Thursday 29 April 2010

A welcome result

Managed my first winning day for 7 days today. I used £35 stakes, which are what I had been used to, and didn't have any major disasters, although there were a couple of hairy moments where the market temporarily went against me big time, I was ready to close out if it went any further but I have noticed that if I am just a little more patient, I can scratch a loss or at least limit it. Of course, waiting too long to cut out could result in an even bigger loss, so I need to keep my wits about me, keep an eye on the other horses odds, and close out for a loss when needed.

I am fairly sure that raising my stakes was the main reason for the bad run. It just shows how weak my mental state still is, even though it has improved enormously. So its back to a gradual increase of stakes as I get to feel confident, rather than the jump to £150 liability stakes I was using before. The crazy backer guy hasn't been throwing his weight around as much in the last couple of days, and this helped too.

6 comments:

  1. I think it might be wise to hold off on increasing stakes until you're confident in your abilities for now Neil.

    Increasing stakes shouldn't be seen as something to dread or another hurdle, in fact when you're happy you can consistently turn a profit upping your stakes is something you're desperate to do. I'm sure if you talk to some of the winning traders the problem isn't upping stakes it's being able to get enough on at a price when you're confident of a move.

    It's a bit of a double edged sword playing in smaller stakes because it does make taking those reds easier, as in real terms they aren't too big, but it does give rise to a tendency to overtrade the markets in the search for something worthwhile other than pennies.

    With larger stakes you get more selective about the trades you do as one or two winning trades a market may well get you a decent return and the less trades we do the less likely we'll get them wrong. Obviously the reds are larger with bigger stakes but if you're consistent the greens you'll make soon outweigh them so those bigger losses won't be as much of a hurdle as you may think it would be.

    Spend a bit more time now working on consistent profits and once you've cracked that you'll be chomping at the bit to increase stakes. We're playing with such a small edge you've got to be confident that when you enter a market you'll come out on top.

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  2. Thanks MF. As you say, I need to work on my confidence and consistency, and then it should be easier to increase the stakes. I have been in profit for the last 6 months but I feel that I am not consistent enough, with too many big losses.

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  3. Hi Neil,
    Can i ask a silly question?When you talk about £35 stakes,is that the actual stake or the liability on the trade? ie--- £35 back on a 2/1 shot is £35---but a lay is £70?
    as i say silly i know,
    Cheers Rupert.

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  4. £35 stakes is the actual stake, so if I mess up at odds of 6 then it will be harder for me to recover if the next few races are at odds of 3.0.

    I have the same stake , £35, if I back or lay first, but u are right, the liabilities will be different

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  5. Cheers neil,
    Just an idea,maybe be in your interests to compound your profits as you go along upto maybe 5 races then start again at £35
    Example--- £35 trade yields a profit of £5..so next race is £40 then £45 etc etc upto say 5 trades or 10.
    They you are getting maximum profits out of earned money.
    Just an idea.Cheers Rupert.

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  6. thanks, its not a bad idea, it might get me used to using bigger stakes.

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