Flat Betting in Sports Explained: What Does It Mean and How It Works

Flat betting is a bankroll management strategy where a player consistently bets the same fixed amount — typically 1-5% of their total bankroll — regardless of the event.

For instance, if you have a $100 bankroll, you might decide to place a series of 10 bets, each worth $1 (1% of your bankroll) across multiple events.

Note: This strat is promoting safer play by avoiding the risk of significant losses. However, it could result in a net loss over time.

Example of Using Flat Betting

Let’s imagine you’ve set aside $500 for sports betting. You decide to apply flat betting by using 2% of your bankroll for each wager. This translates to $10 per bet. 

Over time, you consistently place these $10 bets, aiming for a total of 50-100 bets to evaluate the effectiveness of this strategy for your betting style. 

What and How to Bet?

Whether you’re just starting out or you’ve been around the block, the key is to bet a steady portion of your bankroll:

• For new bettors: Stick to 1-3% of your bankroll per bet ($500 bankroll = $5-$15 bets).
• For the seasoned: Up to 5% per bet ($500 bankroll = $25 bets).

Your focus? Betting odds above 1.8. What you bet on doesn’t matter; it could be the final score, handicaps, or totals.

Testing the Flat Betting Strategy

We allocated $1,000 to our bankroll and decided each bet would be 2% of this amount ($20 per bet). Over the course of 100 bets, our bankroll experienced fluctuations but ultimately demonstrated the strategy’s potential.

Our bankroll held steady at $1000 for the first ten bets, but by the 40th bet, it had grown to $1100. By the end, our profit was $229, bringing our final bankroll to $1229.

Another option is to use a variation of flat betting, where you stick to a fixed percentage of your bankroll for every bet (in this case, 2%). However, instead of always using the original bankroll, you calculate 2% of whatever your current bankroll is after each bet.

Here’s an example to show how the stake changes based on the size of the current bankroll. Let’s start with $10,000, betting 2% of our bankroll over 10 bets:

After these ten bets, we ended up with a slight loss. However, to truly gauge the effectiveness of this strategy, you should aim for at least 100 bets.

Popular Types of Flat Betting

• Static Flat Betting 

This approach is all about consistency. Bettors stick to wagering a steady 1% of their bankroll on every bet, making it a cautious and measured strategy.

• Academic/Expert Flat Betting

Bettors vary their stakes between 1%, 2%, or 3% of their bankroll, aligning their bet size with how confident they feel about the outcome.

• Aggressive Flat Betting

Here, bettors maintain a bold stance, always betting 3% of their bankroll, regardless of any ups and downs in their funds.

• Chaotic Flat Betting 

This method introduces a wild card, with bet sizes fluctuating between 5% and 10% of the bankroll, injecting a higher risk and excitement level into the betting process.

• Fixed-Amount Flat Betting Explained

In fixed-amount flat betting, a bettor’s stake changes based on predetermined bankroll thresholds. Here’s how it works:

1. Starting with a $1,000 bankroll, you wager $30 per bet (3% of the bankroll).
2. You aim to increase the bankroll to $1,200. Once this target is hit, the bet size is adjusted to 4% (each bet $48).
3. Conversely, if the bankroll dips to $800, the bet size is reduced by 1%, resulting in a new bet size of 2% ($16 per bet).

Pros and Cons of Flat Betting