Reviewed by TipsterCheck Editorial TeamLast checked 29 October 2026MethodologyCorrections
Betting glossary · Tipsters
What is Drawdown?
What is Drawdown?
How Drawdown Works
Drawdown is calculated by tracking a tipster's cumulative profit in points and identifying the largest fall from any peak to any subsequent trough before a new peak is reached. If a tipster hits +50 points profit and then drops to +20 points before recovering, the drawdown is 30 points. The figure is always expressed as a loss relative to a high-water mark, not as a loss from the starting bankroll.
Maximum drawdown is the single largest such fall across the entire recorded history. Some analysts also look at average drawdown, which smooths out individual bad runs, and drawdown duration, which measures how many bets or days it took to recover. A tipster showing +100 points profit over 500 bets sounds appealing, but if they suffered a 60-point drawdown at some stage, a follower starting at the wrong moment could have faced a 60 % depletion of a level-stakes bank before seeing any return.
Worked Example
Suppose a tipster's running profit moves as follows across ten weeks: +10, +22, +35, +28, +19, +14, +25, +40, +38, +50. The peak before the dip is +35 points (end of week 3); the trough is +14 points (end of week 6), giving a drawdown of 21 points. The final peak is +50 points, so maximum drawdown for the period is 21 points — roughly 42 % of the eventual profit figure.
That 21-point drawdown is meaningful context. If you were following at one point per bet with a 50-point starting bank, you would have seen your bank fall from around 85 points to 64 points before recovering. Whether that feels tolerable depends on your bank size, staking method, and risk appetite — which is exactly why drawdown should sit alongside yield and profit in points when you review any tipster's record.
Why Drawdown Matters When Judging a Tipster
Two tipsters can show identical profit in points over the same sample yet carry very different risk profiles. One might build profit steadily with a maximum drawdown of 15 points; the other might swing wildly with a 60-point drawdown before arriving at the same destination. The second service demands a much larger bank and stronger nerve. Ignoring drawdown and focusing solely on headline profit is one of the most common mistakes new followers make.
Drawdown also helps you assess whether a tipster's current losing run is within normal historical bounds or represents something more concerning. If the worst drawdown on record is 25 points and a tipster is currently 24 points below their last peak, that is a warning sign worth monitoring. Proofed records going back at least 12 months and several hundred bets give you enough data to judge drawdown meaningfully; shorter records can flatter any service by hiding how deep losses can go.
Example: A football tipster who reached +80 points before falling to +45 points has a drawdown of 35 points, meaning a follower who joined at the peak would still be underwater despite the service showing an overall profit.
FAQs
Is a high drawdown always a bad sign?
Not necessarily. Some profitable strategies, such as ante-post or high-odds betting, naturally produce larger swings. What matters is whether the drawdown is proportionate to the long-term yield and whether the tipster's bank recommendations account for it.
How much bank do I need to survive a tipster's typical drawdown?
A common rule of thumb is to hold at least double the maximum historical drawdown as your starting bank. If the worst recorded drawdown is 40 points, a 80-point bank gives you a reasonable buffer, though past drawdowns do not guarantee future ones.
Where can I find drawdown figures for a tipster?
Reputable proofing services and independent review sites like TipsterCheck calculate drawdown from verified, timestamped records. Be cautious of self-reported figures; always prefer independently proofed data covering a substantial sample size.
More tipsters terms: NAP, Next Best (NB), Proofing