Blew over half my bank last weekend - need advice!

[Alexander_99]

Hi, this is my first post on the forum. I decided to try football trading several months ago, coming from matched betting community originally. Over the last couple of months, I've been mostly doing paper trading, or trading with vary small variable stakes (£0.10 on Smarkets), £2 on Betfair, while watching live streams available on Betfair and B365. I've been inspired by Psychoff's twitter strategies, so was mostly looking to trade in 2nd half and look for late goals. My main aim was to learn how to spot "value" opportunities and learn to predict if a late goal(s) will be scored. Based on the many matches I've seen, I believed that I could seek out good "value" odds - in some cases, anyway. What I noticed is that these "value" opportunities come rarely, maybe because I don't have enough experience. For instance, I would have watched 30 matches over the weekend (literally from Friday night till Sunday night), and would have maybe only identified around 5 clear "value" trades in my opinion. I have traded all other matches anyway - but I don't know if I was finding value or just taking odds that accurately reflected the game play at the time.

It's hard to say if I made overall profit or loss in those days (variable stakes etc).

Anyway I decided to take the plunge and start trading properly with larger sums. So last Friday I deposited £500 into Betfair. My liability per each trade was typically 2% of my bank (so £10), occasionally rising to around £15-£20 (so 3-4%), with the corresponding stake size usually between £10-£100 depending on if I am laying / backing and odds. And over this last weekend, after around 65 trades in 40 or so matches, I lost nearly £300 - so 60% of my bank.

My trading usually consists of 3 strategies:

1. Back "over" goals market as late as possible, usually around 80-85 min mark, when the "overs" hit around 2.1 (or above) if I sense a goal will be scored.

2. Either a)
Lay the draw late in the game when lay the draw odds go below at least 1.4 and preferably much lower (so again usually from around 80 min) if one or both teams look like scoring

or b)

if a team is leading by a single goal, lay it if the odds go below 1.4 (and preferable much lower) at any time in the match if the the losing team is looking likely to strike back / match is open

or c)

Back the losing team when it's down by a single goal AND the lay odds are too high - i.e above 1.4 / or back one of the teams when it's a draw WHEN the draw odds haven't fallen below around 1.4 - so in other words, this is like strategy b) but earlier on in the match when lay odds aren''t low enough for me.

3) If a team is leading by 2 or 3 goals, lay it any time, at any odds - if the other team is either putting a lot of pressure on the leading team and / or if the match is open. I say "any odds" because if a team is leading by 2 or 3 goals, the odds to lay it will usually be quite low already, and represent a lot of value. From what I've seen, the market often mis-diagnoses the ability of a losing team to nick a goal back. When a team gets a a goal back, I'd trade out just enough to break even, and let the rest of the stake ride till the end.

I usually combine 1) and 2) together and lay the draw / leading team and then back "overs" a few mins later when the odds go well above 2. I think it makes sense to do these together since you might as well back over market if you expect a losing team to get equalise late on.

Note that I am reluctant to lay the draw / leading team at odds higher than 1.4 since I believe in this case you get much less profit for your risk - i.e. suppose you lay a team at odds 1.7 on 50 min for liability of £10. You only can win around £15, while if you wait till 80 min the odds will drop to around 1.25 so you stand to win £40. This means I miss many opportunities, since "strong" teams that go a goal down tend to equalise much earlier. So I don't know if I should change my approach to risk/reward outlook.

Here are some of the matches / trades I made:

1. Vallodolid vs Leganes; Vallodolid were pushing for the equaliser most of the 2nd half, the game was quite open. So I laid Leganes at odds of around 1.35 around 70 min mark (won). Wanted to wait untill 80 min to back over 3.5 market (missed this trade)

2. Extremadura vs Alcorcon - laid the draw at 1.24 and backed over 0.5 market - (both lost)

3. Sevilla vs At. Bilbao - wanted to lay At.Bilbao but the odds to lay were high (above 1.7 I think), so missed the equaliser. Sevilla were pushing for the winner, I waited till 83 minute or so and backed over 2.5 market at 3.1 (lost).

4.Fuenrablada vs Las Palmas - laid the draw at 1.18 (lost) , as Las Palmas looked stronger. However didn't back "overs" since the game lacked intensity and clear chances

5. Elche vs Huesca - the game was relatively open, both teams were attacking near the end. However Huesca looked somewhat stronger overall. I had a feeling that it's worth it to lay Huesca, but abstained - and so missed the opportunity (final score 1-1, Elche got the injury time equalier).

