I’m not so sure it is…

It seems there’s so much to keep in mind in this game, today I well and truly slipped up!

But it was a good experience overall as it tested my nerve once more.

I’m proud to say I kept to pre-race trading (no inplay!) only. On reflection, what happened was born out of pure stupidity and greed, definitely greed…

Daft Mistake…

It was a pleasant surprise today to find I had the opportunity to finish early. As soon as I finished, I dashed home to get stuck into the markets. Everything started off well and I was working up some decent returns.

Before long I was flying, in fact I was doing so well I remember thinking to myself ‘I’m on fire today’ and I was. Taking swings here and there although possibly getting out too early on occasion, but none the less I’d pulled off some crackers. Scalping the start was working out well too, scratching fast etc.

And then it happened… half way through the afternoon I noticed I was considerably up, and feeling slightly euphoric maybe. The bankroll was starting to become more workable in my eye’s… so what did I do??

I went from using £50, £75, £150 stakes to £100, £200, £300.

At first it was going down nicely, similar results, just bigger greens! Until I got caught by a massive spike with over half my bank in the market, it just pushed harder and harder… my pants were well and truly down!! Its worth saying at this point I wasn’t chuffed but I felt I dealt with it rather well emotionally (although I should have taken a break).

I carried on after the minor interruption of a new bed being delivered, with the same stakes… again it turned the wrong way. I probably wasn’t 100% focused with the thought of the Mrs wanting me to put the new bet together. Having that in the back of my mind was probably another silly error, but it’s always easier to realise these things after…. again and again I got rinsed before giving up at a loss for the day! Here are the last few results….

(click to enlarge)

On the plus side, it didn’t send me over-the-edge – ending up in-play. So if ever there was a good loss, this is it!

It’s a small in overall progress, but it wont be forgotten for a while. Probably wont get the chance to go at it again until Monday but hey ho, the breather might do me a favour.

I’m keen to hear what readers think about the following two things –

Live Pics – Currently I don’t have them although its been on my to-do list for a while now, just wondering how much people rate them? is it really a must? I get the feeling I’m being a little tight and already know the answer, but I don’t really want to fork out for another expense just yet. Do they bring much value to your trading?
Graphs – After a little reading around I’ve noticed maybe my trading style has changed a little in the last month or two, I’ve not been paying half as much attention to the graphs on offer, this could be a bit of a mistake… in future I intend to as I think this is important. How do you use graphs to your advantage?

I’ll try to make the next post a little more informative with some examples.. Have a good weekend all!

….until next week!

Related article: How to Deal with the Top 4 Trading Fears