Trading Diary

[SeaHorseRacing]

Hello,

I have been trading now for approximately 14 months and have recently just gone full time. I have created this topic in order to help me reach my goals and hopefully it can benefit other new traders and myself along the way.

Background:

I have been betting on the horses for around 10 years. I have won and lost a fortune on many occasions. Although I considered myself good at gambling, in hindsight my selections are pretty good but I was the problem as in reality after all these years I have nothing to show for it. I guess that is the gamblers mentality that you think your a winner.

I have been using betfair since around 2006 and I had in the past dabled in a little bit of trading. I even coded my first ever greyhound bot about five years ago with a programmer. With a complete lack of trading knowlede it ultimately failed.

After getting fed up with the gambling phase. Big winner, Big loss then the ultmate losing streak I came accross betangel. Although I have been aware of this software and sports trading, I never really looked into Pre Race Trading until September 2015.
I was imediately hooked from my frst day at attempting to trade.

I attendend Peter Webbs Master class 6 weeks later on the 12th October 2015 and from that day I have never looked back. I must say my past 14 months in this game have been at times very difficuilt. Personal circumstances havent been great either, with my daughters health and a multiple of other reasons. However I am still standing and shes fit and well now.

Within 14 months I have blown three banks.

My first bank was a result of loss after loss and in the end I just started punting on selections to recover losses.

My second disater was similar, I was trying to place a £25 bet in running on a selection as a simple back bet. I failed to click/check the stake bar at the top of the ladder and boom £1000 accidently clicked into the market. I had multiple chances to close in running for a big green but I just sat there in a kind of state of shock. Frozen.

The last was in the summer. My internet went down litrally before the off, No back up plan and it took a huge dent in my profits.

However, during this process and adventure I have had relatively good trading success to the point of being fairly conistent, it is just that my mindset at times has let me down.
I am not claiming I have been sucessful because I havent but I really have worked immensely hard. You guys may know my previous alias on the forum, where at times I was rude or simply crazy. In which if ever offended anyone I am truly sorry, I litrally went through a stage were I was probably on the brink of mentally insane.
When you want something so bad and you do everything you can yet you still cannot do it or have the self control and additionally personal circumstances was pretty tough.

Trading has transformed my life.
I was a smoker of 16 years since the age of 11 and because I wanted this so bad. I knew I had to make drasitc changes, If i cannot quit smoking how the hell can I manage a trading bank or my own mental state?
I quit smoking on 29 Decmember last year. Trading has taught me so much about myself that I am a new born different person.
I have never read some many books in one year. I hate reading. I have learned so much about myself.
I will stop rambling on about me but it was just a way to show what I have been through to even consder the stage I am at now...

I have recently just left my job to go full time trading. So you all probably think I am bonkers.
I have given myself 6 months to get to where I want to be.

I have worked very hard to be in a position to do this and additonally if it all fails I am in my second year as student, which is only 4 days a week in the mornings so it fits perfectley.

My trading business fully opens as of the 1st December 2016.
I am starting with a trading bank of £300. I have spent alot of time debating over this. It was going to be £1,000 but I dont think it is right and my reasons for doing so are for long term gains and a process of graft to get where I want to be.
I am currently trading with alot more but I have a very careully designed plan and strategy to be where I want.

My Goals:

My december target is to not lose money. There should be no problem with this at all but with a small bank I am weaning myself into becomming a better trader. Although I have already started trading full time I have stepped back to work on some other habbits ready for December.

There are no exceptions. My balance is £300 and I will manage and protect this. It is going to be very painfull and have an excellent days trading and make only £10 but this is no tnegotiable. It is not about the money it is about acheiving my goals and reaching targets.

My target for January and February is to slowly increase my stake each month in comparision to my £300 current balance. So if by february my balance is £900 then my stake will only be 3 times bigger then what they are from my first day.

I will withdraw 50% of all my profits each Friday and my week commences on a saturday adjusting stakes on the first of each month.

