A unit in betting is the standard stake you measure every bet against, usually set as a fixed share of your bankroll such as 1%. On a $2,500 bankroll a 1% unit is $25, so a 2-unit bet is $50, and a record of +18 units is $450 of profit at that size.
Units exist so results can be compared whatever size people bet. Two punters backing the same selections at $10 and at $500 a bet have the same record in units and very different ones in dollars, which is why tipsters and careful record keepers count in units.
How betting units work
Three lines of arithmetic cover it:
- unit size = bankroll x unit share
- stake in units = stake in dollars / unit size
- units won = profit in dollars / unit size
Example: Illustrative figures. Two punters follow the same 120 bets, each staked at 1 unit, and both finish +9.6 units. Punter A's unit is $10, so A is up 9.6 x $10 = $96. Punter B's unit is $250, so B is up 9.6 x $250 = $2,400.
The record in units is identical and the dollars differ 25 times over, because B's unit is 25 times A's. A unit is a measuring stick, not a strategy: a bigger unit multiplies the dollars in both directions and leaves the yield where it was. ROI vs yield covers turning any record into a yield.
A unit as a fixed share of your bankroll
Your bankroll is money set aside for betting that you can afford to lose, kept apart from everything else, and bankroll management covers setting one. The unit is a share of it, written down as a dollar figure. The decision that follows is when that figure changes:
| Approach | When the unit changes | Trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Fixed dollars | Only when you choose to re-set it | Simple records, but after losses each unit is a bigger share of a smaller bank |
| Re-set on a schedule, such as monthly | On the re-set day, to the same share of the bank then | Stakes follow the bank, a month behind |
| Re-set before every bet | Every bet | This is percentage staking, one of the staking plans |
With illustrative figures: a $2,500 bankroll and a 1% unit of $25. After a poor month the bank is $2,000. Keep the $25 unit and every bet is now 1.25% of the bank; re-set it and the unit becomes $2,000 x 0.01 = $20. After a good month to $3,000, a re-set lifts the unit to $30.
The two directions are different decisions. Re-setting down after a fall keeps each bet the same share of what is left, and you can fix that rule before the season starts. Raising the unit to recover a bad run is chasing losses: it puts more dollars on each bet just as the bank has shrunk, and it has no place in a plan.
How much is a unit? Choosing a unit size
There is no standard dollar figure for a unit. It is whatever share of the bankroll you choose, and that choice decides what an ordinary losing stretch costs.
Take an illustrative method betting at $2.20 with a real 2% edge. Over 500 level bets, its record falls 20 units or more below an earlier high at some point in about 2 runs in 3, and 30 units or more in about 3 runs in 10. Those figures follow the record's distance below its previous best, one bet at a time, across every way the 500 bets can land. On a $2,500 bankroll:
| Unit share | Unit in dollars | A 20-unit fall costs | A 30-unit fall costs |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.5% | $12.50 | $250, 10% of the bank | $375, 15% |
| 1% | $25 | $500, 20% | $750, 30% |
| 2% | $50 | $1,000, 40% | $1,500, 60% |
| 5% | $125 | $2,500, the whole bank | More than the bank holds |
Each cost is the size of the fall times the unit: 30 x $25 = $750, which is 30% of $2,500. To choose, work backwards from the largest fall you could sit through. If that is 15% of the bank, and a 30-unit fall comes in about 3 runs in 10 for this method, the unit is 15% / 30 = 0.5% of the bankroll, or $12.50 on $2,500. A bigger unit grows a winning record faster in dollars and makes every ordinary fall bigger by the same factor. Longer prices bring longer losing runs, as losing streaks in betting shows, so a punter backing $6.00 chances needs a smaller unit than one betting at $2.20 to take the same falls.
A unit can also outgrow what a bookmaker will accept. Bookmakers can limit an account's stakes under their terms, and a unit above that limit is a record of bets you could not fully place.
Risk: Betting involves risk. A larger unit makes a winning stretch pay more in dollars and a losing one cost more, and the edge in these examples is an assumption, not a promise. There is no guarantee of profit at any unit size. See responsible gambling for limits and support.
Level stakes, confidence scales and to-win units
Records count units in three ways, and two records only compare when they use the same one:
- Level stakes: every bet is 1 unit. This is the plain form, and the one to restate other records in.
