Just blown another bank

[El Flaco Explosivo]

I've been trading most days since January this year and i was actually doing ok. I was mostly trading horses pre-race and i would make small profits for a few days, then make a ridiculous mistake like letting a race go in-play that would wipe away most, if not all of my profits and/or bank. Eventually, i stopped this and started finding it much easier to take a small loss and move on to the next race. Things were going well for a few weeks, although i was only using small stakes. Then, last week i decide to give laying horses in-play a go. I would do this on races that were at least 2 miles. I would either lay a horse that lined up at the back and try and take a quick green after the race started or i would watch the race and then lay one of the fav's that was near the back and then green up once the price started drifting. I was making much more profit than i was pre-race and despite a few races where i took a big loss, i was up a decent amount (By my standards). Then Thursday and today happened. Lone Foot Laddie in the 2:30 at Carlisle finished me off. I can't believe i've been so stupid. I was aware how volatile in-play racing was and i still got involved. I also have nowhere near the level of horse racing knowledge to even attempt to read a race properly. I'm just so annoyed at myself and i don't know if i can justify putting more money into my Betfair account after such stupidity. Sorry for the long post, just needed to vent my frustration. Feel free to give me the abuse i deserve.

[Banthorpe]

Dont think you deserve getting any abuse, think you are beating yourself up enough. Anyone who says they havnt made mistakes, whoever they are, from the top traders down to the lower ones, Are definatly lying and I doubt there is a single trader who has never blown their Bank at least once. Dont worry to much about the people who post all their big winnings they tend not to post thier big losses. The most important thing is to learn from the mistakes. Small steady profits are good youd be surprised just how few can achieve that. Have a glass of wine and learn

[Iron]

Dont worry to much about the people who post all their big winnings they tend not to post their big losses.

+1

I'm sure people posting big totals do so to inspire others, but I worry that they inadvertently motivate people to use and persist with losing approaches in the belief that, 'If I just stick with this long enough, I too will soon be making big money.'

It brings to mind some of the tactics that casinos use to encourage people to gamble - see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8PLXnqhuNc#t=14m00s

Jeff

[mugsgame]

I have been guilty in the past of posting big totals. But I had this in my mind quite a lot. There is a thread calling it inspiration. I disagree too. I think it adds to the pressure for aspiring traders. There are a few of my videos where I have totals of £100 +, but you have to understand it's relative. Relative to the size of bank you use and the experience you have. In my near 200 videos there are as many small wins as big ones. I I try to demonstrate the technique rather than making it a cock show.

EDIT: I have removed the link to the video showing the £300 loss. It serves no purpose as Euler rightly points out. I don't want to be trendy or an idiot.

[Iron]

One of the things I like about you Mugs is that you're willing to post trades that you got wrong, and explain why you got them wrong.

I think it's easy for people to be seduced by big totals, when they should be focusing on working out what works and why it works, and practicing with small stakes initially. For someone starting out to look at a big total can be like a weightlifting newbie looking at pictures of Mr Universe. It can make him feel demoralised and inadequate, and lead him to try to take foolish shortcuts.

Jeff

[El Flaco Explosivo]

Thanks for the replies, guys.

I would honestly say that the big totals posted by others haven't had a negative effect at all. I know that these are relative to the bigger stakes they use and obviously the vast experience they have compared to myself. I've never set any targets for myself apart from not losing. It's my own lack of discipline and patience that causes me to make mistakes.

Also Mugs, i've watched loads of your videos and I read your blog regularly. They've helped me massively, so thanks.

[Euler]

I know it's trendy to say your an idiot and post a loss, but if you look at today's racing I earned in excess of £2k and have very few losses to talk about my worst was £50 odd. So should I make up a loss and post that to be trendy?

I know I'm at the top of my game etc. etc. but it's not fair to say to people who have traded well are attempting to mislead when they post a nice total. I'm trying to be an exemplar and to point out it's still possible to do well.

Also, not sure what you can learn from looking at a loss, a lot of people don't have too many problems finding them without help .

