The tin rules

Rule 1: the tin is money you can afford to lose

Decide a pot before you bet anything, and only ever use money you could lose entirely without it touching rent, bills or food. If losing it would hurt, it's too much. The tin never borrows.

Rule 2: one unit is 1% of the tin

Every pick comes with a stake in units. A unit is 1% of your pot, so the stakes scale to you, whatever size your tin is.

Most picks are 1 or 2 units. Controlled stakes are the point: every bet is sized to the pot, so no single result can hurt it, and a good method survives the bad weeks.

Rule 3: losing runs are normal

Even a player who hits his line 9 times in 10 misses 1 in 10, and misses can come in runs. You will have losing days and losing weeks. That's why every result goes on the record, and why every stake is controlled in units.

Rule 4: never chase

• Never raise your stake or your units. Bet exactly the units posted, win or lose, and never more to win back a loss.
• Never take a worse price than the one posted. If it's gone, it's gone.
• Never top the tin up because it's down. Reset it at the start of a month if you want, with money you can afford.

Rule 5: use the bookies' own tools

Every UK bookmaker lets you set deposit limits, reality checks and time-outs. Set a monthly deposit limit equal to your tin, and you can never go over it.