Day 9… It’s Time To Take This A Bit More Serious….

Evening, people!

Well, I thought Monday was hectic… but today took it to another level, to be honest.

I learned a lot today, encountering new and all-too-familiar mistakes (I really must break these habits!).

Overall, I must take a step back, thoroughly assess what I’ve learned, regroup, and apply this knowledge moving forward. Only fools repeat the same mistakes endlessly.

One aspect of Betfair trading that isn’t widely discussed online is how mentally taxing it can be. A single bad day or a few errors can leave a lasting impact…

I’m determined not to let that get to me, as it has in the past. I think a lot of the struggle stems not from financial loss, but from the fear of being wrong, of failing, even if these feelings operate on a subconscious level.

For instance, today I let minor issues affect me more than they should have. I’ll try to explain…

I started the day trading tennis. I see a massive potential in this if you’re skilled, so I’m eager to dive deeper.

I understand how to profit at times, but the challenge lies in not trading when there’s no clear opportunity—easier said than done. Take a look at these results… (It hurts to repeat the same mistake; see Tuesday’s post). Learning this may take more time, but I plan to invest in that.

I had a couple of small wins initially. For the subsequent trades, I applied stakes only in situations where I believed the market would move significantly more if I was correct than if I was wrong. I limited my activity to trades where I felt confident about the outcome.

There were more opportunities for this than you might think, which really ignited my enthusiasm for tennis trading! However, I transformed into “Jonny-know-it-all” just like the other day. I completely abandoned my strategic approach and staking plan, started throwing around larger stakes— one minute everything was going great, the next, I faced a sea of red screens!

For all games but the last, I maintained a £25 back or £25 liability per trade. In the last one, I found myself with a £150 liability at one point, equivalent to about £3,000 in stakes—ridiculous… This clearly illustrates the importance of adhering to a staking plan.

You might have noticed the timing of the tennis games—I was trading tennis intermittently alongside the horse racing markets, which I’ve come to realize is utterly foolish. Why do I do it? It diverts my focus from what I currently excel at, trading horses.

Worse yet, when I stumbled in tennis trading, it soured my mindset for the subsequent horse races. This wasn’t so much about the money lost but rather the frustration of seeing good progress in my tennis strategy abruptly derailed by failure. This experience has led me to a firm decision: from now on, I will either trade horses or tennis, but not both at the same time. I won’t try to juggle watching horse races while keeping an eye on an open tennis position or a critical game point anymore.

I’ve come to realise that the odds in tennis are my ally.

Going forward, I plan to refine my strategy for situations like these. Unfortunately, today didn’t go as hoped—I lost five pounds as Del Potro clinched the game. At the time, this seemed like a promising trade because Evans appeared to be rallying, responding vigorously in the match.

As I placed my bet, it was at a critical juncture with Evans on the verge of breaking Del Potro’s serve at the end of the match. Had he managed that break and then held his serve in the next game, the risk/return ratio could have been highly favourable. It’s something to ponder for future trades!

Today: Horse Racing Trading

Today’s results were a bit of a mess, honestly…

While I’m relieved to have come out ahead, I squandered a few pennies along the way. The quality of racing was quite good throughout the day and into the evening, though it slowed down as it usually does toward the end.

I’ve pinpointed three instances where I lost concentration—my little tantrums, if you will. The first two weren’t disastrous but were unnecessary and influenced negatively by my frustrations with the tennis, which affected my mood and decision-making.

The third lapse, however, was just ridiculous! Aware that I was getting tired and frustrated with the day’s efforts (including the tennis), I overcompensated by entering with a larger stake for no valid reason and ended up in a worse position. Being stubborn, I persisted and continued to bleed money. I stepped out for a bit and managed to recoup a little in the last few races… I think I’m better off just putting today behind me.

With plans this weekend, I’m short on time for the challenge. I’ll need to put in a solid effort until the end of the month to stay on track.

Has anyone else been trading tennis? How have you found it?

Related Article: Tennis Trading Strategies