Just one more trade...

[rfbet]

I'm incredibly new to betfair trading having started
last week. I feel like I've learnt loads, but realise I have so much more to learn.

I'm trying to scalp horse racing markets.

I'm getting green screens quite frequently, but I've noticed that i sometimes reduce the profit I make, or even go from a profit to a loss when I go for "Just one more trade" in the market.

Should I have a percentage profit I'm happy with and move on to the next race when I reach/exceed it?

Should I try and take note of the circumstances? For example some of these were down to trades in the last couple of minutes where the odds that had been relatively stable dropped suddenly. So perhaps If I hav a cut off point and avoid trading in the last couple of minutes I would do better.

Alternatively, I could try stop losses.

In my first couple of days trading, I used the one click screen with an auto stop loss. But found that it was cutting out trades too quickly. a lot of them were blips and with no stop loss I would have had my back bet matched. Instead I would see the red number creeping up.

I found I did better on the ladder view and I think it was because It didn't have a stop loss, and so I survived brief downward spikes. I was also able to cut out more prolonged drops manually but thinking about both situations I think a stop loss might be a good idea but have it set a little less cautiously.

Any advice, thoughts on the above greatly apppreciated.

[switesh]

Hi rfbet,
I'm not good enough at trading myself so unfortunately I can offer no advice, but I can recommend a few videos that might be of help. When I started out I found these videos quite handy, and I still watch them from time to time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMs3SfXiV8U
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6uQOHyI1qM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KfAeW1KznRI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sM5L2QnwbV4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o2z1XhEhS-Q
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHv-RBvu4Yo


This one is quite entertaining. If I've had a series of bad trades (which happens often ) I watch this video to cheer me up a bit :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2PyjYub ... ure=relmfu


Regards,
Switesh

[rfbet]

Thanks Switesh,

I'll watch the videos tonight, especially the last one.

I've realised that whilst I've been trying to scalp I've ended up doing something more akin to swing trading, and ending up doing neither well.

I think, this is mainly down to my choice of market/horse to scalp.I suspect I need a horse with decent odds, whose price is relatively stable.

I also need to go back to having a stop loss, set just as restrictively as it was before, but to improve my decision of when to enter a trade.

[giulio2010]

It happens to many people losing everything after having a good run. When you are winning you let your guard down, concentration and sometimes there is a risk of getting bored and at that same moment you lose. Sometimes the opposite happens ... You open the trading day not too convinced and you lose money, but because of that you may decide to focus and put your self on the right track .. Although I am not an expert on horses trading, I fully understand that in this game the psychology is essential and must always be highly concentrated. If after a few successes you have a moment of boredom or not enough concentration, get up immediately and do something else ... perhaps watching fun videos or listen to music ... The important thing is to recognize you've had enough without thinking too much about the possible profit if you left the field ....
If you think rationally what's so difficult about trading? Back and Lay or vice versa is all you need to know the rest is done by the discipline and the state of mind ...
Do not drink too much coffees
Do not think about sex
Do not read articles that divert attention from the market
Forget the forum during the trading ... Unless you can handle doing few things togheter ...
Keep everything ready
Do not drink alchool
Drink lots of water, it helps the brain to be more active
Do not eat in a hurry for fear of losing a market
Turn off the phone or remove the ringtone
Do not chat
Leave facebook alone
Put your self off-line on skype
Choose markets hours ahead
stick with you plan .... but if you get bored, leave everything and restart the next day..
These are just some examples and not every-one lose concetration because of the list above but surely there may be something there that may effect your concentration. Try to find it, once you did work out how to eliminate it from your daily habbits while you are trading...I do not think that people trade for fun so is a MUST to be extremily focus because is a job with not guarantees...once you've gained profits your discipline must double if not triple...things may turn against you anyway but not as bad as when you lower your guard...

Please forgive my english..

[LeTiss]

Do not drink too much coffees
Do not think about sex
Do not drink alchool
Do not eat in a hurry for fear of losing a market
Turn off the phone or remove the ringtone

These things make up 90% of my day!!

[giulio2010]

..
...

Do not drink too much coffees
Do not think about sex
Do not drink alchool
Do not eat in a hurry for fear of losing a market
Turn off the phone or remove the ringtone

These things make up 90% of my day!!

[freddy]

I have to admit my concentration is awful these days, think that's one of the reasons i switched to longer term trading, as i had burnt myself out and fried my brain with the pre race last 10 mins before the off trading over the years .

dont think i could make a profit like that these days

[Iron]

Do not think about sex

That must be difficult for you considering who your mentor is!

Jeff