Maintaining a bankroll is one of the key elements to a successful matched betting strategy. But for beginners, the concept of a bankroll can at first seem confusing.
What is a bankroll? When do you get it back? What's the optimal bankroll?
In this piece we'll answer all of the above and more, helping you strengthen your understanding of a matched betting bankroll and how it can help you maximize your earnings.
What is a Bankroll in Matched Betting?
Also known as a 'float', a bankroll in matched betting is the initial cash you need to place on your qualifying bet and hedge bet to unlock your free bet promotion.
Due to the matched betting process covering all potential outcomes of a sporting event, you will receive your bankroll back with profit once you have completed the process.
As a result, your bankroll cash is not at risk. Think of it as a temporary deposit to get you started, or an investment that will provide guaranteed returns.
3 Key Considerations
Before we jump into strategies FAQs, it's important to be aware of some key features of a bankroll. If you only take away three points from this article, it should be these:
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Zero Risk of Losing Bankroll: When you follow the matched betting process, there's no risk of losing your bankroll. As a ProfitDuel Premium member, you have access to our full range of matched betting guides, walking you through every step of the way.
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Complete Control: Your bankroll remains exclusively under your control, residing in your personal bookmaker accounts or bank account. This ensures that only you have access to your funds, and only you decide what to do with them.
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Scale for Increased Profits: The larger the bankroll, the larger the potential profits. Not only will a larger bankroll allow you to unlock more generous risk-free bet promotions, but it will also give you the option of carrying out multiple free bet conversion (AKA matched betting) opportunities at once.
Now, let's get into the nitty-gritty.
What is the Minimum Bankroll for Matched Betting?
While it is possible to start with a bankroll as little as $10, this minimal amount will require significant patience to gradually build it up working through matched betting offers. This is due to the fact you'll be bound to using lower odds for free bets.
Whilst an initial bankroll of $200+ would be recommended to fast-track profit-building, beginners can start earning decent profits with an initial bankroll as little as $50. 
What is the Optimal Bankroll for Matched Betting?
As mentioned, an initial bankroll of around $200 will be enough to fast-track your matched betting journey as a beginner, however, if you're looking to earn maximum profits in the shortest period of time, a higher bankroll would be optimal.
An initial bankroll between $500 - $800 offers ultimate flexibility. Enabling you to unlock more generous risk-free bet offers and participate in several offers at once, this starting pot would be an optimal range to kickstart a beginner, without overwhelming them.
Strategies for Building Your Matched Betting Bankroll
Several matched betting strategies can be followed when it comes to bankroll management. For beginners, the most effective approach involves systematically completing sportsbook signup offers, from lower bankroll options upwards.
Doing this by yourself can be a time-consuming process, involving trawling through online sportsbooks, signing up and calculating offer bankroll requirements one-by-one. However, a good matched betting platform will do all of this for you.
At ProfitDuel we scan every eligible sportsbook in your area, pull out each of their best offers, present them from lowest required bankroll to highest, and even provide a step-by-step instructions on how to complete each one. Easy.
Bankroll for Reload Offers
A reload offer (or ongoing offer) is a promo type offered by a sportsbook for existing users after they've signed up and already redeemed any welcome offers.The bankroll required for reload offers depends on available time and the type of offers pursued.
If you're keen to spend a few hours per week completing guaranteed profit reload offers and price boosts, a bankroll of at least $500 will generally do the job. But for experienced matched bettors engaging in more complex offers, such as 2up early-payout offers or horse racing refunds, a larger bankroll of upwards of $1,000 is usually required. 
Bankroll for Matched Betting Casino Offers
When matched betting using casino offers, though the process itself differs, the similar basic concepts with bankroll apply.
A minimum of $200 bankroll should be reserved when looking to complete beginner, no-risk free bet offers. But for those looking to target very high return medium-high risk casino offers, a significantly higher bankroll of $1,500+ is recommended.
How Can I Manage My Bankroll Effectively?
Managing your bankroll is a key part of long-term profit growth when matched betting. But it can be a chore. Tracking ingoings and outgoings, calculating profits, mapping future opportunities - the list goes on.
But it doesn't have to be that difficult, helpful tools do exist to help you manage your bankroll easily and stop relying on spreadsheets and reminders.
At ProfitDuel, you can use our Profit Tracker tool to instantly track every profit you make matched betting. Logging your weekly, monthly and yearly profits and mapping your actual vs expected profit over a period of time, a profit tracker saves any confusion and makes managing your bankroll requirements simple and transparent.
The Final Step
Now you've got a solid understanding of what a bankroll is, how it works and some top tips to manage it, how about you put it into practice to start earning some profits?
In fact, we'll make the decision easy for you.
We're that confident you'll love the ProfitDuel platform and the profits you earn from it, we're offering new members a 14-Day Free Trial that gives you full access to all ProfitDuel resources, as well as a risk-free welcome offer worth $100+.
Any questions? Our industry-leading customer care team will be on hand to guide you every step of the way. Happy profiting!
