21 yr old looking for all round advice
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jamesedwards
- Posts: 5212
- Joined: Wed Nov 21, 2018 6:16 pm
I sympathise with the difficulties which you have experienced. I cannot do pre-race trading (like nearly everybody) and the ladder doesn't fit my way of looking at things. I have received no benefit whatsoever from viewing videos from BA or any other source.
There is too much talk on this forum likening financial trading with sports trading (betting.) There is no similarity between the two except that they are both ways for most people to lose money. James makes a good point asking why you want do do this. If your experience is financials why not stick to that and stop coming on here with your pompous, grumpy posts?
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wearthefoxhat
- Posts: 3657
- Joined: Sun Feb 18, 2018 9:55 am
If the OP has been "scared off" they'll have to grow a thicker skin to navigate the murky corporate world. The interest in learning something new that others are/have been successful at, is also a good way to go, although responses have been varied.
On that point, GPT wants to add it's tuppence worth:
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Welcome aboard — you’ve picked a fascinating rabbit hole… just don’t expect it to be lined with gold coins on day one
A few honest pointers from someone who’s been around the exchange block a while:
1. Skip the expensive courses (for now)
Most paid courses recycle what’s already free on YouTube and forums, with a shiny PDF and a big promise attached. Bet Angel’s own videos, forum posts, and recorded webinars are genuinely top-tier. If you can’t make money with the free stuff, a course won’t magically fix it.
2. Start with ONE market, ONE approach
Horse racing is perfect, but don’t try to trade everything. Pick:
One race type (UK win markets, ideally 8–14 runners)
One time window (e.g. last 10 mins pre-off)
One simple idea (scalping, momentum, or order-flow following — not all three)
Depth beats variety every time.
3. Paper trade longer than feels comfortable
Everyone rushes this bit. Don’t.
Use £2 stakes for weeks, even months. Your job early on isn’t to make money — it’s to not do stupid things when the market moves against you. That skill pays the bills later.
4. “Following the money” is harder than it looks
Big money often hides, spoofs, or moves late. What you’re really learning is:
How prices behave when they’re about to move
When money stays vs when it pulls
That only comes from screen time. There’s no shortcut.
5. Keep a brutally honest log
Not just results — note:
Why you entered
Why you exited
What the market did after you got out
Patterns (good and bad) jump out surprisingly fast.
6. Treat this like a business experiment, not a last roll of the dice
Give yourself a fixed period (say 6–12 months), a fixed bank, and clear rules. If it works — brilliant. If not, you’ll still come out sharper, more disciplined, and very employable.
Plenty of people make Betfair work — but the common trait isn’t intelligence or secret strategies. It’s patience, repetition, and emotional control.
Stick around, ask questions, and don’t believe anyone who tells you it’s easy. If it were, we’d all be on a yacht arguing about the going at Ascot
Good luck — and enjoy the process.
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....and this is me....
Some of the above sentiments have already been mentioned on the thread, good to see some of them endorsed.
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On that point, GPT wants to add it's tuppence worth:
----
Welcome aboard — you’ve picked a fascinating rabbit hole… just don’t expect it to be lined with gold coins on day one
A few honest pointers from someone who’s been around the exchange block a while:
1. Skip the expensive courses (for now)
Most paid courses recycle what’s already free on YouTube and forums, with a shiny PDF and a big promise attached. Bet Angel’s own videos, forum posts, and recorded webinars are genuinely top-tier. If you can’t make money with the free stuff, a course won’t magically fix it.
2. Start with ONE market, ONE approach
Horse racing is perfect, but don’t try to trade everything. Pick:
One race type (UK win markets, ideally 8–14 runners)
One time window (e.g. last 10 mins pre-off)
One simple idea (scalping, momentum, or order-flow following — not all three)
Depth beats variety every time.
3. Paper trade longer than feels comfortable
Everyone rushes this bit. Don’t.
Use £2 stakes for weeks, even months. Your job early on isn’t to make money — it’s to not do stupid things when the market moves against you. That skill pays the bills later.
4. “Following the money” is harder than it looks
Big money often hides, spoofs, or moves late. What you’re really learning is:
How prices behave when they’re about to move
When money stays vs when it pulls
That only comes from screen time. There’s no shortcut.
5. Keep a brutally honest log
Not just results — note:
Why you entered
Why you exited
What the market did after you got out
Patterns (good and bad) jump out surprisingly fast.
6. Treat this like a business experiment, not a last roll of the dice
Give yourself a fixed period (say 6–12 months), a fixed bank, and clear rules. If it works — brilliant. If not, you’ll still come out sharper, more disciplined, and very employable.
Plenty of people make Betfair work — but the common trait isn’t intelligence or secret strategies. It’s patience, repetition, and emotional control.
Stick around, ask questions, and don’t believe anyone who tells you it’s easy. If it were, we’d all be on a yacht arguing about the going at Ascot
Good luck — and enjoy the process.
----
....and this is me....
Some of the above sentiments have already been mentioned on the thread, good to see some of them endorsed.
