Betfair scalping for beginners

We were all new to Bet Angel once. Ask any question you like here and fellow forum members promise not to laugh. Betfair trading made simple.
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Bluesky
Posts: 420
Joined: Mon Sep 19, 2016 9:26 pm

Ferru123 wrote:
Sat Sep 09, 2017 2:53 pm
My whole approach has changed, and while I still have a huge amount to learn, I no longer seek advice from forums and gurus. For me, the market is the best teacher, and if I want to test a theory I'll do so in the markets, using small stakes. Plus, I'm not sure it makes sense to give too much away to people you are competing against, and to top it all, I don't even use BA these days!
This is interesting, I noticed SHR recently posted that the less time he spends on these forums the more money he makes. Several traders from the real world have told me the same thing and that makes me wonder why that should be the case. Some possible reasons could be:-

One will often get conflicting advice from trading forums, this may well be given in good faith but what works for one trader may cause another trader to lose money.

It can be a little off putting when you see people posting good returns and (in my case anyway) you are happy for them because you feel that if they can do it then perhaps you can too. Then some time later you find out those returns were either faked (for anyone that doesn't know, BF templates that look like the real thing can be acquired on line) or the trader was using play money.
Iron
Posts: 6793
Joined: Fri Dec 11, 2009 10:51 pm

Hi Bluesky

Interesting points.

Re: 'what works for one trader may cause another trader to lose money.' - Agreed. It's all about the detail. For example, some traders have been able to make money consistently from swing trading, whether others lose money consistently, finding that the market normally steam rollers through their position.

Re: 'One will often get conflicting advice from trading forums' - I think this is partly because of imprecise definitions. For example, 'scalping' may mean different things to different people. Also, traders - even successful ones - are often like the proverbial blind man feeling the elephant. They know what has worked for them, and make inferences on the basis of that about the nature of the market. Sometimes those inferences may hold, but sometimes they won't.

There was a trader on this forum who I won't name, who diligently followed the advice of the pros, quoting them in much the way that a biblical scholar might quote the disciples. However, despite being a clearly intelligent guy, he ended up quitting Betfair. I think the mistake he made was to leave his critical faculties at the door (also, he took pride in using stakes that made losing painful, which didn't help - it was like he saw losses as due to an error on his part, rather than a part of the game).

Re: 'It can be a little off putting when you see people posting good returns'. I belong to a dieters' forum on Facebook. When someone posts (usually honestly) that they have lost 13 lbs in their first week, it can make other dieters feel gutted when they 'only' lose 9lbs in their first week. It's irrational, but we humans aren't rational creatures. The same risk applies to people posting high returns here.

Other offputting things about forums are the bitchiness you get when you dare to express a controversial opinion - try constructively criticising one of Peter's videos and see what happens, for example :lol: - and the fact that edges shared are edges lost (for example, I won't be trying to profit from the recent fascinating football data thread, as once a group of traders knows about an edge it's unlikely to last long!).

All that said, occasionally I'll come across something in the forum which triggers an idea. Plus, credit where it's due, some forum members have been very helpful, including sharing ideas in private with me (in particular, a guy who I still correspond with - I won't name him, but he knows who he is).

Jeff
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LeTiss
Posts: 5386
Joined: Fri May 08, 2009 6:04 pm

Great points Jeff

You are like a Wenger or Mourinho - great insight and managerial material, but like them struggled to do it as a player
Iron
Posts: 6793
Joined: Fri Dec 11, 2009 10:51 pm

In the immoral words of Marty McFly for those of us old enough to remember the original Back to the Future, 'the history's gonna change!'. :lol:

At present, I'm happy just playing with small stakes. I leave my spreadsheets running, go to work, and then think 'Hmmm - this may be profitable, so I'll try it for a few more days, and see what happens'. Or 'that approach lead to a horrible loss - what if I reverse it?'.

Make a few pennies, lose a few pennies, hopefully over time acquire a lot of knowledge. Or at least the basis of a profitable system!

