This is not the case when you’re betting with larger sums of money. Obviously, having an issue with any amount of money is important, but it becomes a lot more important with larger sums of money. For this reason, when selecting high-stakes betting sites, we want to see a longer company history and track record.

Does the management team have experience working with larger sums of money? Has the site had any issues with cashouts, withdrawals, or paying out bets? Are there a lot of customer complaints that can be validated? How long has the company been in the business? Do they own any other gambling or sports betting sites that have a good track record or have had issues?

These are just a few of the questions our team needs to have answered before recommending a high-stakes betting site. We ask these same questions with any betting site we recommend, but we review them with a much finer-tooth comb when more money is at stake.

An Acceptance of Winners

If you’re an experienced sports bettor, you’re going to already be aware of this point. Some sportsbooks have a problem with sports bettors that are beating them too often for too large of sums of money. While there is nothing illegal about beating the sportsbook, they do reserve the right to refuse service. Basically, they can ask you to stop betting and go somewhere else. Believe it or not, this happens all the time.

Sportsbooks don’t like to have professionals betting large sums of money because it affects their bottom line. They’d rather have a bunch of recreational bettors betting smaller amounts of money and giving them almost a guarantee of making money. Good news, though. Not every sportsbook operates this way. There are some sportsbooks that are willing to take any action no matter who it is coming from.

These are the types of sites we recommend for high-stakes betting. When you’re a bigger player, the sites that kick out winners will be much quicker to send you packing. If you plan on losing, don’t worry about this. We are just kidding; hopefully, you aren’t going into sports betting with the plan of losing. The point is, though, you need to make sure you’re betting with a site that is okay with you winning. That way, if you come out firing and winning, you won’t need to find a new high-stakes betting site.

Fun Stakes For A Bet

Tips for Choosing a High-Stakes Betting Site

Knowing what to look for with a high-stakes betting site is a great start, but there is more that goes into choosing your sportsbook home. Because you’re going to be betting much larger sums than the normal bettor, you’re going to want to pay extra attention to the small details.

Good Ideas For Bet Stakes

Below, you’ll find a collection of tips and things to consider when choosing a high-stakes betting home. Our experts (who are big bettors themselves) have listed what they personally found to be the most important to ensure a solid higher-stakes online betting experience.

Know What You Want

You’re going to have a really hard time finding a site that’s a great fit for you if you’re not sure what you’re looking for. This is actually much more important when you’re a high-stakes bettor from a logistics standpoint. Why? Well, you’re going to be moving a lot more money onto the site than the traditional bettor. This means that if you load all your money onto a site and then realize it’s a bad fit for you, you’re going to have to move all of that money off again and back onto a new site. While you hope this would go smoothly, it would probably be a logistical nightmare.

To avoid having to do this, take the time to make sure you pick the right high-stakes betting site from day one. The best way to do this is to make a list of what you have to have and what you refuse to deal with. These are your deal-breakers. Once you have an idea of exactly what you want, get out there and find it. We’re pretty sure everything realistic you want in an online sportsbook, you’ll be able to find with the options we’ve recommended above.

Do Your Research

This shouldn’t be a decision you make lightly. Yes, sports betting is fun, but when you’re making decisions with large sums of money, you need to make sure you are doing your homework. The good news is that the fact that you are here reading this shows you care and are already doing your research.

A solid next step after you finish this guide is checking out the different sites we’ve recommended. Instead of just looking at one, though, look at several of them. This is research. Figure out which one is the best fit for you and offers you more of what you’re looking for. You need to be able to bet somewhere you’re comfortable and have the amenities and opportunities you need to turn a profit.

We’re not here to sound like your parent or school teacher, but please don’t be lazy. Take a little extra time, and you’ll save yourself a lot of time and heartache in the long run.

Contact Customer Support FIRST

When you’re a big-time player, you want the sportsbook to know you’re there. Why? Well, we touched on it a few times throughout the guide, but we want to hammer it home here. Sportsbooks are willing to go above and beyond to make sure that you are happy when you’re a bigger player. However, they aren’t going to be able to do anything special for you if you aren’t in contact with them.

