Centre Court Trading

"I must have forgotten the time I once lost £6,000 trying to win £2 to cover the cost of a piece of broccoli I'd deemed overpriced."

This was taken from the Betfair Trading to Gambler's Anonymous blog (not written by the author but taken from another source). My first instinct was to laugh - after all, it is one of the funniest lines I've ever read on a betting blog! But it is tinged with a certain empathy and sadness because I have done similar things to this in the past (though not involving a vegetable and 6 grand!). It does beg the question: are we ever truly out of danger? Is there always the chance, no matter how slim, that even the most successful of traders could spiral out of control?

I once read about a trader who lost an entire year's worth of hard-earned profit in under a week. I also read about a trader who gave up everything to move abroad and trade full-time. Within a couple of years, he'd lost all his savings and moved back to the UK. And then there is our old friend O'Dwyer, who was living the dream, tens of thousands in profit, only to end up struggling to scrape together a bank to 'trade' with a year later. Looking back on The 5 Stages to Sports Trading, I remind myself of the following quote:

"Around 60% of new traders die out in the first 3 months - they give up and this is good - think about it - if trading was easy we would all be millionaires. Another 20% keep going for a year and then in desperation take risks guaranteed to blow their account which of course it does.

What may surprise you is that of the remaining 20% all of them will last around 3 years - and they will think they are safe in the water - but even at 3 years only a further 5-10% will continue and go on to actually make money consistently"

I am now around that 3 year phase. So am I "safe in the water"? Am I now becoming part of the 5-10%? Obviously, only time will tell but if I can try to answer honestly, I'd say that I will never end up doing what the traders in my above examples did. These are examples of utter capitulation, where quite clearly, profits have been made without the use of sound money management and certainly without mastering the psychological side of trading - maybe even without a successful long-term strategy. These are things which I feel I have now conquered. It's possible that maybe these traders only experienced positive runs and so when faced with a down-turn, they lost it because they were shocked and didn't know how to react properly. Or perhaps the pressure of trading full-time exposed a weakness in their mental game. Well, I've experienced both of these phenomenons.

I've lost loads and I've been in pressure situations that would frighten the life out of most people. I've experienced all the lows that you can, so I feel that I'm in as strong a position to say whether I am "safe in the water", as is possible without years of records as proof. And I would say that no, I'm not 100% safe yet. If I'm totally honest with myself, whilst I'm confident that I will never self-destruct and lose everything in double-quick time, I cannot say I will never succumb again to the pressures of doing this as a sole source of income (if I ever go back to that). I know what it is like and how the mind does funny things. Even with all my experience, I would never say never - it's good not to be complacent anyway. It wouldn't be a fast deterioration, more likely a slow decline but I'll be better prepared for the first signs of it next time and I'm not fearful of it. Broccoli can be rather expensive these days though and I do enjoy a floret or two with my Sunday roast.............

Dominica Cibulkova:

1. It is easy to make money from tennis trading

This is something I've seen written on several blogs this year and is just a laughable statement. The sort of people who write this tend to fall into one of two categories: a) Inexperienced, short term winners, who have yet to go through a downswing and b) people with a system to sell. Both should be ignored in equal measure. As with trading of any sort, it IS easy to make money short term - it's just as easy to lose it. Long term consistency is all that matters and that is most definitely not easy in tennis.

2. Just keep laying low and you will make money

This is something that has crept into forums and blogs over the past year or so, with the rise of popular strategies which promote laying at low odds. The problem with that, is that if you are not picking the right matches, you are on the road to a long, slow destruction of your bank, as it's very easy to go on huge losing streaks. Yes, your liability is low but once these small losses mount up, you'll soon get into a sticky position. I see a lot of people on Twitter who see a low price and will just automatically lay it, without thinking whether it is value or not. Laying at 1.10 is only slightly less stupid than backing at 1.10 if there is no reasoning or value behind it.

3. WTA is a lottery and should be kept away from

This is becoming more and more of a rarity these days, as traders are waking up to the fact that trading women's tennis has nothing to do with the standard of play. You'll still see novices complaining about the 'lottery' of WTA, usually because they have backed the fave and are upset because they didn't train to 1.01. Others are shocked at the swings that occur in WTA, moaning that the matches aren't as predictable as the men's game. These people haven't yet worked out that the swings are what make WTA so great to trade - you just have to figure out how to be on the right side of them. If you know that WTA tends to have a lot of swings, then surely that then makes it predictable?

