Clients of bookmakers at some point decide to analyze the profitability of their bets. The ROI metric helps to correctly calculate betting figures. This term is widely used in business and helps to understand financial performance.
NO BETTING STRATEGY GUARANTEES 100% PROFIT!
What is ROI in sports betting
The term ROI comes from English — Return on Investments. It shows how effectively your own funds are used in sports betting.
Why ROI is important in sports betting
A bettor’s goal is to determine profitability over a medium or long term. Simply calculating profit or loss does not provide the full picture, since it ignores the total amount invested. To accurately assess overall performance, professionals have developed a specific formula.
How ROI is calculated
The formula was created by professionals who have long been studying investment efficiency in bookmakers. ROI allows bettors to calculate profitability while taking total stakes into account — in simple terms, it measures betting performance efficiency.
Formula
Net profit = total winnings − total amount of bets.
Formula example
A bettor has a bankroll of $100 and places 10 bets of $10 each. Without considering the exact number of winning and losing bets, we calculate the required indicator. After a short period, the bankroll grows to $115.ROI = ($115 − $100) / $100 × 100% = 15%.
The simplicity of ROI calculation allows every bettor to assess their betting efficiency. Both beginners and professionals can determine their long-term profitability — the formula is the same for everyone.
What is considered a good ROI in betting
Professional bettors calculate ROI over long periods and across different bookmakers, taking into account several secondary factors — one of them being the margin. Experienced bettors place bets on multiple platforms to diversify risks and find the best odds using analytical tools.
Online, you can find many discussions mentioning ROI levels of 20–30%. Such results are possible but usually reflect short-term outcomes for beginners. Inexperienced bettors can easily record a large profit or loss over a short series of 5–10 bets.
A reasonable long-term ROI is 3–10%. Bettors who have placed 100–1,000 bets can objectively analyze their performance.
When ROI is useful in betting
As mentioned earlier, ROI is only effective over the medium or long term. The indicator measures profitability but does not account for all influencing factors.
Which factors play an important role?
The following should be considered:
- Bookmaker margin.
- Taxes.
- Total investment amount relative to profit.
- Time spent relative to profit earned.
- Risk level relative to investment and final profit.
Example 1: a bettor places 10 bets of $10, investing a total of $100. The net profit amounts to $15. In this case, the risks are high relative to the money earned.
Example 2: a cashier earns $250 per month, working 10-hour shifts for 15 days. A real estate agent earns $150 by working with 3 clients for a total of 15 hours. Who is more efficient? In terms of time spent, the agent — he earned $150 in just one and a half cashier shifts.
ROI is pure mathematics. If a bettor wants to analyze profitability and betting efficiency, they can use the formula above. For a deeper understanding of betting performance, opportunities, and risks, it’s important to also account for additional factors.
The ROI metric is also useful for analyzing betting strategies — which ones bring higher long-term profits, considering investment size and time spent.
Conclusion
ROI is an optimal metric for evaluating a bettor’s effectiveness based on completed bets or settled slips.
An ROI of 3% or higher is considered a good long-term result over a distance of 500–1,000 bets.
NO BETTING STRATEGY GUARANTEES 100% PROFIT!
