ON or OFF?
This week one follower reached out to me on Facebook and asked a pretty valid question:
“I’m just getting started out on my Betfair journey and wonder what’s best? Should I aim to get into automation or manual trading more? what would bring the best returns do you think?”
This kind of question is always difficult to answer. In truth, there is no right answer. Everyone coming into Betfair trading has different strengths and weaknesses. To truly succeed, it’s often best to do what many don’t!
By this, I mean focus heavily on your strengths and say ‘forget it’ to your weaknesses. I don’t mean to completely ignore them, of course. But what’s the point in wasting your time trying to improve on something you’re not great at? Surely, you’d be better off focusing on something you already have some strength or level of success in, no?
So, I guess what I’m trying to say in answer to the question is:
If your strengths are in Excel, programming, data harvesting, and building a heavily structured plan—then automation is probably your best route.
If your strengths are in intuition, reactions, quick decision-making, and adapting to change—then manual trading is probably a better option.
Don’t get me wrong, having strengths in both would be ideal. But if you’re hopeless with Excel, linking programs, and refining data, it’s likely to prove more difficult—and probably a lot more stressful!
I’ve spent plenty of time in the past trying to improve in areas where I wasn’t so good. Thinking back, a lot of that was a waste of time. I keep certain spreadsheets and notifications for when specific horses run now, which is helpful, but focusing on my strengths is what generates more income.
A similar question I often get is: what races are best to trade?
Again, the same answer applies. If you’re good at trading low-quality events, why focus on all the other races in the day? It’s good to trade them all, and small profits add up fast. But pinpointing your strengths in day trading often pays off considerably more.
The same logic applies to the sports you trade—though with pre-race trading, it’s a bit different to a degree. Still, a bit of extra sporting knowledge will help. There’s no point trying to trade tennis day in and day out if the racing on the other channel excites you more. And that brings me to something else: if you’re doing something you love, there’s far more chance of success.
5 thoughts on “Know What You’re Good At – Screw The Rest!”
Hi Caan!
Let me start by telling you I really like your blog, you´re definitely a reference communication-wise. When you post about horse trading, I honestly don´t know how good your strategies are because I never traded horses, but your global vision about trading is always spot on!
I trade football since 2007 and when I started there was not a lot information available and in a certain sense, I must tell you that it simplified a lot of things. I started trading the sport I loved and knew better because it seemed the only logical choice for me. 8 years later, it was a great option because the markets can be learned as nobody saw them before they started trading; but, a person can start trading a sport after watching hundreds of hours of it and that is an invaluable headstart! Bottom line, your last phrase says it all.
Finally, I´m from the country you mentioned in one of your last posts and as can´t move abroad right now, I decided to open a blog about football analysis from a trader perspective, to stay involved. It would mean a lot if you pass by and give me your feedback.
Best Regards,
Johnny
Hi Mr Caan
I bought your video pack and now I just buy a new computer but I can not find the password now. Would you please send me a new password? Anyway thank you very much.
Hi Le Anh,
Sure this is no problem. I need the email you purchased with through Paypal though if you can email me from it to clarify 🙂
Caan
Hello Caan,
It’s a pleasure writing to you, I’m a newbie trader and I’ve been following your work for the last two months now, and I think I’m ready to learn the ropes. For me, your pedagogical work is peerless, I haven’t come across any other tutorials/videos on the Net that are as concise and engaging as yours to understand trading, so thanks for sharing your expertise with us newbies.
I would say that my strengths are in excel and programming which I studied at school, so:
1- Could you please recommend some videos where you explain the fundamentals of automation?
Also, I’m not too bad at maths but I’m struggling a little bit with the concept of hedging.
I understand how I can place trades to avoid losing money but I’m not quite clear yet how I can make a profit from a market, whatever the outcome of the game (this applies more specifically to football I presume).
2- Could you again, please kindly recommend some videos where you go into the nuts and bolts of hedging?
Many thanks in advance for your help with this matter Caan and thanks again for the brilliant work you’re doing,
With regards,
Andrew.
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