4. You cannot beat the courtsiders, so in-play trading isn't worth it

Another common misconception. Courtsiders have a small advantage in that they have a couple of extra seconds to place their bets, than the rest of us. That means they can take advantage of any money left in the market after a point has ended. The way to avoid being 'hoovered up' by courtsiders is simple - don't leave your money in the market whilst the point is being played! It's really not difficult. I never get my money taken in this manner - ever. Yet it is startling the amounts that are left up and then hoovered away by courtsiders. It's pure stupidity if you lose money this way and no point complaining. I'm actually not convinced the hoovering is all the work of courtsiders, as it is often so quick off the mark that it can surely only be the work of people who can actually beat the 5 second delay.......but that's for another post!

5. Tennis markets are too volatile and too risky to get involved with in-play

This is something I see written by traders of other, less dynamic trading sports, such as football. The swings scare them because they aren't used to them. However, once you understand how to use them to your advantage, it's no more risky than being on the wrong side of a goal in football; in fact, at least with tennis, you know when a point is likely to result in a huge swing. In football, goals can take you completely by surprise and once you are on the wrong end of one, it's usually very difficult to turn things around. Not so with tennis, where points come along regularly.

6. ATP is easier to trade than WTA

Another classic novice misconception. Men's matches tend to be less volatile (though not always) because they hold serve more often than women. Because of this, newbie traders feel that ATP is 'safer' and they are less likely to get caught on the wrong end of a swing. However, when you do get a break of serve in ATP, the swings are usually much bigger and will hurt you more than a WTA swing, if you are on the wrong end. It's not easier to trade at all, just different. Many traders will argue WTA is in fact easier to trade and I wouldn't disagree. It's very hard these days to make money from backing the server, as the markets have wised-up in recent years to this strategy, which is popular with newbies. But if it's swings you are after, nothing beats WTA.

7. Only the Grand Slams, Masters 1000s and Premier Events are worth trading

Some traders prefer to only trade the bigger events, with the best players enrolled. ATP 250s and WTA International events are often ignored. Whilst I understand this if you need extremely high liquidity or if you don't know the lesser ranked players (or if you've got to a level where you don't need to trade every week), that still doesn't mean it's right to say they are not worth trading. Liquidity these days is good enough for the vast majority to get matched, especially at the latter stages of tournaments. Not knowing the players is only an excuse up to a point. These lower ranked players will still occasionally pop up at bigger events through qualification/wildcards, or will be youngsters who eventually go on to higher rankings. In my opinion, if you want to trade tennis seriously, you should be watching these lesser events as if you were scouting; these are players who could be in tournaments you want to trade, one day. 90% of my research is watching matches and getting to know my players. The more you know, the more events you can trade - why shut off over 50% of the tennis calendar? A lot can be learnt and much profit gained from these smaller events.

8. The top players don't try as hard in smaller tournaments, so you should stay away from them

A bit of an over-exaggeration for the most part. Whilst it is true that sometimes, a big name will not be playing at their very best in a smaller event (preferring to save themselves for a bigger one that may be close by), for the most part, these lesser tournaments are won by a top player (if one has entered). You are more likely to get an upset in these smaller events but as long as you understand the motivation behind every player, there is no reason to stay away from any tournament. In fact, if you do your research, it can open up great opportunities to oppose favourites. Besides, if you are bothered because you want to back short-priced favourites all the time, then you are not really trading properly.

9. You don't need much tennis knowledge to make money from tennis trading

I've read this a few times, mostly in the blurb for guides that, you've guessed it, want our money! They try to make trading seem as easy as possible to the average layman and this is a sneaky way of sucking people in. Most people don't have much tennis knowledge and neither did I until I started to trade. Whilst you don't need to understand your forehand top-spin lobs from your sliced back-hand drop-shots, you most certainly need to understand the differences between the surfaces, the tournaments and know your players. If you are just blindly following a system that is mechanically set out, then maybe you can get away with a limited knowledge. However, I don't know anyone who makes money long term doing this because if they are, it means they've found the 'holy grail' - and we all know that this doesn't exist. There has to be some process of selecting which matches to trade and at what points and in order to do this, you need a solid knowledge of tennis. Don't get me wrong, knowing every minute detail of the ATP tour is not going to make you money alone. I think this is something a lot of traders get wrong. They think the more they know, the better they will get - it's not true. It'll help but if you don't understand the markets or have the right mentality, it counts for nothing.

