What is a sufficient starting bankroll for new traders?

[oswilliams]

Hi all,

First of all, I'm completely new to sports trading. I have spent a few hours going through the Bet Angel software manual and the forums, as well as reading a few articles online to get a feel for trading, however, my first big question is this:

What is a sufficient starting bankroll for new traders?

I plan on using practise mode on Bet Angel for a few months to get used to the software and to develop my understanding of sports trading but it would great to get an idea on what kind of funds I'll need to invest to start trading effectively when I'm ready to make the jump to real money.

While I understand it will take time, my long term aim is to generate a solid second income through sports trading. In the short term, I just want to get your views on initial bankroll requirements.

Any support would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers,

Oliver

[marko236]

Hi,

It all depends on how much time you will be trading, how much you are trying to make and finally how good you are at trading.

I always say invest what you can afford to lose.

[burdo77]

This is a good question, and not an easy one to answer. Firstly I would start with small bank and your first objective would be to preserve your bank for 12 months. Being able to preserve your bank is not easy to do as a novice, you are likely to take greater risks with small bank than having a large bank. I would start with a bank of 1000, don't have high expectations to start with as you are unlikely to make money unless you are highly analytical and methodical in your trading.

[oswilliams]

@burdo77 Thanks for the reply, really useful. Assuming that I do my homework and develop a strategy using practise mode before switching to real money trading, what kind of variance should I expect to see if I was trading for a few hours 3 days a week? How much should I be trading on a daily basis with a bankroll of £1,000? Finally, with a starting bankroll of £1,000 what would be considered a 'good' profit after 12 months of trading for an established trader?

@marko236 I plan on trading for a few hours per day, 3 days per week. To start with ill only be trading for fun, and primarily to learn and improve so no real end goal in mind - other than retaining and hopefully growing my bankroll.

[burdo77]

Your %liability should be dependant on your hit rate. There Is no particular figure as many traders will risk more %than others. A common risk is usually around 2-5%. I think anything above 0 is a good profit, I have been trading for 12 months now and I am at level profit. If you are at this point in 12 months it is a process of weeding out the bad strategies and just sticking to the most profitable strategies.

[hgodden]

You only need use £100 or so, no more than that. Just stick to £2 stakes until a time comes when you know that you will make money with what you're risking. Then you can risk more. If that time never comes then you wont really lose anything.

[burdo77]

You only need use £100 or so, no more than that. Just stick to £2 stakes until a time comes when you know that you will make money with what you're risking. Then you can risk more. If that time never comes then you wont really lose anything.

My point was that if you have a small bank you are likely to make greater risk, trading small stakes can be discouraging from my personal experience as it feels like you are going nowhere and you don't actually feel the pain of a loss.

[LinusP]

If you want to get some money together for a decent bank have a look into match betting, involves taking advantage of bookies free bets and is almost risk free.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matched_betting

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/for ... y.php?f=41

[burdo77]

I believe some bookies dictate which games you can bet on and some won't let u bet on teams below evens. Just be careful on this one!

[LinusP]

I believe some bookies dictate which games you can bet on and some won't let u bet on teams below evens. Just be careful on this one!

Yeh thats why I said almost risk free, but follow the terms and you can make a grand in under 2months providing you have never signed up. Has paid for more than a few of my holidays!

[burdo77]

Yeh thats why I said almost risk free, but follow the terms and you can make a grand in under 2months providing you have never signed up. Has paid for more than a few of my holidays!

Hi Linus, out of curiosity, have u had trouble cashing out after just one bet with a bookmaker?

[speakers]

In my opinion, it also depends on what types of sports you intend trading on.
If you're trading horses pre-race, you are likely to use a large part of your bank on each race, whereas trading a number of sports long-term or a mixture of short and long-term will likely require a larger bank so you can cover the liability.
I started with £25 and built it up from there because that was all I was willing to risk.
As you mentioned, the practice mode is the place to start for something like the horses so you can get a feel for the chaos before risking real money.

[to75ne]

if your new to this, you would be best to listen to hgodden.

with a grand and little or no experience you will either make a big dent in it, or lose the lot.

a large bank will not help you control your greed and fear, or help you learn to control your greed and fear.

you will be better off donating £900 to a charity cause you will probably lose it or make a big dent in it.

[LinusP]

Hi Linus, out of curiosity, have u had trouble cashing out after just one bet with a bookmaker?

No taking the money out straight away is normal for a mug punter, it is betting obscure markets / arbs is what looses accounts. Its much better to play the long game and act like a mug by taking normal prices and placing the odd accumulator. Accounts such as B365 are worth thousands if you can keep them.

[speakers]

if your new to this, you would be best to listen to hgodden.

with a grand and little or no experience you will either make a big dent in it, or lose the lot.

a large bank will not help you control your greed and fear, or help you learn to control your greed and fear.

you will be better off donating £900 to a charity cause you will probably lose it or make a big dent in it.

I agree.