Many punters concentrate their efforts on picking winners. Their's no doubt that is a key part of the game but it's not the only requirement for successful punting. Another key component is staking - How much should you stake on various bets?

Staking for most punters is a split second, spur of the moment decision. It is usually driven more by situational or emotional factors, like the punter's win/loss position at the time that they place their bet, rather than their sound logical betting sense. The fact is that punters can improve their returns by applying a proven staking plan to arrive at their bet amount.

The idea of staking seems simplistic on first look. However when you consider the various factors and betting approaches, it opens up a world of opportunity for the punter. Here's some of the key considerations when creating a staking plan.

Staking to manage risk

Professional punters will use a staking plan which is consistent with their appetite for risk. The more risk adverse punter will establish a bank and stake each bet at a fraction of the bank balance. This approach provides cover for longer than expected losses, while driving growth as the bank increases in size over time.

At the other end of scale is the punter who sets a profit target and bets until they reach it. Each loss means adjusting the risk upward by betting higher stakes to win their set profit target.

Punters who set a profit target in each race might also adjust their stake according to the price to achieve that target amount. For example if the profit target is $100 and a runner is at $6 the punter will bet $20. Considering the same profit target the punter will bet $10 on a horse showing odds of $11 to win his $100.

 

Staking criteria

Our discussions with professional punters over the years have revealed a range of different approaches towards setting a betting stake. The common thread running through them all is sound logic. Confidence level and the number of unreliable form variables in a particular race are a few examples of criteria that punters use to drive their stake on any particular bet.

 

Multiple Horse Staking

A significant number of punters bet on more than one horse in a race using a multiple-bet staking approach. Punters adopting this approach usually apply a betting system to find their top three or four chances in a race. The punter then sets an amount that they are targetting to win in each race and enters this into a multi-bet staking calculator to determine the different staking amounts to place on their chances to return the targetted amount.

 

To get more information on staking plans, read through our library of articles taken from real professional punters and form experts below.