10. I eeeerrr, couldn't actually think of a 10th one! Instead, I'll add a general trading myth:

You need a big bank to make money.

I think I've disproved that on this very blog this year. The more I watch the markets, the more I'm convinced that there are hundreds of traders out there who are playing around with stakes far in advance of their actual skill-level. You only have to read some of the comments on Twitter and see the amounts getting matched at silly prices or left up haphazardly to be hoovered, to see that stake size does not always correspond to brain size!

Daniela Hantuchova:

A few things to have a look at on the blogosphere that have caught my eye recently:

Mark Iverson has a new project up and running which might interest any football traders. His 'Soccer In-Play' mobile phone app can be downloaded for free and looks like a great tool for gathering info on football matches (such as graphs and historic data) quickly, in order to place bets or plan trading strategies. You can follow 'Soccer In-Play' on Twitter @soccerinplay and visit Mark's blog for more info and an explanatory video.

It's been a while since I mentioned The Geek's Toy on this blog. It has of course, now changed from a free trading application into a paid one, with the official name AGT Pro - though it'll always be known as The Toy for us long-term aficionados. If you are new to trading, I still recommend it as highly as I did when it was 100% free. Recently, The Geek made the owned licence available for a second time. I bought one back during the summer and at £120 for the lifetime of the product, is a real bargain when you consider what you'd pay for subscriptions to any of the other rival platforms (none of which are as good, in my opinion). You've got till October 31st to claim one before it reverts back to monthly and annual subscriptions.

I'm sure many of you will already have seen this but I'll give it a plug anyway. It's a free guide to tennis trading, which you can find on the Liability Trading blog. There's no catch, it's 100% free and I can tell you that it's one of the best guides I've ever seen. The way it's written and laid out is absolutely spot-on and is very concise in terms of conveying what you need in order to become a successful tennis trader. It does not delve into specific strategies and much of what is there will be obvious to anyone who has been trading for a while but if you want to know the basics of what it takes to trade tennis using low liability, you can't ask for much more for free.

I haven't really had a close look at the Matchbook betting exchange but any new exchange which might offer an alternative to Betunfair should at least be given a chance, in my opinion. Here's the blurb I received in my inbox recently:

Matchbook is a sports betting exchange designed for the professional and savvy sports bettors.
The bigger bets the better!

After many years of the market crying out for a Betfair alternative we believe that has arrived with Matchbook.com.
Matchbook's commission is 1% - lowest in the market. (Betfair's general commission is 5%).
This makes us very attractive for the high volume clients.

Matchbook is a market leader on Asian Handicap in football and US sports – 'better odds, lowest commission and great liquidity'.

Matchbook also has a VIP service:
One example is access to our VIP pool where the most active players via Skype, MSN oremail are able to submit offers (place bets) of over $3-5000 into the pool. Our team of brokers find a counterparty for the bet and get it matched up. This service is quick, 100% confidential and has allowed our biggest clients to extract even more value from other sites. This service has matched millions of dollars for our high rolling Matchbook clients.

I found the site a tad confusing at first glance but maybe a second perusal with more time on my hands may uncover something worthwhile. Just thought I'd share anyway, as trust me, the desire to find an alternative exchange still burns deep within me!

I wrote a post about the Football Cliches blog recently and can only re-iterate how good this blog is. Most posts were made 5 years ago, so don't expect regular updates but it's one to be read from the beginning. I read a few posts a week and it never fails to make me laugh. For more info, check out my post here for my favourite blog post.

And finally, a really fascinating tennis blog I stumbled across recently named Footsoldiers of Tennis. What I like about it (apart from the fact it's provided useful info which has actually helped with my trading) is that it's very different to most tennis blogs. Here's why, from the author himself:

Foot Soldiers of Tennis is about, well… the Foot Soldiers of Tennis. Those who heroically fill the opening rounds of an ATP 250 while the top four seeds go around getting foot rubs while having their first round bye.

If you want a blog that focuses on Roger, Rafa, and friends, well we have our opinions on those – but there are plenty more out there. Most of them are better informed. We’ll also try and maintain a level of detachment – while we have our favourites there is a ban on too twee nicknames here.

We much prefer those days when the journeyman has his finest hour (this is pretty much a men’s tennis blog) – or we claim to have spotted a genuine talent on the Challenger Tour. When Ivan Dodig beats Rafael Nadal, we wake up with an extra step in our stride. As we do when Eric Prodon is top seed in a clay court Challenger.

