5 Betfair Scalping Mistakes You Must Avoid

The most damaging Betfair Scalping mistakes centre around ONE issue…

Fitting the active opportunity.

It’s a simple concept that’s a little more involved to explain. Stick with me as I explain the most dangerous mistakes and how they can be avoided in this post.

(1) Favourable Circumstances:

Each betting market is unique, although many follow similar trends and patterns. Identifying such patterns is an advantage when it comes to selecting the correct trading style. You see scalping isn’t always the preferred method…

Attempting to scalp every betting market is a mistake. Sure, just about every market can be scalped successfully – although static markets are more favourable.

So what’s a static market?

It’s another topic altogether, although a strong hint would be to look at race types and how they behave differently. Handicap horse races for example are designed by nature to ensure a fair contest. If there’s plenty of form on offer and the horses are correctly assessed, then there’s less likely to be drastic price movements. It’s logical.

If you compare that to say, a low-liquidity bumper race with young horses and no form over in Ireland where exchange activity is lower – you’ll see they are quite the opposite.

Not all opportunities are equal when it comes to scalping, so avoid looking at them like they are!

Pick and choose the right times to be scalping and you’ll save yourself a massive headache.

(2) But When?

Following the previous point, you should remember that Betfair trading relies on betting activity. Scalping is a high-volume high-turnover activity. You NEED money to be flowing through the betting market for it to work.

So when is the best time to be scalping?

When the market is most active. It’s obvious when you think about it because when there is more market liquidity and in turn, more unmatched money, there is a safer trading environment to get your scalps matched with a limited downside.

Attempting to scalp 10 or 20 minutes before the start of a horse race is just plain daft. It doesn’t work.

You may have heard traditional betting phrases like ‘keep the powder dry’ and the same principle applies here. We want to maximise the profit potential, but more importantly, minimize the downside. Failing to do this is one of the biggest and most harmful scalping mistakes that Betfair traders make.

(3) You Don’t Get to Choose…

It’s a common misconception that scalping is like having a job, where you have an hourly rate and the money just flows.

However, in reality, like all trading scalping is built around opportunity – gifted to us by the market. You must get out of this limited view where you believe that opportunities are equal. They aren’t. Let the market flow guide your activity, tactically placing your bets either side of the activity and trading ranges. You don’t get to choose when it’s an opportunity!

It’s easy to get lost in our own thoughts and market activity without standing back to remember this from time to time.

Of course, even the lower quality races are a scalping possibility on £25 stakes BUT that doesn’t mean they are on £250. Remember this, make a conscious effort to fit around the action and trade what you see instead of what you want to see.

(4) Controlled Aggression:

On the opposing side to the previous point, it’s common to find traders staking too low in high-quality scalping opportunities. This is a mistake.

As the saying goes from Warren Buffet:

be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful

Scalping is the same. When the situation, time and opportunity is in front of you don’t hold back. Sure it’s a nice mistake to be making in some respects, but its a mistake all the same. A missed opportunity is a real sucker. If you’ve seen my trading videos you’ll know that I’m not opposed to some aggressive directional scalping when the time is right.

Controlled and calculated aggression is a good thing.

(5) Focusing On Pain

The most painful Betfair scalping mistake is when you were looking in the wrong direction altogether.

New traders want to make money, and that can’t be faulted. But, successful traders focus on managing the downside and understanding risk. Not the upside and profit.

Focusing on the right areas gives you a very different result. It’s far better for your own sanity and trading mentality too!

Don’t focus on profit, manage the risk instead. You should be looking at this as a longer-term project if you are to become a successful trader. It’s not a case of making a quick buck, that’s gambling and gambling isn’t trading.

Related: Directional Scalping – Low-Risk Trading Strategy?