Imagine you get the expected result of one win and one loss and had staked 5%: you'll end up with 1.055×0.95=1.002 wealth. If you had picked a 50% stake, you'd be sitting at 1.55×0.5=0.775 wealth instead, since the loss more than erases your winnings.
The unstated contrast is to models where e.g. there are only a limited number of investment opportunities, losses aren't total, or there are capital infusions.