6. Espanyol vs Barca - Barca started to look shaky sometime around 65 -70 min mark. I though the odds to lay Barca (1.15) were value, but wanted to watch and wait longer. Then Barca got the red card, odds went up to 1.25, and I decided to lay them (won). Also backed over 3.5 market at 2.24 (won).

7. Middlesborough vs Tottenham; Tottenham were attacking strongly, so I laid draw at 1.3 and backed over 2.5 at 2.64 - (both lost)

8. Wolves vs Man Utd -Wolves looked strong and attacked, so laid the draw at 1.30 and backed wolves at 5.30; backed over 0.5 at 2.20 - (all lost)

9. Boavista vs Portimonense - portimonense were pushing hard for equaliser and the game was open. I felt Boavista were priced way too low. So I laid Boavista at 1.23 and backed over 0.5 goals at 2.42 - (both won)

10. Aves vs Santa Clara - Aves were pushing for equaliser and the game was open. So I laid Santa at at 1.22 and backed over 0.5 goals at 2.92 -( both lost)

11. Burton vs Norhampton; Burton were favourites but 2 down. The game was attacking and open, however Northampton looked a fair bit stronger, So I decided to wait till it was 0-3 and laid them at 1.11. My intention was then to trade out a part of my stake when it would go 2-3. However the 2nd Burton goal never came (lost)

12. Oviedo vs-Malaga; Oviedo scored in the 1st half and were then already laying at around 1.45. However Oviedo and Malaga are next to each other in league table and a glance at sofascore showed Malaga exerted much more pressure in the 1st half. I thought laying Oviedo at 1.45 was value, but I decided to wait and see what happens till much later. I kept an eye on the game, and eventually decided to lay Oviedo - but just as the bet was going through, the market got suspended (due to Var reviewing the possible handball incident). malaga got the penalty and so I missed the opportunity. I still followed the game. It was pretty open, Oviedo were going for the winner. So I decided to lay the draw at 1.26 and over 2.5 at 2.46 - (both lost)

13. Roma vs Torino - Roma were attacking in numbers heavily, so I backed Roma at 3.55 and laid Torino at 1.73 (going somewhat against my principles). However, I also suspected that these attacks may leave Roma exposed at the back and that Torino will find a 2nd goal. I delayed backing overs market till late as possible to get higher odds. But as luck would have it, when I finally placed my "over 1.5" bet, market was suspended and Torino were awarded the penalty! So I missed this opportunity. Roma were still attacking, so now I decided to back over 2.5 market at 4.4 - but 3rd goal didnt come (lost all bets).

14. Genoa vs Sassuolo ; Genoa had more shots but Sassuolo looked more slick and ominous and looked more likely to win. I wanted to lay the draw around 65 min but draw odds were still quite high. So I backed Sassuolo. They scored but had a goal disallowed. Then just as I was placing the bet on over 2.5 market, it got suspended (AGAIN) and Genoa got the goal. I was convinced there would be more goals and Sassuolo were looking for a late equaliser, so I backed over 3.5 market and laid Genoa (all lost)

15. Bologna vs Fiorentina; I have just watched the last 15 or so mins of this game, and although Bologna were favourites and pressuring Fiorentina throughout the match, I didn't see enough intensity and clear cut chances near the end to lay Fiorentina. Near the end, it looked like things fizzed out somewhat. In addition the odds to lay Fiorentina were as high at 1.3 on 80 min - so didn't think it was value. And ho and behold, Bologna equalise from a free kick on the last minute! Missed opportunity.

16. Brescia vs Lazio. As a much stronger team, I expected Lazio to win before the game started. Lazio were attacking and pressuring Brescia for the entire game, but in my opinion Brescia defended well with 10 men and I thought they would hold on for a 1-1 draw. And also the lay draw on Brescia were quite high till the very end (as everyone expected them to lose). So I did not enter the market... only to watch Lazio get the winner in injury time. Another missed opportunity!

17. Granada - vs Mallorca. Granada came under pressure from Mallorca for all 2nd half. The game was intense, and Mallorca had more possession / shots on goal etc. So I laid Granada at 1.29 and backed over 1.5 goals at 2.88 - (both lost).

