Starting Bank

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joerowsell
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Aug 01, 2017 9:21 pm

Hi all

This is my first forum post so just wanted to say hello. I have been stalking here a bit recently but decided to actually post something!

I have been pre-race trading the horses for about 3 years and I am ready to try and take the next serious step towards making some money from it. My biggest enemy (apart from the odd moment of indiscipline) is time. I have reduced my hours at work to try and give this a shot and I'm now in a position where I'll be working 7am - 1pm and should be home just before 2pm for the afternoon's racing. I'm making up the shortfall in my wages through matched betting, and so there is no pressure (or targets) for me to try and overstretch myself with trading.

I have mainly been trading Saturday's and evenings when I get the chance, but haven't really been able to get a decent run of consecutive days trading, which hopefully now I will. I am profitable though, but I don't want to go diving straight into the deep end. Certainly, for the first month my aim is to keep things very simple, very small stakes, and just get myself into a daily trading routine.

I'm thinking about using an initial bank of £100 with £10 stakes. I know banks are supposed to be bigger, and I will address that once I become consistent. I also know your stake should be a smaller percentage of your bank than the 10% I am using, but again this is just for starters. Do you think this is a sensible approach? If things start going well I can easily upgrade my bank to say £500 and use £20/£25 stakes to reduce the %. But to begin with I'm thinking that should be ok; pre-race trading means I'm never going to blow a full stake as I won't go in-play, at worst I might lose a pound or two. I don't see me losing the bank anyway and at the end of the month I can see how much that £100 is now worth and if I feel comfortable enough to increase things.

Any thoughts, help and advice are very welcome!
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megarain
Posts: 2040
Joined: Thu May 16, 2013 1:26 pm
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**************disclaimer .. I suck at pre-race horse trading*****************

So, here are my thoughts.

But, firstly, welcome, out from the shadows (which, is a fun place to be, and I often wonder, why anyone comes out).

You have a £100 bank. If u have £10 stakes, is your normal strategy, to, say back at 3.1, and try and lay back for profit, or, will u have multiple trades ?

£100 bank, limits the horses u can target. If I was starting out, I would focus on horses above 6.0, which, maybe easier to trade, and less volatile.

In the 3 yrs you have traded, u really need to analyse, your good/bad races, and see what is most profitable. If u have a consistent method, the bank is really irrelevant, so long as u have the mental discipline to follow your trading rules.

In all honesty, are u a winning player ? I would expect for you to maybe lose, in the first yr at least, while u got your feet. If u look at your account statement, you will find you net deposit/withdrawal figure. That fig doesnt lie, and should give u confidence, if its a decent plus.

Betfair will give u a 3yr speadsheet, if u ask them. Have a good look at it.
joerowsell
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Aug 01, 2017 9:21 pm

Hi thanks for the reply

I'm mainly a swing trader and have a decent edge/edges. I usually only have one trade on the go and its usually a back to lay so at the moment I would only be using one stake per trade per race. Although I say I'm profitable, I mean I am now, I certainly wasn't when I started 3 years ago but I have got the hang of it a lot more now, and have been consistently turning over a (small) profit for nearly the last 12 months. I just haven't had as many trading opportunities as I will do now with having afternoons to myself, as well as evenings and weekends.

Don't get me wrong, I may find that actually it doesn't work out for me, but I would regret it forever if I didn't give it a proper go to try and make some proper money from this. And if it's not working, I'll go back to working full time and just doing bits in the evening and weekends. But I need to know if I'm one of those 5% of people who can be successful traders rather than of of the 95% who don't make it!
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megarain
Posts: 2040
Joined: Thu May 16, 2013 1:26 pm
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Sure, I understand .. I would never argue against anyone taking the jump.

Back to lay is maybe easier. Maybe its something you could automate, and get the best of both worlds .. but, hands on, will give u screen time etc for the first few months.

I think u have a decent shot.
Bluesky
Posts: 420
Joined: Mon Sep 19, 2016 9:26 pm

Have you been keeping your own records for the last 12 months that you have been profitable. Over a 12 month period of trading evenings and weekends should give you a decent idea of your strike rate, your average win and loss. Your longest winning and losing runs etc.

This sort of information is going to be far more reliable and useful to you than anything you are likely to be given from a trading forum, you can then work out what size bank and stake size you are happy with.
iambic_pentameter
Posts: 443
Joined: Wed May 18, 2016 1:24 pm

If you've been in the markets for 3 years, you will have a good grounding of how different types of race trade.

You talk about an initial bank - does this mean you've been trading on practice mode since you've been involved with the markets? If it is, I'd suggest splitting that £100 into 5 separate banks of £20 and using £2 stakes.

Of course, if you've been using real money, then by all means, continue to do so.

"pre-race trading means I'm never going to blow a full stake as I won't go in-play, at worst I might lose a pound or two. I don't see me losing the bank anyway"

Whilst I applaud your comment above, you need to have 100% mastery on your emotions and discipline because anyone who has traded seriously will know how quickly a small 3 tick loss can end up a lot larger - normally by going inplay but also due to Betfair crashing etc.

One final bit of advice - you mention coming in from work and being home just before the start of racing. I would suggest that rather than jumping straight into the racing that you have a cup of tea, scan the markets to see what opportunities are available and only then enter the markets.

That all said, I think it's excellent that you have an income from matched betting and, of course, your wages - as you say, there is no pressure to make X amount.

Best of luck with it,

Iambic
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