In many respects, money management in sports handicapping is just as important as being able to pick winners. That's because if you have poor money management, you can put yourself in the terrible position of picking more winners than losers and still losing money!

That should be unacceptable to you. In fact, you should endeavor to do exactly the opposite with your money management practices. Here are some essential money management reminders.

FIRST AND FOREMOST, NEVER BET MORE MONEY THAN YOU CAN AFFORD TO LOSE.
Remember, this is gambling. You don't have total control of the situation. Even if your analysis is right on, you can still lose a football bet because of weather, injuries, a fluke play, over-excited players, or a bad call. If losses are forcing you to change your lifestyle or are negatively affecting your personal life, you should back off.

ESTABLISH A SPECIFIC SPORTSBETTING BANKROLL. This should be money that is not essential for anything else, especially for food, rent, mortgage payments, taxes, or the welfare of your family. If you lose all of those funds, you should consider your sportsbetting "on hold" until you have enough money to establish a new specific sportsbetting bankroll.

DECIDE HOW MUCH "ONE UNIT" WILL BE FOR YOU. For most people, a unit size of 3 to 4 percent of your total bankroll is about right. For some people, that's $30 or $40. Some, $300 or $400. Others, $3,000 or $4,000. Calculate the size of one unit based on your sportsbetting bankroll. Apply one unit on each well-handicapped play; 1½ on one or two top plays per week; 2 units on your best-of-the-best plays of the season.

TRY TO EMPLOY A PERCENTAGE-OF-BANKROLL METHOD. That is, if your bankroll declines significantly, you can stick with the same 3 to 4 percent of it for one unit, but the actual amount of the unit will be smaller because the size of your bankroll is smaller. If you use this predetermined simple percentage-of-bankroll approach, it will be easier to keep your ego and emotions out of your wagering and to "stay in the game." (You might also want to consult the "Kelly Criterion" articles that can be found in the "Handicapper's Corner" section of www.goldsheet.com.)

DON'T GET BLOWN OUT EARLY IN THE SEASON. It's a long season. You're going to learn a lot about teams in the first two or three weeks. Try to restrain your enthusiasm early, and save a good portion of your speculative bankroll for later when you know more about the teams and when the games become more formful. If you find yourself playing too many early games, cut the amount you bet on each game.

AVOID IMPULSE BETTING. It's tough enough to beat the oddsmaker even when you have thorough knowledge of the teams and of all the factors at work in a football game. So it's very unlikely you're going to be successful over the course of the season if you bet on games merely because you suddenly get a good "feeling" about them. If you want to win, you can't guess at games. You should have good, solid reasons before making a play.

DON'T PLUNGE. Generally speaking, if you bet more than twice as much on any one game, you could be asking for trouble, because if you lose just a couple of those plays, you'll have a hard time achieving a profitable season even if you have a winning handicapping percentage! That thought should be anathema to you.

DON'T CHASE YOUR MONEY. This is probably the worst money-management mistake of all! Always go with well-handicapped, high-percentage plays. It's inevitable that some of them won't work out. But if you think you're going to immediately get your money back that night or the next day by making lots of low-percentage wagers to make up for a few bad beats in high-percentage situations, you're most likely going to be severely disappointed.

DON'T BET ON TOO MANY GAMES. It is true in sportsbetting that "a play is a play is a play." Inevitably there are some weeks in the football season that offer more high-percentage plays than other weeks. If there appear to you to be more good plays than usual some week, it's usually best to decide on the total portion of your bankroll you intend to risk that week (usually no more than 35-40 percent) and then divide that money into smaller-than-normal units, thus wagering the same total amount over the greater number of games.

DON'T BET ON "BAD NUMBERS." It's difficult enough to win when the pointspreads are "fair." Most sportsbooks these days tend to move their pointspreads faster and farther than ever. If you consistently lay 5½ points when the "real" spread should be 3½, or 8 points when the "real" spread is 6½, or if you take only 2 points on an underdog when the consensus line an hour ago was +3½, it is going to be very difficult for you to come out ahead in the long run. It is usually best to anticipate the line moves caused by the "public" and act accordingly. Try to avoid those just-before-the-game impulse wagers.

BE CAREFUL WITH EXOTIC WAGERS. For most professionals, there's nothing like making a single, solid wager on a happening, hard-trying team at good pointspread value. Make enough of those bets and you'll usually have a nice, winning season. However, sportsbooks LOVE their customers to make lots and lots of exotic wagers--parlays, teasers, half-times, propositions, TV games--the more the merrier. Why? Because sportsbooks know there's a greater chance for the public to screw up its high-percentage wagers by tying them to lots of guesses and low-percentage plays. Because that's what sportsbooks WANT you to do is why you SHOULDN'T do it.

DON'T BET ON GAMES JUST BECAUSE THEY'RE ON TV. Betting a game merely because it's on TV is one of the worst criteria for making a wager. The bookies want you to bet all the TV games, especially if you're just guessing, especially if you're trying to "get out" for the week, especially if you've had a few cocktails. If you're going to bet on such games just because they're televised--and it's somewhat understandable if you are, given the number of high-profile TV games these days--you should do so at a "recreational" wagering level about 25 or 30 percent of one unit.

CONSIDER BETTING A LITTLE BIT MORE WHEN YOU'RE WINNING CONSISTENTLY. Try to maximize the value of a winning season by gradually increasing the size of the unit you're wagering as your bankroll increases. Remember, the amount of money you win is more important than your winning percentage.

BEWARE OF EXOGENOUS VARIABLES. Exogenous variables are things outside of sportsbetting that might effect your success. If you're extremely tired, or under an abnormal amount of stress, or having marital problems, or ill, or drunk, or greatly out of your normal handicapping routine for any other reason, your concentration, logic and discipline are quite likely to be affected. Either limit your wagers or avoid them entirely until circumstances return to normal.

LASTLY, IF THINGS AREN'T GOING YOUR WAY, BACK OFF! If you're in a losing rhythm, or absorbing an inordinate number of bad beats, reduce the number of your wagers or cut the size of your wagers, or both. Don't be stubborn about it. Sportsbetting, like life, is a mind game. Pressing only makes things worse. Take a week off. Take two weeks. Regain your perspective. Some seasons will be better for your handicapping style than others.

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