18. Real Sociedad vs Villareal. I had a hunch Villareal would get back into the game, despite Sociedad looking stronger. This is because Villareal are a decent team and the match was semi-open. I thought the lay odds on Sociedad (around 1.45 - 1.5) when it was 1-0 were too low (so value). However I wanted to wait longer and see how match develops. Lo and Behold Villareal scored twice. Missed opportunity. Then towards the end Sociedad attacked strongly. So I thought they will equalise. I laid Villareal at 1.36 and bet on 3.5 market at 2.14 (all lost).

19. Getafe vs Real Madrid. Real Madrid were 2 goals up, but Getafe were still attacking strongly through all 2nd half and didn't look like giving up. So I laid Real Madrid at around 1.08 odds (lost).


The other 25 or so matches proceeded in the same manner. I watched the games, and missed out on profit several times when opportunities came (like late winner in Birmingham vs Blackburn Rovers) because I foolishly thought that the defending team would hold on to their lead /draw. Then in other games, I got screwed over by VAR when my bet was going through. In others, I backed the wrong team instead of laying the draw because the draw odds were not as low as I wanted them to be. And yet in other games, I laid the draw and backed the late goal but it never came. So if instead, I had capitalised on these missed opportunities in some games and got in the market a little earlier in others, I'd be in profit. Instead I lost 60% of my bank. At this rate, I'd blow it all by the end of this weekend...

Please give me some feedback / suggestions / critique my strategy. In particular, I welcome your own thoughts on how any of the above matches went, what positions you took and why, and where I went wrong.

[Kai]

For instance, I would have watched 30 matches over the weekend (literally from Friday night till Sunday night), and would have maybe only identified around 5 clear "value" trades in my opinion. I have traded all other matches anyway - but I don't know if I was finding value or just taking odds that accurately reflected the game play at the time.

And what was the total result after those 5 clear value trades only?

That's quite an opening forum post, since you're trying to learn directly from Psychoff it would be nice if he could give you some genuine feedback, hopefully he sees your thread

Maybe try removing the "lo and behold" and "missed opportunity" and "foolishly thought" from your trading vocabulary, beating yourself up about a purely numbers game can only make things more difficult. Tbh I've skimmed through your trades but looks you're doubling up on markets when looking for one goal, maybe testing several strategies/angles at once is not the most sensible way forward.

Saw some very low risk trades there as well, you're going to need a much larger sample than that get a clear picture of results there, and maybe you won't see any at all if you keep sacrificing the entire profit by chasing unlikely jackpots. It all looks a bit messy in general, like you're trying to find some value in general but not exactly sure where to look.

I'm afraid it's going to take a lot more than one weekend of watching footy and betting on goals to come even close to Psychoff.

[wearthefoxhat]

FWIW, not sure if you do any pre-game research, check any in-play stats before you enter a trade, or just go with what you see watching it "live."

Pre-game research on teams that score late goals or chase the game with attacking subs might make the difference. (they concede as well as score) This makes game selection more selective for sure.

Not even sure some of those games would have sufficient liquidity, if not, the other person offering the prices may be offering shite prices knowing they're nowhere near value ones.

[ShaunWhite]

I haven't gone through all your 'trades' but the first impression is that you're betting rather than trading.

Eg "2. Extremadura vs Alcorcon - laid the draw at 1.24 and backed over 0.5 market - (both lost)"

Where was the exit? When you layed the draw did you let the match finish, or did you back the draw later to close your position?

[spreadbetting]

Only skimmed thru the post but thought that's a hell of a lot of football markets to try and fit in at the weekend. Think you need to prune the number of markets you're betting on.

Don't beat yourself up about losing it's all part of the learning experience, as long as you learn from your mistakes and DON'T repeat them you'll start to find your own niche to play the markets rather than trying to copy others.

[Archery1969]

19. Getafe vs Real Madrid. Real Madrid were 2 goals up, but Getafe were still attacking strongly through all 2nd half and didn't look like giving up. So I laid Real Madrid at around 1.08 odds (lost).

The answers to the following would be good:

1. At what time in the game did you lay Real Madrid ?
2. Where you expecting Getafe to score 2 goals with x minutes to go ?
3. Were you hoping that Getafe would score 1 goal and the odds on Real Madrid rise allowing you to trade out ?
4. Did you have an exit plan or ?

[greenmark]

This won't be popular, but I would say paper trade until you see consistent profit. Otherwise you're "elite trader fodder". If you can produce profits on paper after a month, you might have something.