My long term target for now is to have a decent betting bank for Cheltenham and to have a successful Cheltenham.
This will set me up for the summer to be in full swing, hopefully making some money on the way.

If I fail or break my plan. I will restart with my £300 balance and start the process again from the begning.

It is not about the money. I have proven to myself now for a while I can make money and I have managed my account for a good period so I am ofically launching with my set goals and targets.

I have no desires to create a blog but thought I would post it here so I can be reminded of my goals and share my journey with you guys. I will upload my profits and losses each day.

Feel free to comment along the way.

I will see you as of the 1st December.

[Geordie]

Enjoyed reading this post as I can relate to a lot of it and it has made me think about a few things being only 6 months in myself.

Onwards and upwards, SHR, I look forward to following your progress with great interest.

[marko236]

Hi Seahorse,

First good luck and i hope it works out for you sounds like you really want it.

I went part time at my work on february this year to see if i could push my trading good enough to make a living out of it, what i made working part time plus the extra money i made trading and some savings put aside was enough to give me 6 months of not having to worry about paying bills etc.

My trading didn't really get any better and i had to return to full time work on August, just wondering if you have enough set aside so your not under any preasure to pay bills etc as this may affect your trading.

[SeaHorseRacing]

Enjoyed reading this post as I can relate to a lot of it and it has made me think about a few things being only 6 months in myself.

Onwards and upwards, SHR, I look forward to following your progress with great interest.

Thanks

[SeaHorseRacing]

Hi Seahorse,

First good luck and i hope it works out for you sounds like you really want it.

I went part time at my work on february this year to see if i could push my trading good enough to make a living out of it, what i made working part time plus the extra money i made trading and some savings put aside was enough to give me 6 months of not having to worry about paying bills etc.

My trading didn't really get any better and i had to return to full time work on August, just wondering if you have enough set aside so your not under any preasure to pay bills etc as this may affect your trading.

Thanks for the post. Yes I have given money and control to my missus to take care of us until atleast the end of April.
The main reasons for starting with a smaller bank is so I can concentrate on improving rather then specifically makng money. Stil a couple of habits I need to nip in the bud. If i can hit my goals and start to scale out this should hopefully put me in a better position. If I cant make it work for £300 then I wont ever make it work. Obviously It is harder scaling out but my weaknessess are physioloigical.

I have no pressures. My only priorities are to manage my account. Every day my aim is to protect my bank and to protect my positions. I just feel if I am ever truly going to get anywhere I need some goals and real plan.

May I ask why do you think it hasnt worked for you?

[marko236]

May I ask why do you think it hasnt worked for you?

That's a good question, i think it's because i make very small profit less than 0.5% of money matched, if i put 2k through the markets in a day i would expect to make around £7 to £15, when i scale up it moves more and more closer to break even.

[SeaHorseRacing]

I see. Do you have a plan to change it? Will you try again if so?

[marko236]

I see. Do you have a plan to change it? Will you try again if so?

I see trading as a game and i enjoy doing it, can't see me ever stoping.

Will you try again? yes sometime next year.

[SeaHorseRacing]

Keep us posted when you do. I hope you achieve your goals.

[Bluesky]

My second disater was similar, I was trying to place a £25 bet in running on a selection as a simple back bet. I failed to click/check the stake bar at the top of the ladder and boom £1000 accidently clicked into the market. I had multiple chances to close in running for a big green but I just sat there in a kind of state of shock. Frozen.

I know for a fact that if this happened to me I too would have frozen in that situation. I actually think unless you have had many years of successful trading, most people would be too shocked to act in the very short period of time available to them.

The only people who were not long term traders and who could possibly manage under this sever financial and time pressure would be people from a military background, fighter pilots or special forces personnel, and even these people might still struggle in this kind of situation.

It was good to read this post SHR I think using a £300 is a good idea and as things go well for you then you can start to increase stake size. I really hope you get to where you want to, you are certainly prepared to put the time and effort in.

[Bluesky]

My trading didn't really get any better and i had to return to full time work on August, just wondering if you have enough set aside so your not under any preasure to pay bills etc as this may affect your trading.

