Betting Advice For Traders
The advice below is there to assist Fixed Odds Traders. We do believe that if you are betting on fixed odds one of the most important factors to consider is your overall approach to trading. Whilst it is a thrilling pastime, money can be made, however to do so requires a bit of self discipline, which is dependent on self awareness. Set out below are some basic guides that if adhered to will hopefully prolong your fixed odds betting career.
Pick A Market And Stick With It
Choose a market and don't move on from it until you have mastered it. All stocks and markets move in slightly different ways, no two markets have the same volatility and no market's volatility level is static. Get to know how one market moves and that will give you a sound foundation that you can apply to other markets. However, if you can't get to grips with one market, then you are unlikely to understand other markets - if that is the case you should probably review your approach to betting. And don't move to another market because you are losing on our current market, if that is happening, moving to an alternate market is very unlikely to solve the problem.
Do Your Homework
If you choose to bet on e.g. FTSE 100, do your homework, find out which financial announcements have an effect on the index, e.g. Budget Announcements. Read around, buy a book! A lot of bets are pretty much even odds, but that doesn't necessarily mean that you have a 50/50 chance of winning the bet. You have much more chance of winning if you develop a bit of background knowledge - look at legacy charts - how has the market moved over the past week/month/year?
Bet Low While Learning
Don't be tempted to up your stakes because you think you are on a winning streak. A streak is just that - a streak, they never go on! Until you know what you are doing keep your stakes low. And, just as important, get used to losing, and assess your response to losing - do you get angry, feel vengeful, or cool headed. Emotion can be a 'killer' in in trading - it can kill your account.
If In Doubt Leave It Out
If you think the odds currently being offered are not working in your favour, leave the bet out. Don't put a bet on just for the sake of it. This is part of the learning process, knowing when to bet, and most importantly, when not to bet.
Self Assess Your Trading performance
Periodically use your broker's history function to look at your past trading performance, and another good idea is to keep a diary noting why you laid bets on. Analyse your losses and wins, you may find that patterns emerge, and act on them!
Manage Your Trading Money
You should never, ever bet more than you can afford to lose. Calculate how much disposable betting cash you have, how many bets you can place, how often, at what level, and stick to it.
Take A Break
You don't have to bet all the time, in fact it's better not to especially if you are learning the markets. A break will create a bit of objective distance between yourself and your market. When you return you are likely to find that your perspective is somewhat renewed and with that there will hopefully be an enhancement of your betting performance. Also, in a bad mood? worried about something? tired? Don't bet! Always make sure that you are in a good state of mind when placing bets, this will cut your losses, as errors of judgment are easier to make when you are not feeling on top of your game.
Bet Local
Choose a market appropriate to you and your geographical location. Obviously with the internet geography has almost become a redundant concept, as you can pull in news feeds for updates on any market in the world. But if you live in the UK, why bet on US markets? Keep an eye on local stock movements, as there will be more information readily available. If you have breakfast TV on and BT announces that they are making a lot of redundancies you can make a dash for your PC, check out the odds and maybe put a bet on.