For this reason, we recommend you start your betting career with a new site by contacting their customer support. Request to speak to someone that deals with higher-limit players. If they don’t have someone who does that, that’s probably a good sign you’re not at a great site for you.

Now, what should you be looking to talk to customer support about?

• Ask for a special contact that you can work with directly. This should be a lot like a VIP host or a higher-up in the company that can help you get things done when you need them.
• Ask how they handle customer support when your personal contact is not available. Ideally, you’ll have a VIP host that will take care of everything, but there will be times you need help when they aren’t available. Make sure the high-stakes betting site you choose has a process in place to make sure you get help first.
• Ask them about their VIP bonuses or rewards programs. While they might not have anything listed on the site that would help you, they might have hidden programs they can put together for you. If they do happen to have something listed that you like, make sure there are no limits on it and that you can still take advantage of it. There is no such thing as too many questions here.
• Ask them if they have any unlisted ways to deposit and withdraw large sums of money. Make sure you clarify that the methods they have, listed or unlisted, work for you. Ask about time frames and fees as well just to clarify.

Make sure you ask every single question you want to and that you get the answers you’re looking for. Keep a copy of the customer chat log just in case there are ever any issues in the future.

Remember, You Have the Power

It’s important that you approach all of this with the correct mindset. As the big bettor with the big bucks, you have the power. The sportsbooks are going to want your action, and they need to treat you as such. If they ever treat you like you’re a hindrance or inconvenience, you need to either set them straight or move your action elsewhere.

There’s a reason that if you go to a Vegas casino and are a big bettor, you get special attention. This should be no different when you’re wagering online with a high-stakes betting site. Don’t become a pain their neck but do get the attention that your business deserves.

Ask for Higher Limits If You Want Them

A recurrent trend you probably see throughout this entire guide is to ask for what you want no matter if it’s listed or not. As a high-stakes bettor, you should be getting special privileges and considerations from the sportsbooks due to the size and volume of your action. One area that you can ask for a change is the betting limits that are listed on the site.

Let’s say that you like to bet $5k per game, but the high-stakes betting site you’re interested in only offers bets up to $3k. Should you just bet smaller or find a new site? Well, those options should definitely not be your first move. What you should do is contact customer support or your personal site representative and ask if they are willing to change the limits for you.

While they might say no, it does not hurt to ask at all. They may grant you the privileges permanently, or they may give you the ability to place certain bets at the higher limit. Regardless, you’re never going to know unless you ask. We’ve heard from our team of experts that most of the time when you ask for higher limits, they are going to be accommodated.

Diversify Your Bankroll

When you’re first getting started betting online, we recommend diversifying your bankroll across a few sites. Why? Well, for a couple of reasons. First, strategically speaking, you should be shopping lines to get the best value on all of your bets. If you aren’t shopping lines, you need to check out our strategy section now.

The second reason is for added protection. Do we think there is a risk you should be worrying about? No. But do we think it’s still smart to play the “just in case” game? Yes. Think about how you do your banking. Almost every single wealthy person has their money diversified throughout a lot of different investments and even keeps their money in several different bank accounts. Do they (you) really think that the bank you have your money with is going to go under? Of course not. But you still take the precautions anyway.

That’s what we’re recommending you do here. No, it’s completely not necessary, and we won’t fault you if you keep all your funds on one betting site. But from a strategic standpoint, you’re probably going to want to look into changing that mindset.

Get Started Betting Now

At this point, you should be ready to finish up your research and start getting your accounts set up. We recommend checking out the high-stakes betting sites we’ve recommended at the top of the page. These are the most trusted sportsbooks that offer the best action and the best overall experience. Click through the sites now, see what they have to offer, and chat with the customer support agents to get any of your questions answered.

Choosing a high-stakes sports betting site should be fun, but it’s also something you want to take seriously. Do your homework, check out the options, and ultimately, you’ll find a great place to take your bigger betting action online.