[ShaunWhite]

And over this last weekend, after around 65 trades in 40 or so matches, I lost nearly £300 - so 60% of my bank.

How could you watch 40 matches live in one weekend??

Were you staking the same when your bank was down?
Eg 2% of your initial £500 would be a max loss of £10.
When you were down to £250 then 2% is a £5 max loss

Even if you lost your maximum amount on every single trade your balance should only do this ...

Screenshot_5.png

What was your avg win£ & avg loss£?
What was your strike rate (#winning trades/#total trades)?
How many trades reach your max worst case loss and how many did you get out of before that?


But as Kai said, what was the result from your 5 'value' trades? And why did you choose to have another 60 'not value' bets on top of that! It looks like you've just been on a betting frenzy, 65 trades (which look like bets to me) on 40 matches is insane unless you have some proven statistical edge and you don't need to watch games.

[Alexander_99]

Hi everyone, thanks for your responses. I will individually reply to everyone later today.

19. Getafe vs Real Madrid. Real Madrid were 2 goals up, but Getafe were still attacking strongly through all 2nd half and didn't look like giving up. So I laid Real Madrid at around 1.08 odds (lost).

The answers to the following would be good:

1. At what time in the game did you lay Real Madrid ?
2. Where you expecting Getafe to score 2 goals with x minutes to go ?
3. Were you hoping that Getafe would score 1 goal and the odds on Real Madrid rise allowing you to trade out ?
4. Did you have an exit plan or ?

I just had a look at my statement - in fact I laid Real Madrid at 1.06 odds, for £150 stake. To answer your questions:

1. Soon -ish after it went 0-2. Maybe at 60 mins.
2, 3. Getafe did not look like a beaten team. I didn't necessarily expect Getafe to get 2 goals back. I was hoping for them to get one goal back. Then I would have probably traded out a third of my stake to clear my liability. And let the rest ride in case of 2nd Getafe goal.
3. No, I treat these situations as straightforward bets. Low risk, high reward. I've seen way too many games when a team comes back from 0-2 or 0-3 down. In fact, if Real Madrid went 0-3, and Getafe still strongly attacked and the game was open, I probably would have laid Real Madrid some more.

[Alexander_99]

I haven't gone through all your 'trades' but the first impression is that you're betting rather than trading.

Eg "2. Extremadura vs Alcorcon - laid the draw at 1.24 and backed over 0.5 market - (both lost)"

Where was the exit? When you layed the draw did you let the match finish, or did you back the draw later to close your position?

Yes, you are right. Majority of my "trades" are rather bets. This is why I want to get in the market as late as possible in the match, so I have low liability for high reward, and I can hit the jackpot without sacrificing any of my potential profit. This is actually another reason why I am reluctant to trade early in the game - because of the game's typical ebb and flow, there is a greater need for you to exit your trades early on and lock in your profit. I mean say you lay a team on 50 min and the equaliser comes on 55 min. Then you'd need to constantly watch the rest of the game and a dilemma to solve - "should I trade out or not?" Whereas if you lay a team on 85 min and equaliser comes on 90 min, then, even if you trade out straightaway, you would have locked in majority of your profit (because then the "back" odds would have been very high). This is what I did in Espanyol vs Barca game. I traded out on 90 min and locked in £36 out of potential £40. i traded out because the game was looking chaotic and Barca could have scored. In other games, I would have let the trade open till the end.

So to answer your question - no, I did not exit the Extremadura trade. Having said that, I am certainly not averse to exiting a trade early if I watch the game and re-evaluate the situation. In another match Fuenrablada vs Las Palmas, I laid the draw at 1.18 and then exited at around 1.10, because the intensity dropped (as I remember).

[Alexander_99]

Only skimmed thru the post but thought that's a hell of a lot of football markets to try and fit in at the weekend. Think you need to prune the number of markets you're betting on.

Don't beat yourself up about losing it's all part of the learning experience, as long as you learn from your mistakes and DON'T repeat them you'll start to find your own niche to play the markets rather than trying to copy others.

Spreadbetting (and Shaun): I watched 40 matches because I don't watch them all start to finish. I usually watch 2nd half, and often only the last 30 mins or so of each match. I try to watch several matched at once (up to 5 simultaneously). When I was paper trading / trading with £2 stakes in November / December, I would get through a 100 matches at the weekend, and execute over a hundred trades.

