How to Win at the Sportsbook with $20 (Easy Step by Step)

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Most of my friends know I bet on sports, and one of them recently asked me a question: He wanted to know how to win at the sportsbook with $20.

I thought it was a good question, so after explaining a few strategies to him, I decided to write a post about it.

Winning at the sportsbook with $20 can be challenging. But you can do it. You just need the right strategies and mindset and a little bit of luck.

$20 might be a small bankroll, but it’s enough to build a bigger bankroll. Here are the strategies and tips I shared with my friend.

Also, while I’m thinking about it, be sure to check out my new post comparing Bovada versus Betonline.

How to Win at the Sportsbook with a Small Bankroll

No matter the size of your bankroll, winning can be hard. But when you’re working with a small bankroll, it adds another challenge.

Here are the steps involved with winning as a sports bettor with a small bankroll:

• Make small bets.
• Learn to handicap games.
• Find the best lines.
• Invest all your winnings into your bankroll.

Protecting your bankroll with small bets and learning to handicap games are the two most important things you need to do to be a winning sports bettor.

As you build your bankroll you can bet more. But until you learn how to handicap games and win 51%+ of the time, you’re not a winning sports bettor

Finding good lines helps your progress. Finding the best lines is the easiest step. You simply need access to lines at several different sportsbooks.

Investing all your profits back into your bankroll lets you bet more in the future. If you learn how to win and have a large enough bankroll to bet more in the future, you can make a lot of money. But it all starts with learning how to win at the sportsbook with a small bankroll.

I know many sports bettors are concerned with sportsbooks being rigged. I’ve bet with over a dozen sportsbooks and never found evidence of cheating. Stick with a well-known sportsbook and you don’t have to worry about getting cheated.

Using a Small Bankroll

Building a winning sports betting practice with a small bankroll of $20 is hard. Because you’re starting small, you have to find a way to make small bets.

Start with accounts at offshore sportsbooks (like Bovada) so you can make small bets. Local bookies and Vegas sportsbooks require larger bet sizes. But when you open accounts at offshore betting sites, you can make bets as low as $1 per game.

Here’s a list of the best online sports betting sites with low deposit limits. Create accounts in at least two or three sportsbooks so you can shop for the best lines.

Never risk more than 5% of your bankroll on a game. With a $20 bankroll, this means bets of $1. This might seem minuscule, but you have to protect your bankroll.

With a $20 bankroll, your goal is to slowly grow your bankroll. Figure out how to win more bets than you lose and double your bankroll over time. Once you double your bankroll to $40, work on doubling it again.

Grow your bankroll to $100 and keep going. Once you build to $200, start betting $5 on each game. Resist the urge to bet more too early; a run of bad luck can destroy your bankroll.

If you don’t want to place sports bets online, you need to find a local bookie. But most local bookies don’t take small bets. And with a $20 bankroll, you can’t afford to make large bets.

Picking Winning Sports Bets

Handicapping skills are what you need to pick winning sports bets. And handicapping separates winning sports bettors from losing sports bettors.

What are good handicapping skills and how do you develop them?

Good handicapping skills include evaluating teams, players, and games so you can predict outcomes. Practice gives you the best opportunity to improve your handicapping skills.

Here’s a secret you can use when starting with a small bankroll:

Practice your handicapping skills on paper before placing real money bets. Handicap games and shop for lines and record your bets. You can bet on paper for as long as you need.

When you learn how to win using handicapping on paper, you can start making small real money bets.

The Best Sports for Small Bankroll Betting

Sports bettors tend to be fans first. And they start betting on the teams they like and the sports they like. The NFL attracts many sports bettors. And while you can bet on the NFL, I don’t recommend it when starting with a $20 bankroll.

NFL betting lines are tight. You can make money betting NFL lines, but you need all the help you can get with a small bankroll. So, bet baseball, NCAA basketball, or NCAA football.

Each of these three sports offers more games. More games mean more opportunity to find more profitable betting lines.

Here’s a little more information about the three sports I recommend:

I like betting on baseball. It’s easy to build a winning baseball betting model. The season offers several games each day over several months. So, every day you have the opportunity to find profitable betting lines.

NCAA basketball and football also offer more games and lines than the NFL. And the sportsbooks don’t focus as much on getting all of the lines perfect like they do in the NFL. The big conferences, like the SEC and Big 10, are more important to the sportsbooks than smaller conferences.

And the smaller NCAA conferences are where you can find profitable betting lines.

How to Win Big Money at the Sportsbook

If you want to win money at the sportsbook you do the same things as you do when you have a small bankroll. You just do them on a bigger scale.

With $1 bets, it takes a long time to go from a $20 bankroll to a $40 or $100 bankroll. But once you build a larger bankroll, you can make larger bets.

When you make $5 bets it doesn’t take as long to go from $200 to $300 or $400 in your bankroll. And when you get to $1,000 you can make $20 and $30 bets.

Making big money betting on sports requires a big bankroll. Using the standard bet sizing of 1% to 5% of your bankroll, with a $100,000 bankroll you bet $1,000 to $3,000 a game. And only at these levels do you start making big money betting on sports.

With a small bankroll, your goal needs to be to build a bigger bankroll. And a bigger bankroll only comes from learning how to win.

The Best Way to Win Money at the Sportsbook

I’ve covered everything you need to know to win at the sportsbook. The best way to win money at the sportsbook will always be handicapping.

You can improve your handicapping skills by reading books and articles and watching videos. But the best way will always be to practice.

If you don’t practice handicapping and work on improving every day, your skills won’t improve. If you do get better every day, eventually you can make money betting on sports with a bankroll of any size.

The Best Sports Betting Tactics

Handicapping will always be the most important sports betting skill. But some sports betting tactics help.

Here are the best sports betting tactics smart handicappers use:

• Find the best lines for the side of each game you bet on.
• Learn the value of home teams in handicapping.
• Bet the middle of games when you find wide line gaps.
• Find lines the sportsbooks make mistakes on.
• Become an expert in one or more areas.

Professional sports bettors use all of these tactics and more. And they’re all important. But the one thing you can do as a new sports bettor with a small bankroll is to become an expert.

I mentioned baseball and NCAA football and basketball earlier. Pick a conference in NCAA sports and become an expert on every team in the conference. Learn more about the teams than the sportsbooks know.

Or pick a division in MLB and do the same thing. You have access to news and statistics about any team or player you’re interested in. When you become an expert it makes handicapping easier. And better handicapping means more wins and more profit.

Conclusion

You can win at the sportsbook with $20. But you’re going to have to work at it.

Handicapping games and learning how to win is your first job. Once you learn how to win, you can make money with any size bankroll. Your bankroll just sets the amount you can bet on each game.

Even with a small bankroll, you can build a big bankroll. But if you never learn how to win, the size of your bankroll doesn’t matter.

Finding good betting lines helps your bankroll and sports betting results. But finding the best lines is easy. Focus on handicapping and everything else falls into place.