- Confidence scale: a tipster stakes 1 to 5 units by how strongly they rate a bet, so the record leans on the big bets. Restate it at 1 unit each before you judge it.
- To-win units: the stake is set so a winner makes 1 unit of profit, so stake = 1 unit / (odds - 1).
To-win units turn short prices into big stakes:
| Price | 1 unit to risk: stake | Profit if it wins | 1 unit to win: stake | Loss if it loses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $1.50 | 1 unit | 0.5 units | 2 units | 2 units |
| $2.00 | 1 unit | 1 unit | 1 unit | 1 unit |
| $4.00 | 1 unit | 3 units | 0.33 units | 0.33 units |
| $11.00 | 1 unit | 10 units | 0.1 units | 0.1 units |
On a to-win record every winning tip adds the same 1 unit, while a loser at $1.50 costs 2. Copy betting sizes its units the to-win way: a one-unit tip aims to win the share of the stated bankroll set per unit, rather than risk it.
Reading tipster results in units
A units-won figure is the start of a question, not an answer. Before you read anything into one, find out:
- How many units were staked in total, so you can work out the yield: units won / units staked.
- How many tips it covers, and over how long.
- The average price, because long prices carry far more luck.
- Whether the units were to risk or to win, level or on a confidence scale.
Three illustrative records, each +48 units:
| Record | Tips | How staked | Units staked | Yield |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tipster A | 1,200 | 1 unit to risk each | 1,200 | 48 / 1,200 = 4.0% |
| Tipster B | 160 | 1 to 5 units to risk | 420 | 48 / 420 = 11.4% |
| Tipster C | 300 | 1 unit to win, every tip at $1.50 | 300 x 1 / 0.50 = 600 | 48 / 600 = 8.0% |
The same +48 is a 4% yield in one record and more than 11% in another. B's figure looks best and tells you least: 160 tips staked unevenly cannot separate a good method from a lucky run, and how to check a tipster record lists what a complete record has to include. To turn any tipster's units into your own dollars, multiply by your unit, then allow for the prices you actually get and any fee you pay.
Risk: Betting involves risk. A unit record describes tips that have already settled, and a strong one can turn over the next few hundred tips. Past results are no guarantee of future results. See responsible gambling for limits and support.
Units vs dollars in your own records
Keep both. Units tell you how your selections did whatever you staked, and dollars tell you what happened to your money. The two part company whenever the unit changes.
Example: Illustrative figures. In month 1 the unit is $20 and the record is +6 units, which is +$120. You raise the unit to $50 for month 2, and the record is -4 units, which is -$200. Over the two months the selections are +2 units, while the account is $80 behind.
Both numbers are true. The units say the selections came out ahead; the dollars say the staking turned that into a loss, by betting bigger in the weaker month.
| Question | Answer it with |
|---|---|
| Are my selections any good? | Units won, and yield on units staked |
| What has betting cost me or paid me? | Dollars |
| Does my record match my bookmaker's? | Dollars, checked against the activity statement |
| Did a change in staking help or hurt? | Both, side by side |
Your bookmaker reports in dollars, not units. Under measure 7 of the National Consumer Protection Framework, Australian online bookmakers have had to email every active customer a monthly activity statement since 31 July 2022. It shows the amount spent, wins and losses, the net result and the opening and closing balances. Betting activity statements walks through each line of one.
Record each bet with its dollar stake, its stake in units and that day's unit size, so either figure can be rebuilt later; how to track betting results lists the other fields worth keeping. Units measure a betting strategy; they do not replace the prices that make one worth following.
Mistakes with betting units
| Mistake | What it costs |
|---|---|
| Never writing down what a unit is worth | The unit drifts up after wins, and the record stops meaning anything |
| Raising the unit after a loss to win it back | A 20-unit fall at a $50 unit costs $1,000, against $500 at $25 |
| Quoting units won without units staked | The same +48 units can be a 4% yield or an 11.4% one |
| Comparing a to-win record with a to-risk one | At $1.50 a to-win loser costs twice what a to-risk loser does |
| Keeping a unit sized for short prices when you move to long ones | Longer losing runs at the same unit cost far more of the bank |
| Counting each leg of a multi as a unit | A multi is a single stake on a single bet, whatever the number of legs |