This is how to use the Maria Staking strategy.
Key Points
– The Maria Staking Strategy is a bankroll management plan for success.
– The strategy may or may not work in betting on various sports.
The Maria Staking Strategy – How It Works
When you start betting on sports, you start looking for different strategies that will help you win more. You figure out pretty quickly that winning more bets doesn’t always guarantee winning more money. Bettors also figure out that learning how to manage their money is one of the keys to increasing the size of one’s bankroll.
One of the plans you might come across is the Maria Staking Strategy. It really isn’t a betting strategy as much as it is a money management plan.
The whole concept comes from an online figure known as Maria Santonix. She is credited with popularizing this strategy. It is reported that took a bankroll of 3,000 British pounds and turned it into 100,000 pounds in a little over ten months.
While all of her wagers were on horses, the strategy could be used in other sports. She never did disclose how she chose which horses to back, but did offer that she had some connections in the racing industry.
Regardless, what transpired was something outstanding. Here, we lay out what was done and how the Maria Staking Strategy works.
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The Plan
The Maria Staking strategy works like this. Bettors will wager a predetermined portion of their total bankroll on each individual bet. The odds associated with each bet are what determine the amount of the bet.
This plan was developed in the U.K. where decimal odds are most frequently used. Here, we will use American odds to explain the strategy.
Here is how it all works. When the odds on a wager are +250 or shorter, bettors will stake 1 percent of their bankroll. With $1,000 bankroll, the bet is $10.
Now, if the odds are +260 to +640, the wager shrinks to 0.6 percent of the bankroll. With the $1,000 bankroll, that wager would be $6.
For bets with odds of +650 to +1000, the wager is 0.4 percent. Using our example of $1,000 bankroll, the corresponding bet would be $4.
The other part of the strategy is that the bets will adjust as the bankroll adjusts. Knowing when to adjust your betting unit size is difficult for bettors. This strategy makes it easy.
If the bankroll grows, the amounts that you wager will also grow proportionately. When the odds are +250 or shorter, you still bet 1 percent, but the amount of the wager will be different because the size of the bankroll is different.
There is an exception. The amount of the bets will not decrease until a player’s bankroll has shrunk to a level that is 65 percent of the initial amount. We look at an example next.
Maria Staking Strategy Example
Most bettors, especially inexperienced ones, are not likely to begin their sports betting journey with 3,000 dollars, pounds, or whatever currency. They will probably start with something much lower. For the sake of example, we will use 1,000 units, which could be dollars, pounds, euros, or any currency.
We begin with $1,000 and we will place our first wager on a bet at +200. That means we will stake 1 percent or $10. Let’s say we win the first bet. We profit $20 which gets added back to the bankroll. The bankroll is now $1,020.
Our next bet is one at +300. That means we will wager 0.6 percent of our new bankroll of $1,020. That’s a $6.12 bet. Let’s say we lose that bet. The bankroll goes down to $1,013.88.
For our third bet, we find a great underdog at +600. Using the Maria Staking strategy, that means we will risk 0.4 percent of our bankroll ($1,013.88). We put $4.06 on our underdog.
When the underdog wins, we profit $24.36. That, of course, gets added back to the bankroll and leaves us with $1,038.24. And, the cycle continues.
The Exception
Like any rule, there are some exceptions. With the initial bankroll of $1,000, your bets would be $10, $6, and $4 depending upon the odds. If you lose the first bet, these wagers remain $10, $6, and $4.
In fact, those bets will remain the same even if your bankroll keeps decreasing. Those wagers only change if your bankroll gets to 65 percent – or $650 – of the initial amount. If you can avoid these habits of the losing sports bettor, it may not come to this. However, if it does, you have a strategy.
If your bankroll falls below $650, your betting amounts will change. You will still use the 1.0, 0.6, and 0.4 percent numbers. The bets would change to $6.50 for bets with odds at +250 or shorter, $3.90 for those with odds between +260 and +640, and $2.60 for bets with odds of +650 to +1000.
Can You Attain Success with the Maria Staking Strategy
Like many betting strategies, the answer probably depends upon certain factors. A big factor is the sport you wager on. The namesake of this strategy bet only on horses. When betting on horses, you often find odds higher than +250. Betting on nightly NBA games, it would become pretty risky betting only on underdogs on the moneyline.
The other key thing to remember is that this is simply a money management strategy. Nowhere in this plan is there anything about picking winners. At some point, you have to become adept at picking winners and doing so at least half the time. At plus-money odds, you can get away with losing more often, but you have to win at some point to increase the bankroll.
If you are considering using this strategy, think of it this way. It’s like following a diet plan. The plan lays out how many calories you should eat for the day. Maybe it even breaks up how much to eat at each meal. However, nowhere in the diet does it tell you exactly what to eat.
The Maria Staking strategy can lessen exposure to risk and prevent bettors from chasing losses. Keep in mind that she didn’t bet on anything over +1000. Bettors that can find a way to pick consistent winners can find a way to grow their bankroll using this strategy.