A great read with interesting articles that I believe can help anyone attempting to become a tennis trader, learn some in-depth knowledge of the sport.

Sabine Lisicki:

It's been a decent October. I'm happy with the overall profit (a new personal record!), though slightly disappointed because a couple of bad days stopped this being my best ever profit from tennis trading alone. By 'bad', I mean avoidably bad. There was no excuse for some of the things I did over those one or two days. For some reason, I started to feel pressure of the likes I've not experienced for a long time. I was extremely irritable and beat myself up over little things which I would normally just brush off. The old anger started to rear its ugly head again, with a force that I'd not seen all year. I think that it is because it's almost the end of the season and I wanted to finish on a high note after 2 relatively disappointing months. Still, when a 'disappointing' month equates to a profitable month, it shows just how far I've come with my trading over the last year.

I suppose the goalposts have shifted and with the way I trade these days, I expect to be hitting around 50% of my bank at least. That might seem like quite a high expectancy rate but all my research over the past year has shown that if I do the right things, I should be able to hit that amount. I've found that my trading is pretty constant in all areas. The number of games I trade and my win-loss ratio doesn't vary that much from month to month. All in all, I'm quite the steady-Eddie these days!

Despite this, I still have off-days and I still have trouble accepting them. The perfectionist within me is never going away! This month, I let myself down with one trade in particular, as I went for too much, over-staked and then refused to let go of my position - a relatively big loss (though still only a small fraction of my bank). There were a handful of other trades where the issue was not the amount I lost but the amount I won (or failed to win). I could've racked up a few hundred extra just from being less greedy. I'm not one for second-guessing (I used to do it a lot but these days, I tend to accept whatever decision I made in the moment) but this month, I know that I was too impatient. I've little doubt that this is because the season is almost over.

A lot of tennis traders will switch to another sport during November-December but I have always planned my trading so that I don't have to do this. For me, taking a break for 5 or 6 weeks during the cold, heart of winter is ideal; just the right amount of time to re-charge the batteries, visit family over Christmas and go abroad travelling somewhere warm. I've proved this year that I don't need to trade anything else. I've adapted my life to the tennis calendar and adapted my trading so that it should (eventually) fill my requirements financially.

So maybe I shouldn't feel so disappointed. Things are falling into place, I just need to remain patient. That's quite hard to do when you have 6 weeks of thumb-twiddling on the horizon. The timing couldn't be worse because I'm buzzing at the moment and raring to push my trading onto the next level. Ah well, there's always the football to dabble in and if it goes the way it did on Tuesday night, it could be quite lucrative. You'll notice that a large chunk of my P&L profit (2 screen-shots because I've used 2 accounts) is from football and all of it is from the one game.............yes, I layed Reading!

It goes down as probably my greatest ever bet, with only the £1000 I won backing 0-0 between Barcelona and Osasuna a few years ago, running it close. I wasn't even watching the match, just noticed the score on Betfair and was stunned to see Reading 4-0 up! I assumed Wenger had put the kids out to play but a quick check on the line up showed me that Arsenal were still quite strong - so I layed 1.03. Seconds later, it was 4-1. I was only hoping for a couple of Gunner goals after half-time to allow me to green up for a modest sum, so was ecstatic that the comeback had begun before half-time. However, at 4-2 I could only green up for £15, so it wasn't worth it and I stayed in. I'd given up when the clock went into the final minute of normal time and they got the 3rd very late - Reading were doing a grand job of wasting time and I still could only green up for £15. But who in their right mind would have backed Reading sub 1.10 knowing one more goal with 4 mins still to go, would destroy them?! Whoever you are, I thank you - my biggest profit of 2012 by a mile! If only I'd gone in bigger..............but then, I was about 10 seconds away from losing so I have no complaints!

Sorana Cirstea:

Tennis is a strange sport in that often, people will talk about a player who is ranked between 50 and 100, for example, as if he or she is a nobody. They see Murray struggling against a guy ranked 60 places lower and criticism rains down as if it is inconceivable that he should even give up a set. They see Nadal losing to the number 100 and it's as if the apocalypse is upon us! Many will sneer at the Challenger Tour, even ex-players, who often seem to view it as an almost comical tour. Yet even players inside the top 50 will occasionally step down to that level to play the odd event. I see traders all the time, who are quick to knock a player purely because of ranking, despite the fact they are well inside the top 100. If you look at football or rugby, do you think the best 100 players would be treated in the same manner? No chance! They'd be regarded as part of an elite group of prime athletes.