BTW, I was going through this thread and came across a great post by Mugs, quoted by Bluesky - third down: http://www.betangel.com/forum/viewtopic ... &start=160

Jeff
Bluesky
Posts: 420
Joined: Mon Sep 19, 2016 9:26 pm

Thanks Jeff for reminding me about that excellent post made by Mugs a few years back. I hadn't forgotten it but I had not read it for a while, and it was good to read it once again. It has to be one of the best posts I have read on this forum. I would strongly recommend anyone considering pre off horse race trading to read it.
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ruthlessimon
Posts: 2094
Joined: Wed Mar 23, 2016 3:54 pm

Ferru123 wrote:
Sun Sep 10, 2017 12:40 pm
There was a trader on this forum who I won't name, who diligently followed the advice of the pros, quoting them in much the way that a biblical scholar might quote the disciples. However, despite being a clearly intelligent guy, he ended up quitting Betfair. I think the mistake he made was to leave his critical faculties at the door (also, he took pride in using stakes that made losing painful, which didn't help - it was like he saw losses as due to an error on his part, rather than a part of the game).
If I think I know who you're talking about - that thread was a fascinating case study to any budding trader. And actually a very scary one. That trader got given everything, even up to the point of Peter explaining how he traded individual markets. The conclusion to that was simply being given edges is actually detrimental. If the trader can't create the edge himself & understand exactly how he made it/works; the moment the market shifts, he's dead. Clearly, there was a missing variable. Learning the proper process of edge creation - I've only ever seen one great video on this - & it was a London prop trader. But the "look for correlations" sound bite is vastly incomplete.
thebarra1
Posts: 11
Joined: Tue Sep 19, 2017 12:29 am

Where can I view the post from mugs. Do you have a link. Newbie to forum
:D
Bluesky
Posts: 420
Joined: Mon Sep 19, 2016 9:26 pm

thebarra1 wrote:
Tue Sep 19, 2017 7:28 am
Where can I view the post from mugs. Do you have a link. Newbie to forum
:D
Click on this link it's the third post down.
http://www.betangel.com/forum/viewtopic ... &start=160
Xandolli
Posts: 5
Joined: Wed Jan 24, 2018 7:03 pm

Hi I am new to BA and I have started off with learning scalping. I have been using the ladder format exclusively for scalpling and I noticed a difference between when I use the ladder for scalping as compared to Peter's videos on scalping. In Peter's scalping videos I have noticed that there is no delay between him entering the market i.e., the stake is automatically entered when he enters/exits the markets which allow rapid exits/entries from and into the market when necessary . In contrast with myself is that there is 5-7 sec delay before my bet is placed which is really slow.

I disabled the confirmation screen but there is still the 5 sec countdown when placing a bet. Any help will be appreciated.

Thanks
spreadbetting
Posts: 3140
Joined: Sun Jan 31, 2010 8:06 pm

You're probably betting in football markets that are in play and therefore subject to a 5 second + delay before the bet shows up in the market, the video of Peter is probably betting in a pre-off market which doesn't have the in play delay imposed on bets.
Xandolli
Posts: 5
Joined: Wed Jan 24, 2018 7:03 pm

Ah thank you very much. That is exactly the case. This makes scalping more difficult, that delay can be a killer :(
threedogs
Posts: 79
Joined: Mon Jan 20, 2014 10:24 am

An excellent post Mugsgame and I am sure very helpful to beginners and improvers as I am sure a lot of us get confused with the mass of information in a market and the various charts ..
I have recently simplified my approach to the markets and as a result have had more success in a small way and continue to improve ;)
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LeTiss
Posts: 5386
Joined: Fri May 08, 2009 6:04 pm

Much has changed within the trading world, since Mugs posted that. However, the bedrock still applies. That especially includes being selective. I've never been a racing trader really, I've always been sports. My knowledge on racing is poor, my interest on racing is low, and as a result I quickly lost confidence when getting battered around.

These days, racing accounts for about 5% of what I do, but that's because I know what works for me, and what markets
esanlon
Posts: 5
Joined: Mon Apr 30, 2018 4:33 pm

Got my software 3 weeks ago bought professional and the 39.99 learn to trade videos done everything suggested in the lesson's , down about 330 pound over all. I must be doing something wrong but it does not work for me. Have uninstalled it now lesson learnt.
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Dallas
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Location: Working From Home

esanlon wrote:
Mon Apr 30, 2018 11:28 pm
Got my software 3 weeks ago bought professional and the 39.99 learn to trade videos done everything suggested in the lesson's , down about 330 pound over all. I must be doing something wrong but it does not work for me. Have uninstalled it now lesson learnt.
Just 3 weeks?

viewtopic.php?f=17&t=15377
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