[Euler]

I should point out, I tend to refrain from posting the really big results simply because people don't really seem to understand the more normal ones, so the massive ones would really be beyond comprehension. Which is fair enough because I may have had to push really hard to get those.

[Euler]

Is response to EFE, I'd say mistakes like this are common and to separate and inplay / outright staking strategies as they have caused many a trader to pop. Trading is really about trying to take some money out of the market at the lowest risk and mixing styles has always caused problems. So best to keep them separate and measure by different means so your risk and reward always stay in kilter.

I dread to think how many aspiring traders have been lost to a trade that went inplay.

[convoysur-2]

el flaco,
you were doing well .and you made a big mistake cost you your bank.
so dont make the mistake again.
if i have a lay position gone wrong before the off. i get out and take the hit ,unless the fav (im normally trading)
is in a bad draw AND a hold up horse,if hes a front runner your simply fucked,so in this case get out asap.i have all this information on hand on other screen.but get your bank out first ,(this what i do ,maybe not for everybody)say im red for 20 with a 200 lay @ 2.0 evens ,it has slamed through 10 ticks now im red 20,if he is a hold up horse or a bad draw ill go in again with 50 keeping my back bet inplay ,so now im risking 70 not 200,when they break from the stalls ,it will go north or south ,if he breaks well im out super quick ,you will see the movements in the market more often than not just based on those 2 things alone.
all that said ,its probably just better to move on to the next market and get your money back,
do what works for you.what was gorking before your speed-wabble. stick in 50-100 next week or whenever suites you ,get back it the thing you do best .....good luck
easter belssings from galway city.
Marc

[Iron]

you were doing well .and you made a big mistake cost you your bank.
so dont make the mistake again.

Marc, the disturbing thing is that trading mistakes generally get repeated (at least mine do!).

It's not enough to say 'this time it is different', like someone who wakes up with a huge hangover and says 'That is the last time I get wasted', only to do it again soon.

its probably just better to move on to the next market and get your money back

If you mean win it all back at once, that's a recipe for disaster (believe me, I know!). However, if you mean gradually win back the money lost over many, many trades, I'd agree, providing the mistakes that caused the original blow up definitely won't be repeated.

Jeff

[tweebie1999]

I am sure there are a lot of traders here who have blown more than one bank. I certainly have. It is part of the learning process. If you do something wrong and get punished for it you will eventually stop doing it. You are conditioning yourself not to repeat bad habits.

As far as people who post large wins up for others to see I hope they continue. It does motivate. Imagine if all they posted was large losses. Would we be interested in trading then?

[Iron]

As far as people who post large wins up for others to see I hope they continue. It does motivate. Imagine if all they posted was large losses. Would we be interested in trading then?

Couple of points.

A. It's not an 'either-or'.

B. Perhaps seeing evidence of others doing well can motivate, but it can also trigger states like greed which generally aren't considered good for trading.

Jeff

[Euler]

B. Perhaps seeing evidence of others doing well can motivate, but it can also trigger states like greed which generally aren't considered good for trading.

Jeff

Better than being negative about it

[convoysur-2]

ferru-jeff.
yes i should have said gradually get it back.thats what i meant,sorry,
i have blown more banks than i can remember ,im good at what i do in the markets,but if my psychology is wrong on the day .im in trouble,i worket very hard this last 3 weeks no days off and 16 hour days ,i did really well,
today i made a horrible mistake ,i profiles a race picked a horse that could win but on record was sure to trade very short,i assessed my position in the morning am and back him for a large amount at what i believed was the top of his range,i could have traded out very well for nice profit before the off ,but waiting on his front running and best draw i wanted more .and i got it ,,for about 1 second,
when i had backed him hard ,i had laid him back in running and had a keep bet ,went off to make a coffee ,have a piss restarted my pc ,opened the screen here we go happy days ,but i couldent see i had already laid back in running i took my hundreds out,BUT WAIT ,,WHAT THE FUCK .IM RED FOR HUNDREDS ...couldent see the keep bet after restarting .i had laid him for alot of money ,
Shit happens,
it will take me a while to get back ,but i will,
i feel like such an idiot making a stupid mistake like that,
Marc