Worst downswing

Trading is often about how to take the appropriate risk without exposing yourself to very human flaws.
Vaz0202
Posts: 158
Joined: Sat Jun 27, 2020 7:53 pm

abgespaced wrote:
Mon Aug 31, 2020 11:46 am
Everything you guys have said about mean reversion has happened to me.

I am a new trader but I had a great run of laying the draw in cricket when I first started. I was cautious to begin with, risking only $50 per game and letting the bet ride. 90% success rate. Then I read a cricket trading guide and thought I could trade the draw. Ended up staring at an $8k liability. Swallowed the pill and got out for $3.6k loss.

What's really mind-boggling to me was how I got so far into the shit before I realised just how deep in it I was. I thought laying the draw was a safe bet, so kept pouring money into it as it dropped. I drained my personal bank accounts dry to do it.

The beautiful thing was that in the end the game did actually result in a draw. So I learned my lesson good while avoiding a devastating wipe out. That day I learned that laying the draw is not a simple, safe bet like everyone espouses.

The losses didn't stop there though. It had such a heavy emotional impact on me that over the next week or two I turned it into a $5k loss by trying to make up for it in subsequent games.

I've never considered myself a gambler or a punter, so to lose such a large amount "trading", which I thought was a smarter than gambling, was.. humbling, for lack of a better word.

By now I have just had enough of losing and my confidence is so shot that I am hesitant to enter the markets at all. Suffice to say my stakes have decreased dramatically and I am focussed on staying under a nominated figure for my worst case scenario should the worst case happen. Eg. in the case that for whatever reason my bet rides to the end and loses, it wipes out no more than 10% of my Betfair balance. It helps me sleep at night.
Good news is you made the steps to protect your bank, everything else is ‘the price you paid for your education’

I have been stung with something similar but at least you got out when you realised you had made a mistake.

This is your trading Dunkirk. You live to fight another day and better days will be ahead
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firlandsfarm
Posts: 2688
Joined: Sat May 03, 2014 8:20 am

Never lost my bank but I have suffered a few large losses a bit like the OP's comment that they found it 'mind-boggling to them was how they got so far into the shit before they realised just how deep in it they were'. I guess it's rabbit in the headlights syndrome. Anyway saying "what a pratt" was the easy bit … I found the hard part was working out what I had done wrong other than the obvious of poor money/risk management.
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abgespaced
Posts: 176
Joined: Sun Aug 23, 2020 2:25 am
Location: Australia

Vaz0202 wrote:
Tue Sep 01, 2020 7:53 am

Good news is you made the steps to protect your bank, everything else is ‘the price you paid for your education’

I have been stung with something similar but at least you got out when you realised you had made a mistake.

This is your trading Dunkirk. You live to fight another day and better days will be ahead
Thanks Vaz. Yeah it's good to think about the silver lining. It still hurts, mainly because I know how long it will take before my balance looks the same again using these smaller, safer stakes. It's like a sharp hit of reality knowing that I actually have to become a good trader and make money consistently rather than just getting a big win.
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Derek27
Posts: 23472
Joined: Wed Aug 30, 2017 11:44 am
Location: UK

When I saw and replied to this thread, I didn't realise the OP's question was in April!
Vaz0202
Posts: 158
Joined: Sat Jun 27, 2020 7:53 pm

abgespaced wrote:
Tue Sep 01, 2020 12:35 pm
Vaz0202 wrote:
Tue Sep 01, 2020 7:53 am

Good news is you made the steps to protect your bank, everything else is ‘the price you paid for your education’

I have been stung with something similar but at least you got out when you realised you had made a mistake.

This is your trading Dunkirk. You live to fight another day and better days will be ahead
Thanks Vaz. Yeah it's good to think about the silver lining. It still hurts, mainly because I know how long it will take before my balance looks the same again using these smaller, safer stakes. It's like a sharp hit of reality knowing that I actually have to become a good trader and make money consistently rather than just getting a big win.
I feel the pain.
I decided to withdraw a huge portion of my playing funds the other day to start again with smaller stakes. It will take awhile but I know I can do it.

If I can’t get back there again with smaller stakes, I was certainly playing a game of luck with the big bucks and better off well out of it.
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