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Firstly, buckets of thanks to The Geek and all those associated with bringing this software to the community. Also a round of applause to the contributors to this forum, which is full of helpful advice from experts and novices alike.
To the nitty-gritty...
I've spent the last 3-4 weeks trying to absorb as much as I can from the pre-race horse racing markets. Using the Toy of course.
I've been very careful to monitor all my successes and failures and have tried to analyse the whys and wherefores.
I've used stakes of between £2 and £25, placing an average of £20-£30 on each race, usually trading on a dozen or more races per day, scalping generally.
What have I learnt?
- I usually mess up when there's a race with an odds-on favourite.
- Mistakes I make are usually made on the first race of the day (when either I'm not adjusted to the flow, or the market is unusual).
- Big losses I have are now very few and far between, but always follow the same pattern. I lay (or back) a favourite, or occasionally a 2nd fav and the price U-turns on me out of the blue. I then stare at it for too long, and there's my loss.
- Early on, I was losing regularly by trying to hedge immediately a trade went wrong. I'd read many posts where people suggested this was a way to escape from big losses. Of course they're right, but usually I've placed a bet because I think I've read a situation and 90% of the time it does turn out the way I'd hoped it would, eventually.
- Take deep breaths, and don't panic.
- I'm making profit on at least 80% of traded races now and have ironed out many of the foolish ideas that got me into trouble early on, such as sticking on two bets or lays at once, thinking that 'if one's going out, the other must come in'. Having watching the Favourite and 2nd Fav both come steaming in for a minute or more when I want one or both to drift, I realise this is folly.
- I've done away with the tick-offset, which I loved at first for it's simplicity. I think it's now not necessary unless you are wading into the last 30 secs madness, where a split second is all-important. Without the tick-offset, I can make my own decisions on tick moves and understand more of what's on offer.
This is unlike anything else I've tried to learn. There are lessons to be learnt and advantages to be taken, but it's such a subjective discipline, there are no fool-proof methods, just agonies and ecstasies. However, I'm on the learning curve.
To the nitty-gritty...
I've spent the last 3-4 weeks trying to absorb as much as I can from the pre-race horse racing markets. Using the Toy of course.
I've been very careful to monitor all my successes and failures and have tried to analyse the whys and wherefores.
I've used stakes of between £2 and £25, placing an average of £20-£30 on each race, usually trading on a dozen or more races per day, scalping generally.
What have I learnt?
- I usually mess up when there's a race with an odds-on favourite.
- Mistakes I make are usually made on the first race of the day (when either I'm not adjusted to the flow, or the market is unusual).
- Big losses I have are now very few and far between, but always follow the same pattern. I lay (or back) a favourite, or occasionally a 2nd fav and the price U-turns on me out of the blue. I then stare at it for too long, and there's my loss.
- Early on, I was losing regularly by trying to hedge immediately a trade went wrong. I'd read many posts where people suggested this was a way to escape from big losses. Of course they're right, but usually I've placed a bet because I think I've read a situation and 90% of the time it does turn out the way I'd hoped it would, eventually.
- Take deep breaths, and don't panic.
- I'm making profit on at least 80% of traded races now and have ironed out many of the foolish ideas that got me into trouble early on, such as sticking on two bets or lays at once, thinking that 'if one's going out, the other must come in'. Having watching the Favourite and 2nd Fav both come steaming in for a minute or more when I want one or both to drift, I realise this is folly.
- I've done away with the tick-offset, which I loved at first for it's simplicity. I think it's now not necessary unless you are wading into the last 30 secs madness, where a split second is all-important. Without the tick-offset, I can make my own decisions on tick moves and understand more of what's on offer.
This is unlike anything else I've tried to learn. There are lessons to be learnt and advantages to be taken, but it's such a subjective discipline, there are no fool-proof methods, just agonies and ecstasies. However, I'm on the learning curve.
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