Managing your bankroll is a critical skill to keep you in the sports betting game for as long as possible. After all, if you blow all your betting money in one sitting, you can't bet anymore.

So, you have to manage your bankroll if you want to keep betting on sports season after season.

But how do you do it? This is the first of three guides on managing your bankroll, starting, of course, with tips for beginners.

Be realistic

Sports betting is like any other pastime or hobby. Doing it incurs costs (duh) and, if you're a responsible person, you're going to create a budget for it. People who decide to start golfing don't just drop all their savings on new clubs and balls and club memberships.

It's the same with sports betting. You've got to start by setting your budget.

And you need to be very sober-minded when you think about that budget. You can't just assume you're going to be winning like crazy. It's not easy to turn a profit in sports betting over the long haul. You need to plan for dry spells. A lot of them.

So, you know, budget accordingly.

What does THAT mean?

Well, for beginning bettors, that means setting a total budget and then consistently keeping your bets to a certain percentage of that bankroll.

What should that percentage be? You should probably keep that percentage to somewhere between 1% and 5% of your total bankroll - for every bet you make.

Conservative bettors - that is, bettors who stay in the game for a long time - keep it on the low end of the scale, 1% or 2%.

More aggressive bettors may consider betting 3% (or greater) for each of their bets. But be warned: the more aggressive you are the quicker you can deplete your bankroll during dry spells.

There's no shame in taking a conservative approach, especially atthe beginning. The name of the game here is continuing to play. That's the key thing here.

Sure, it's fun to bet big on a game you're excited about. But if you lose that bet and you can't wager on next week's big game, you've lost out on more fun you could have. So, take a deep breath and be cautious and careful.

By the way, stick to percentages

You might be tempted instead of sticking to a percentage of your bankroll simply betting the same amount for every wage you make, say $25.

But that's not a smart strategy, because your wager amount stays the same while your bankroll size fluctuates. Again, if you're not careful, you can deplete yourself quickly.

Say, for argument's sake, your bankroll is $1,000. If you decide to "flat" bet $25 on every bet you make, you'll be able to make 40 total bets, even if you don't win a single contest.

Now consider if you bet 1% of that initial $1,000 bankroll. If you lose that first $10 bet, you now have a bankroll of $990 and your next 1% bet is $9.90. Your money is going to last a lot longer if you take the percentage strategy.

And again for beginners making your money last is the top priority.