discipline

[SeaHorseRacing]

I allowed an £8 loss turn into a £400 bank buster all because I sat on nice green position too long it turn into a red on the greyhounds.

It was that loss in December why I am earning a living from Trading. I guess for those who overcome poor discipline will eventually get that one that sticks forever.
Hard work and your discipline will change.

The less time I spend on this forum the better my results are... some small changes make all the difference.

[Derek27]

maybe someone else would like to amuse us with some of their stupid trades when starting out ie i arent taking a loss on this one and BOOM it all goes pear shaped

When I first started trading I tried to have £2 on Twice Over in the 2008 Derby antepost market at 1000. I accidentally entered £1000 at 2.00. Fortunately I only had £50 in my account at the time, so no damage done, but lesson learnt and mistake never repeated.

My biggest loss was about £350, which resulted from oversleeping and failing to close a trade I placed the previous night. When I logged on to Betfair and realised the loss, I just thought to myself that if I can't get out of bed by 2 0'Clock on a Sunday afternoon, not only was it bound to happen eventually, I actually felt I deserved to lose that money!

Undisciplined traders will never win on the exchange, but getting up at 2:00pm and forgetting about an open trade takes discipline to a whole new level.

[trader44]

Undisciplined traders will never win on the exchange, but getting up at 2:00pm and forgetting about an open trade takes discipline to a whole new level

absolute classic

[ruthlessimon]

lol, I misread that. I thought the discipline was to literally "get up at 2pm" I must say after some late nights, it is pretty tempting to only trade the evening markets!

[ruthlessimon]

LOL, no turns out I did read it right. . Although realising I've left a position open would certainly wake me up pretty quick; might have to trade in pyjamas & no time for a shower with only 10min gaps! I can relate though

[Derek27]

I gave up evening trading on tomorrow's racing a long time ago - complete waste of time, you get your money on, can't close your trade because everybody's gone to bed and nothing's moving, and then you wait till tomorrow and hope for the best.

But the photo that Ruthlessimon posted has just reminded me of the days when I'd open a trade in the evening, waste a couple of hours watching nothing happed in the market, and then go to bed with my smartphone by my bedside to check on my trade, should I wake up in the middle of the night.

[trader44]

then go to bed with my smartphone by my bedside to check on my trade, should I wake up in the middle of the night

wow thats dedication haha.

i remember years ago signing up to a laying service and going on holiday to the lakes and i couldnt bear the thought of missing a day of getting them on " not realising missing 2 weeks doesnt make any difference whatsoever in the overall scheme of things " so i spent most mornings driving to a computer shop/internet cafe to get my lays on and it was early days of internet so it was more stress than enough and then constantly trying to get the results on my phone later in the day ..and guess what it was a poor 2 weeks for the lays

[Derek27]

Going further back to when I was a teenager, long before the age of the internet, I remember placing a 50 pence bet on a horse, and later going into a phone box dialing 168 to get the racing results. It cost me 90 pence, just to find out that my 50 pence bet had lost. It was probably near odds-on, so even if it had won I would have made a loss !

[LeTiss]

Going further back to when I was a teenager, long before the age of the internet, I remember placing a 50 pence bet on a horse, and later going into a phone box dialing 168 to get the racing results. It cost me 90 pence, just to find out that my 50 pence bet had lost. It was probably near odds-on, so even if it had won I would have made a loss !

That reminds me of the Channel 4 series 'The Gambler' with the genius Jonathan Rendall

[stueytrader]

I agree with trader44, complacency after a long winning run is one of my problems. You cannot keep up the level of disipline that resulted in the long winning run if you ever get to the stage when you take it for granted that you are going to make money trading.

Another problem I've had on occasions, and I'm embarrassed to admit it, is trading out of frustration. For example, laying a horse, backing it for a loss to close trade, and then without fully thinking it through, immediately trading it again to try to recover the one or two ticks.

Had both of those two as key mistakes - long winning runs can be as dangerous as long losing ones for mental stability sometimes. That can be an odd one to spot though, as you feel fine and suddenly find yourself 'chasing your winnings' like a maniac!

The second one is pure 'anger/revenge trading' - definitely to avoid at all costs.

[trader44]

and later going into a phone box dialing 168 to get the racing results. It cost me 90 pence, just to find out that my 50 pence bet had lost..

that made me laugh

[trader44]

heres one for you

will share my first day back trading on Monday to show you how us full timers can still get caught up in it.
this was a regular occurrence in the past but now it might occur once every
3 weeks for a day and its how i manage it .i realise i am quite an excitable
person so i have to manage it carefully when trading .
so its my first day back after 10 days off and and i am buzzing then the thought i should be making much more than i am a day " added a few hundred on " next thing i am blasting music getting way to excited looking forward to trading. i set myself up and can feel the excitement building " think tony montana " Al pacino "from scarface when he has a huge mountain of cocaine on his desk and dipping his face in it..
i start trading first 1/2 hour £100 in front no losing trades "
fook me i was justified in thinking i am the worlds greatest trader "
next hour -£180 behind " i am in the zone of pure excitement trading "
not the best zone for trading
lots of double/treble unjustified clicking going on by 4.30 i have calmed
down and i am £100 behind ,i take a walk and stick to my usual plan
which had obviously fallen under my desk and by 5.30 i walk out
£40 in front " and another lesson i thought i didnt need "
the lesson here is we are all different some people are just steady
by nature ,some excitable characters etc so whichever you are
trading will show you and its how you manage it during your trading

[trader44]

this was all in running trading

[stueytrader]

Thanks T44 - you could have posted that on my post asking for 'tips for improving psychology through behaviours', good stuff!

[stueytrader]

so its my first day back after 10 days off

Think that is a key aspect - and to be aware of it.