Educated Scalping / Hybrid style

My first two years trading were spent as an out and out scalper. Very rarely would I hang on for 4-5 ticks profit/loss. It gave me a great feel for the market and always being "in the money" kept me focused and almost in an auto-pilot mindset. I never monitored graphs or trends and would only use instinct to decide where I could get in and out with little risk.

Maybe I started to peak as scalper or the markets became more suited to another style. Either way I had to change the way I monitor a race and look at the bigger picture, not just the favorite.

Looking back at some recent videos i can see how I've developed a Hybrid style where I can scalp and make small swing trades based on the increased market information i now use. Here's one from last week. Not a massive profit but done with very little risk.

Not Just for Sport

With nearly 600k matched on the X Factor 2009 winner market after just one live show anyone with an opinion can now have a serious punt on this years batch of wannabee pop stars.


Coincidentally it was my Mum who asked me to put a bet on the X Factor for her over 4 years ago.
After searching an odds comparison site i noticed Betfair's price was the most competitive. This is where it all began for me.

Footage

I'd been wanting to make some videos of my trading for a while but since returning from holiday I'd been struggling to get back into the action and have therefore been focusing my attention on that. The markets are pretty tricky at the moment. Ive had to reduce activity slightly and not commit too much to a trade as its much harder to get out if I get it wrong.

I recorded some footage of my trading yesterday and it was interesting to watch it back. I was kicking myself at times where i could see myself hanging on too long and being too greedy. It reminded me that i still have a lot to improve on.

This video was from the 17:25 at Carlisle. I chose this one as it shows both swinging and scalping techniques on the favourite. I tried to record the full screen  but my fossil of a laptop couldn't cope and was freezing up on me so I had to reduce the recording window. I also missed the start of the action here Im a Camtasia novice.

Much Needed Break

Ciao! Ive just returned from a much needed break in Sardinia, hence the lack of posts and unanswered comments. We had an incredible trip, the people are very friendly and the food/wine was superb. I hired a convertible mini as a surprise for my girlfriend but had a head in hands moment upon arrival to see thunder clouds and rain. Luckily the weather improved and as we traveled across the island we seemed to follow the sunshine. The Island visually is absolutely stunning, my particular highlight was hiring a boat in Cala-Gonone and stopping at all the remote beaches on the Golfo Di Orosei. Here's a few snaps!

                                                         

                                                                                

Well its back to business now and hopefully i can pick up where i left off. I'm always a little cautious after a break it can be a little difficult to get the ball rolling again but with the Ascot festival starting tomorrow there should be plenty of opportunities to get back in the swing of things.

Saturdays

Can be fast and furious with races going off every 5 minutes it does get quite hectic. It’s harder to stay focused so sometimes I will skip races at poorer meetings with lower liquidity. This also gives me more time to assess the next market and possibly get a decent early position.

I started slowly and was probably being a bit too reserved after my awful start on Friday.

I missed the boat on more markets than I’d of liked and had one hefty losse where I didn't bite the bullet and get out of bad a position, saying that the P&L was in a healthy state in the end so I can’t complain.

My best race today was the 3:30 at Haydock. I took a screen shot just after id got into some decent positions and took another just at the end as I was greening up.

"Getting on"

                                                              
                                                             

                                                             "Greening up"  

                                                                                    

                                                                                          

  Saturday rounded off an amazing week for me. I missed Monday due to Notting Hill Carnival partying. I’ve rarely pulled that much profit out of 104 markets especially in whats supposed to be a quiet week.   

I’m putting a good chunk of this into my football account to try some in-play next week… I think it’s important to keep different trading banks separate especially when trying a new sport seriously for the first time. There’s a whole new load of lessons to be learnt and it would be silly to be reckless and throw away money you’ve spent years building
.

Fighting back

I had one of the worst starts to a day ever yesterday. I'd been out drinking the night before, had little sleep and just wasn’t at the races for the first hour. 

                                                          "The First Hour"

The first races are so important; if you can have a solid start it sets you up for the day and gets you straight into the zone. This didn’t happen for me, I didn’t quite feel right and should of been more cautious. The first two races I made the huge error of not having the three ladders open and not watching out for what other horses prices were doing. Big gambles on 2^nd favs were sending the favs on big drifts and sending my bank into the red!

A year ago if I had a start like this I’d of either turned the pc off or carried on in a damage limitation exercise i.e. set a target of -100 and stop. But things have changed!

                                                          "The Fight Back"

Even on the comeback I was sometimes getting out of trades too early. I suppose sub-consciously I wanted to get back to 0 and then anything else is a bonus. You’d have to be made of stone not to have that mentality, but some people are!

I was chuffed to finish £210 up on the day. Hopefully lesson learned that I do need to be much more cautious and focused from the start, especially when I’m indulging the night before.

Good luck trading today, if you do have a bad start don’t give up and FIGHT BACK!!!

"Instinct"

You'll hear a lot of pro traders talk about "instinct" when trading races.
In my opinion it can’t be taught and comes purely from experience and putting in many hours watching the numbers. You develop a feel for the market and confidence grows as you start making more and more positive trades. I had lots of ups and downs when I first started, it’s a huge learning curve and you have to be prepared to lose money to progress. I was very close to quitting when something just clicked, I started getting a feel for it and was trying to make £10- £15 a day consistently. That soon turned into
£50 £75 and its been positive ever since.    
                                                                       Wednesday 2nd P&L

                                                                    

I’ve had a great start to the week, I’m 100% focused and confidence keeps growing. Yesterday was very solid and today is still not over however,
I’m prepared for a knock and wont get carried away, you never know what’s around the corner.