----
Who pulled your chain?Safeway wrote: ↑Fri Jan 16, 2026 9:14 pmI sympathise with the difficulties which you have experienced. I cannot do pre-race trading (like nearly everybody) and the ladder doesn't fit my way of looking at things. I have received no benefit whatsoever from viewing videos from BA or any other source.
There is too much talk on this forum likening financial trading with sports trading (betting.) There is no similarity between the two except that they are both ways for most people to lose money. James makes a good point asking why you want do do this. If your experience is financials why not stick to that and stop coming on here with your pompous, grumpy posts?
Not that it's really any business of yours, but I wanted to generate some extra tax free income, as all my other activities attract too much taxation.
And seeing as everyone in this industry is busy promoting how easy it is to make money that's how I ended up here...now get back in your hole.
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JuiceyJones
- Posts: 195
- Joined: Wed Sep 02, 2020 3:00 pm
Plenty of people make Betfair work — but the common trait isn’t intelligence or secret strategies. It’s patience, repetition, and emotional control.wearthefoxhat wrote: ↑Fri Jan 16, 2026 10:31 pmIf the OP has been "scared off" they'll have to grow a thicker skin to navigate the murky corporate world. The interest in learning something new that others are/have been successful at, is also a good way to go, although responses have been varied.
On that point, GPT wants to add it's tuppence worth:
----
Welcome aboard — you’ve picked a fascinating rabbit hole… just don’t expect it to be lined with gold coins on day one
A few honest pointers from someone who’s been around the exchange block a while:
1. Skip the expensive courses (for now)
Most paid courses recycle what’s already free on YouTube and forums, with a shiny PDF and a big promise attached. Bet Angel’s own videos, forum posts, and recorded webinars are genuinely top-tier. If you can’t make money with the free stuff, a course won’t magically fix it.
2. Start with ONE market, ONE approach
Horse racing is perfect, but don’t try to trade everything. Pick:
One race type (UK win markets, ideally 8–14 runners)
One time window (e.g. last 10 mins pre-off)
One simple idea (scalping, momentum, or order-flow following — not all three)
Depth beats variety every time.
3. Paper trade longer than feels comfortable
Everyone rushes this bit. Don’t.
Use £2 stakes for weeks, even months. Your job early on isn’t to make money — it’s to not do stupid things when the market moves against you. That skill pays the bills later.
4. “Following the money” is harder than it looks
Big money often hides, spoofs, or moves late. What you’re really learning is:
How prices behave when they’re about to move
When money stays vs when it pulls
That only comes from screen time. There’s no shortcut.
5. Keep a brutally honest log
Not just results — note:
Why you entered
Why you exited
What the market did after you got out
Patterns (good and bad) jump out surprisingly fast.
6. Treat this like a business experiment, not a last roll of the dice
Give yourself a fixed period (say 6–12 months), a fixed bank, and clear rules. If it works — brilliant. If not, you’ll still come out sharper, more disciplined, and very employable.
Plenty of people make Betfair work — but the common trait isn’t intelligence or secret strategies. It’s patience, repetition, and emotional control.
Stick around, ask questions, and don’t believe anyone who tells you it’s easy. If it were, we’d all be on a yacht arguing about the going at Ascot
Good luck — and enjoy the process.
----
....and this is me....
Some of the above sentiments have already been mentioned on the thread, good to see some of them endorsed.
----
I think lack of novelty puts a lot people off sticking with it through the long term. This is one of the few times that i have agreed with Skynet.
< 5% of accounts isn't plenty of people...what does that make the 95% who don't!?
Its beliefs like this that keep people gambling...it reminds me of that line that people who buy lottery tickets say "well someone as to win it", yes someone probably will but that doesn't make a ticket have positive expected value...
Its beliefs like this that keep people gambling...it reminds me of that line that people who buy lottery tickets say "well someone as to win it", yes someone probably will but that doesn't make a ticket have positive expected value...
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wearthefoxhat
- Posts: 3657
- Joined: Sun Feb 18, 2018 9:55 am
With lottery or scratch-card gambling, "IT COULD BE YOU" was a successful advertising campaign that caught the imagination, leaning into the pyschology of HOPE. The buyer knows it's millions to one, but, are willing to throw a couple of sovs at a £100+ million rollover.
Casino gambling can be argued to be a night out/social event, but some enjoy the allure and swop the house edge on slots, table games for the experience, with the IT COULD BE YOU mentality thrown in for good measure.
Sports trading/racing/stock market-forex trading is thought to be more skilled, as there is more opinion based algorithms folded into the markets. More consistent winning is likely, but it's a zero sum game, including commission, so will have casualties that might ordinarily win.
Goobs wrote: ↑Sat Jan 17, 2026 7:58 am< 5% of accounts isn't plenty of people...what does that make the 95% who don't!?
Its beliefs like this that keep people gambling...it reminds me of that line that people who buy lottery tickets say "well someone as to win it", yes someone probably will but that doesn't make a ticket have positive expected value...
The exchange is a place to build an edge and create your own expected value, so not sure how you compare it to a lottery. A 1 in 20 chance of doing this isn’t bad, when you consider how many people probably interview for the same traditional job with less earning potential.
You only have to look on any job site these days, companies want you to give them the world on a stick and pay you peanuts in return.