I admit having to watch 5 matches all at once is very hard. I struggle to concentrate on any single one of them. I can read and understand the game much better when I only watch one, or 2 games at most. But what can you do when many matches are played at the same time? I need to watch all of them in order to try to determine where valuable opportunities are...

[ShaunWhite]

I admit having to watch 5 matches all at once is very hard. I struggle to concentrate on any single one of them. I can read and understand the game much better when I only watch one, or 2 games at most. But what can you do when many matches are played at the same time? I need to watch all of them in order to try to determine where valuable opportunities are...

If it's very hard then why are you doing it? You're making life hard for yourself, trying to run before you can walk. This isn't easy and you're trying to do 5 matches at once when you should be doing 1 properly. Does Rebelo watch 5 matches, does Psychoff watch 5 matches? Why do you think you can?

Every game has opportinities to trade (although maybe not to bet).

"Then you'd need to constantly watch the rest of the game and a dilemma to solve - "should I trade out or not?"
Yes, that's trading.

"Whereas if you lay a team on 85 min and equaliser comes on 90 min, then"
And if it doesn't come you've lost 100% of your liability.
That's just a bet, it's not a trade. Traders should never lose their whole stake, the point of trading is leveraging your available capital not exposing substantial amounts if it. Betting 3 or 4% of your bank on each of 60 random football bets I'm suprised you've got anything left.

" I can hit the jackpot without sacrificing any of my potential profit. "
Again that's a gamblers mentality not a trader. A trader doesn't 'hit the jackpot'...traders have a very dull life making a little and losing a little and gradually stacking up the pounds. No big losses, probably no big wins, and not especially bothered either way on a case by case basis.

Unless you're minted 500 quid is a lot to be splashing about in a week or two with your experience. It's probably going to take you at least a year to become profitable (and remember 95% of people never do) so pace yourself. Otherwise you'll run out of cash before you run out of lessons.

[Alexander_99]

Betting 3 or 4% of your bank on each of 60 random football bets I'm suprised you've got anything left.

Well, these "random" matches are not so random. This is why I watch them live, look at league tables and check both pre match info and live match stats (like sofascore) in order to pick the matches to bet on. I watch quite a lot more matches than the ones I get involved in. For example, today I kept an eye on Juventus and Atalanta and Milan matches. I could clearly see from early first half action that Juventus and Atalanta were going to win their games. Their back prices were very low as expected from the start. So I decided that I will only get involved in these games if its somewhat late in 2nd half and Atalanta and Juventus are not winning. Come 50 min mark, both Atalanta and Juventus were leading and after watching the match for a few mins, I decided that there is no way back for losing teams in these matches. So I didn't trade.

However, I traded Milan game. My pre match research showed that even with Imbrahimovic, Milan were priced way too low, given that there level is very mediocre right now. So I thought laying Milan would be a good idea before the game started. But I decided not do it before watching the game.

However from live pictures and sofascore it was clear that Milan were pressing and dominating most of the match. I decided to back over 0.5 market and lay the draw around 80 mins mark as usual (and lost, yet again).

Just now I watched Lecce vs Udinese. My pre match research showed that both of these teams tend to concede many goals. So I anticipated at least one goal in the game. I watched the 2nd half. I could see that Udinese were the better side. This feeling was enhanced by the fact that Udinese scored 2 goals already (that were disallowed). I also sensed that although the action wasn't as "intense" as I would have liked, it would be worth it to bet on over "0.5" goals - I took the bet on 78 min at 2.34 odds. I thought these odds were value given the action on the pitch. I also backed Udinese at 3.10 on roughly 67 min and then laid the draw on 85 min at 1.36. Final score 0-1, and both bets were won...

[Alexander_99]

For instance, I would have watched 30 matches over the weekend (literally from Friday night till Sunday night), and would have maybe only identified around 5 clear "value" trades in my opinion. I have traded all other matches anyway - but I don't know if I was finding value or just taking odds that accurately reflected the game play at the time.

And what was the total result after those 5 clear value trades only?

That's quite an opening forum post, since you're trying to learn directly from Psychoff it would be nice if he could give you some genuine feedback, hopefully he sees your thread

Maybe try removing the "lo and behold" and "missed opportunity" and "foolishly thought" from your trading vocabulary, beating yourself up about a purely numbers game can only make things more difficult. Tbh I've skimmed through your trades but looks you're doubling up on markets when looking for one goal, maybe testing several strategies/angles at once is not the most sensible way forward.