I'm sorry to hear this marko, but if its any consolation I have heard of many financial traders that have done this type of thing several times before they eventually made it as full time traders.

If you ever decide to try it again I hope it works out for you.

[SeaHorseRacing]

I know for a fact that if this happened to me I too would have frozen in that situation. I actually think unless you have had many years of successful trading, most people would be too shocked to act in the very short period of time available to them.

The only people who were not long term traders and who could possibly manage under this sever financial and time pressure would be people from a military background, fighter pilots or special forces personnel, and even these people might still struggle in this kind of situation.

It was good to read this post SHR I think using a £300 is a good idea and as things go well for you then you can start to increase stake size. I really hope you get to where you want to, you are certainly prepared to put the time and effort in.

Thanks for sharing. I agree with you, I have learned the hard way that if you do not have a plan you dont do anything about it.

For example, Now and again there is a big backer in the markets that can leave you with a big red that gets worse and worse. Without a plan you just sit there hoping for the best.

[LeTiss]

I went part time at my work on february this year to see if i could push my trading good enough to make a living out of it, what i made working part time plus the extra money i made trading and some savings put aside was enough to give me 6 months of not having to worry about paying bills etc.

My trading didn't really get any better and i had to return to full time work on August, just wondering if you have enough set aside so your not under any preasure to pay bills etc as this may affect your trading.

I have posted this a few times here Marko

I went self-employed as a trader in June 2008 after being made redundant. However, I'd traded extensively on BF at weekends and in the evenings for 5 years, so I knew my limitations and knew what markets brought me success.

I looked at it like this. I decided to give myself 6 months to see if it worked. When this is your only income, you can't afford a bad month with no savings, as you use your BF bank to cover everyday expenses. At this point you're already fucked, as your target earnings will disappear due to a diminishing bank

My monthly expenses (including socialising) meant I needed to take home £1500 each month. I wanted that 6 month buffer, so that I wasn't sweating my bollocks on day 1 - therefore I put £9000 into my Current Account to cover that 6 months.

To earn £1500 each month equated to an average of £50*30 days. I found making 1% of my bank each day was a good achievable target, as I could easily make up a disappointing day. So, I needed £5000 in BF to make my £50

Basically, I needed £14000 to be self-employed. I've had some ups & downs, but 8 years later I'm still here

[DoubleDon]

I want to assure you I'm not having a pop here...

That grand in running where you say you froze. Did you really freeze or did the gambler in you decide to just let it run? Seeing the green getting bigger and the greedier gambling side taking over? I'm only asking because it's vital to be honest with yourself.

I come from a gambling and casino bonus background. In my first few weeks of trading, before I went on course me letting things go in play was a pure gamble (I know you purposely went to trade in play). Obviously gambling and trading don't mix so you have to be honest with yourself. I was a moron, I know it but I've learned and I've dealt with it.

[SeaHorseRacing]

I want to assure you I'm not having a pop here...

That grand in running where you say you froze. Did you really freeze or did the gambler in you decide to just let it run? Seeing the green getting bigger and the greedier gambling side taking over? I'm only asking because it's vital to be honest with yourself.

I come from a gambling and casino bonus background. In my first few weeks of trading, before I went on course me letting things go in play was a pure gamble (I know you purposely went to trade in play). Obviously gambling and trading don't mix so you have to be honest with yourself. I was a moron, I know it but I've learned and I've dealt with it.

Most definetely a gamble my friend. I intially placed £25 in frustration in which ended up being a £1000 stake. All though it was a genuine mistake. As I intiated a pure bet I simply froze because I intended to gamble but at the same time no way near the amount and I guess F it mode kicked in.

I see it as tuition paid and I spend alot of time working on this.
If theres a plan in place for when your having a bad day it can be prevented. I had no plan in place, was having a bad day and lost control.

Now everyday I am reminded everywhere I go to protect my bank and if things get bad I will simply pull the plug out of the wall and walk away. Sounds crazy but if your not prepared your behavour can take control. Now I know what to do.