This month, I’ve faced numerous connection issues following an unexpected move. As I mentioned in my previous post, a recent loss of £1.9k due to a connection dropout was a complete rookie mistake. After multiple conversations with my ISP, it appears they’ve messed up the order several times. Thankfully, it looks like this will finally be rectified by the first of February.
In the meantime, I’ve arranged to use a friend’s internet connection in the afternoons. Today was my first day trading there since the mishap!
It’s surprising how a little time away can positively impact your trading results!
I’ve received several messages asking for general tips. Danny asked, “Have you any tips for me or anything in particular I should really practice to hone my skills?”
In a previous post, I discussed how treating every trading situation the same often leads to inconsistent results. You might do well in a few races, only to lose all your profit—and possibly more—in the next. To hone your skills, I recommend stepping back and analyzing the different markets and all contributing factors, as outlined in the Pre Race Trading Guide. Identify situations that align best with your profitable strategies. Remember, everyone is unique, and some markets will naturally suit certain styles better than others.
My consistent results stem from quickly adapting or ‘switching modes’ to suit each situation. This flexibility is crucial and develops over time as you understand your personal trading style.
Pro’s & Cons
Now, you might feel like you’re in the same place as when you started reading this post. Take a moment to list your strengths and weaknesses. For instance, if you find most of your profits come from small scalps and losses from unsuccessful swings, why not focus solely on scalping? Identify market environments conducive to scalping and steer clear of highly volatile situations that are detrimental to this strategy.
Think of it like shopping: head straight to the reduced aisle in Tesco for bargains and avoid lingering in aisles with overpriced products!
Trading is a personal journey. It might take time to discover what strategies you prefer and which ones to avoid. You don’t need to excel in every aspect of trading to be profitable. As you gain experience, this understanding will help you adapt to various situations.
If you struggle with making decisions or understanding your emotional responses while trading, try talking out loud during your trades. Articulating thoughts like, ‘I’m not so sure about this now, maybe it’ll come back in,’ makes it harder to ignore a bad decision. Hearing your doubts spoken aloud often prompts the right action.
4 thoughts on “Still alive!!”
Cheers Caan,
Got your other reply too and it’s honest, sound advice and I couldn’t be more appreciative of the reply, thanks.
Your videos give us a little hope as to what can be achieved with persistence, practise and time.
Thanks again,
Danny
Hiya Caan, glad to see you back in the saddle.
My biggest problems in trying to make this game work has been my own discipline and greed. It took me a while to realise this, especially the greed bit. Why take 80p winnings when I can try for £1-60 and then lose £67??? Which is the way it has been going. I started to think about this discipline thing and decided I had 2 major problems, one being my concentration and the other my choice of horses to trade. I was just picking horses at random and laying or backing depending on how I thought the market was looking. I think picking horses randomly only works some of the time and then it’s down more to luck. I then decided to pick certain horses, the big mistake here was that I picked horses priced quite high and laying first, which worked a lot, but when it went Pete Tong, it went proper Pete Tong. Back to the skint drawing board I went and decided to choose a horse with good ratings, not necessarily the favourite. I tried this out with the old pretend money in training mode and had a great deal of success, so on Friday just gone I took the plunge (again!!!!) and used proper real money. I didn’t jump in BIG style, I just took baby steps, winning in each of the 11 races I traded on, with a profit of £22-56. Saturday was my football day, so I didn’t trade, but wished I had, had some money on the game I went to, Watford going 2-0 up before City came back strong in the second half. Which reminds me. So lethal have City been this season in front of goal the odds on them scoring 4, 5 or 6 have been getting lower and lower. The son of one of my work mates, wanted City to beat Cardiff 4-0 last week, but the odds were only 9/1, which for his usual £3 bet were not very good. He was convinced they would score 4 and noticed that 4-2 was priced at 66/1, so he went for it and won handsomely. Anyway, I digress, as usual!!!!
So Sunday I was feeling very confident. First 6 races, all winning races with an average of just over £2 per race, then BANG, my concentration was totally messed up, the greed thing clicked in and the £67 loss steam rolled me. I’d tried to rescue the situation, making the loss as small as I could but just ended up in chaos and made the whole thing worse. I had, had that 80p profit, wanted more, waited and then watched it all slip away so fast. Much to my credit, I quit for the day, at one time I would have gambled to try to get back my losses, but I didn’t and felt pleased with myself for that but bloody upset that I had let something spoil my concentration.
Today, I sat down and carried on as if that £67 never happened and had winning trades in all 13 of the races, I didn’t bother with the last race at Wolverhampton, for a nice profit of £39-26.
Just going back to the football thing before I close. The lad’s in the local boozer have been having Manchester United to win 3-2 in every game they play and they are well in profit and one of them has started to do 3-2 for both Manchester teams on Betfair and using cash out for some good profits!
Laters Caan,
Steve
Hi Caan, would it possible for you to give live trading sessions via skype? Cheers
Hi pepe, sorry but at the moment i’m not looking to do any one on one stuff. possibly in the future.
Caan