Saw some very low risk trades there as well, you're going to need a much larger sample than that get a clear picture of results there, and maybe you won't see any at all if you keep sacrificing the entire profit by chasing unlikely jackpots. It all looks a bit messy in general, like you're trying to find some value in general but not exactly sure where to look.

I'm afraid it's going to take a lot more than one weekend of watching footy and betting on goals to come even close to Psychoff.

Well, it wasn't just one weekend. I have been watching matches religiously for 2 months or so every weekend now.

These "5 matches out of 30" were just a hypothetical example to show that I usually only see clear value in a minority of games I watch. So over the last 4 games, I traded around 45 matches. Out of those, I could clearly see the following with more or less clear value:

1. Vallodolid vs Leganes (match odds to lay Leganes were a little too low). I think they were too low because Vallodolid, on paper at least, was a much better team. And the action - at least 2nd half - reflected that. So I laid Leganes ; I also wanted to bet on over 3.5 goals but the goal came before I entered the trade.

2. Espanyol vs Barcelona (match odds to lay Barca were way too low). They were too low because Barca had a red card, looked shaky a few mins earlier, and generally Barca are a shadow of their former selves. Further, Espanyol have a new coach now and so they were desperate to put in a better performance and salvage a point from the game. I actually think Espanyol were a little unlucky not to win the game. I have no idea if the over 3.5 market was too low or not, but I bet on it anyway because I thought 4th goal would come. It made sense since I laid Barca.

3. Belenenses vs Portimonense (match odds to lay Belenses were way too low and goal odds) - similar, way too low given the nature of the match. Belenses were priced at around 1.15 on 80 min already - ridiculously low. Over 0.5 market was also value due for the same reason. I won both bets.

4. Aves vs Santa Clara (match odds to lay Santa were way too low) - similar to above. No idea if 0.5 was value or not (I think it was, though). Aves were denied a dubious penalty. Lost both bets.

5. Sociedad vs Villareal (match odds to lay Sociedad on the low side). Ok, this is more of a hunch. Villareal are a much better team than their table position suggests, and given the semi-open nature of the match, I thought Villareal would score. Sociedad were priced around 1.45 -1.50 around half time, which I thought was a tad too low. I immediately thought "value" but abstained from the trade because I wanted the odds to drop even lower. Then Villareal equalised...

I then laid Villareal and bet on over 3.5 - lost...

6. Oviedo vs Malaga (match odds to lay Oviedo were way too low). Oviedo were as short as 1.45 early in 2nd half. Ridiculously low given that match was open, Malaga was putting quiet a bit of pressure on Oviedo and that these teams are next to each other in league table. It's funny, the market even adjusted itself and the odds on Oviedo went up... I spotted the opportunity ealier than everyone... Yet again I delayed the trade, wanting to get better odds...And then when I finally entered the market, it got suspended and Malaga equalised...

I then laid the draw and backed over 2.5 - lost...

7. Sporting Lisbon vs Porto. No idea what happened in 1st half, but from sofascore it was clear that Sporting put a lot of pressure on Porto. From 45-70 min, Lisbon continued pressure and were clearly looking to score. However, Porto were still favourites (around 60 min Porto were at 3.7 ish while Lisbon at 3.9.... I thought it should be the reverse... Funny that the market then adjusted itself and Lisbon became favourites. Over the next 10 mins odds were fluctuating heavily, I guess a skilled trader would have scalped the match odds then... So I spotted the opportunity before others again. I backed Lisbon but then suddenly Porto scored against the run of play). I also checked the over 1.5 goal odds around 67 min - they were 1.8 already which was value given the gameplay... But again I didn't take them - as I wanted to wait till they hit 2.0 to get more value for money...


Overall over these 7 "value" matches I had around £50 profit... If I got on Malaga and Espanyol games earlier instead of waiting (and getting on the market later on to my disadvantage) I'd have £150-£160 profit... Massive difference...

[Jukebox]

It's hard to say if I made overall profit or loss in those days (variable stakes etc).

Anyway I decided to take the plunge and start trading properly with larger sums. So last Friday I deposited £500 into Betfair.

Next time you decide to up your stakes make sure you know. It isn't a race so you can keep your stakes small for as long as it takes. The £300 you lost this weekend could have paid for many weekends of developing your strategies, there's no need for the other £200 to go the same way.