What Is ROI in Betting? A Financial Literacy Guide

ROI in Betting: A Financial Literacy Perspective

Return on Investment (ROI) is a standard financial metric that measures the efficiency of an investment. Applied to betting, it tells you how much profit (or loss) you've made relative to your total stakes.

The Formula

ROI = (Net Profit ÷ Total Staked) × 100%

Where:

Net Profit = Total Winnings − Total Staked

Total Staked = Sum of all bets placed

Example

Over 50 bets:

Total Staked: KES 25,000

Total Winnings: KES 22,000

Net Profit: −KES 3,000

ROI = −3,000 ÷ 25,000 × 100 = −12%

A −12% ROI means you lost 12% of everything you staked.

What's a "Good" ROI?

Professional sports bettors typically aim for a long-term ROI of +3% to +8%. Anything above +10% sustained over hundreds of bets is considered exceptional.

The bookmaker's overround means the average bettor has a negative expected ROI over the long run. This is the mathematical reality of betting.

Tracking Your ROI

Use our Bet Tracker to automatically calculate your ROI across all your recorded bets, with a visual trend line showing your performance over time.