I think people tend to forget that these are the greatest 100 players on the entire planet. They've fought hard over many years (since they were toddlers for the vast majority), through junior levels, Futures Tour events and then the Challenger Tour, playing in front of one man and his dog, often for just enough to cover their travel expenses - if that. It's very competitive and only the toughest and most talented survive. There are millions of recreational tennis players worldwide. The ITF has 144 member nations and although the number of pro players worldwide is unknown, we are talking about many thousands (when you take into account ATP World Tour, Challenger Tour, Futures Tour and those earning a living in national leagues such as the German Bundesliga and the French and Japanese leagues, which are lucrative enough that many players prefer to just play locally).

To make that leap up to ATP level is a massive achievement and so if you get anywhere near the top 100, you have done it against the odds. To be the 100th best player in the entire world, out of millions of others who dream of doing the same, is a feat which should really be marvelled at and held in high regard. Yet for some reason, it's not. I think it's mostly because the average person doesn't understand what it takes to become a top sportsman or hasn't been through anything in their own life which means they can relate to the experience. Instead, they just see a number, (a completely arbitrary one, but 100 is nice and round, so it's easy to choose that as a marker) and judge everyone based on that, without thinking of the player's age, experience, past form and most importantly, what it takes to actually make it in the sport. We look at 'one hundred' and it sounds and feels like a lot, when in the context of the entire tennis world, it's just a tiny drop in the ocean.

I've found that since I got into trading, I have a better understanding of what it takes for players to reach the top. That's partly down to having a greater knowledge of tennis but also because of what I've been through as a trader. If someone was to say to me that I was the 100th best tennis trader in the world, I would be ecstatic! Why? Because I now know just how difficult it is to even get into the top 5, 10, 15, 20% of traders. That's my ultimate aim because if I can reach that elite percentage (whatever the figure is for long term winners) it will mean that I'm a successful trader. It's easy to laugh at someone and say "she's only ranked 132" or "he's not even in the top 50" but next time you do so, have a think about what that number really means. Then maybe, have a think about how close you would be to getting into any top 100 list. A ranking of 103(ish) will sneak you into the last available space of a Grand Slam tennis tournament main draw. I'm guessing the vast majority of us would not be anywhere near making the main draw of a Grand Slam Trading event, if one were to exist!

Maria Kirilenko:

So the tennis season comes to a close, with just the Davis Cup Final remaining. It's been an incredible season for me. January was my only losing month. I have averaged approximately 50% of my bank each month. I've achieved my biggest ever monthly profit from tennis trading. But perhaps most importantly, I have a strategy that is 100% set in stone; no nagging question marks, no underlying worries and no problems executing it.

At the start of the year, I was 4 or 5 months into fine-tuning a whole new strategy and a trading ethos which was the complete opposite of what I'd been doing for years. I was finding it hard to adapt and to trust the new ideas. I was still ill-disciplined, impatient and uncertain about many things but the one thing I was sure of, was that I was on the right path finally and it was just a matter of time before it all clicked. That moment came in February, where I made my first 4 figure profit. From then onwards, I was no longer the boom and bust trader of a year earlier and I was no longer frustratingly breaking-even as I had been over the previous 6 months. It was just a few small tweaks to the strategy, plus this excellent book, that made the difference and enabled me to become consistently profitable.

But that's not to say I haven't had my share of frustrations. The main one being that I have been unable to compound my profits or grow my bank. When I think about where I could be if I'd been able to do that, it makes me a little sick. Hopefully, things will change in 2013. My new set of goals for my 4th season of tennis trading, will mostly be aimed at growing the bank. The scope for scaling up to bigger stakes is still huge - I'm still just a tiny minnow in the ocean when it comes to liabilities. So I think that my overall goal for 2013 will be to grow the bank up to a 5 figure sum. Once I've achieved that, I can seriously start to think about trading professionally again, only this time, I'll actually know what I'm doing!

As for my trading itself, there will of course, always be things that I aim to improve. The key one still remains, even after all these years, my terrible impatience. The second one is keeping any over-confidence in check. And the third key issue I'll be working on, is my focus, which I can see becoming a bigger problem in 2013 because my trading is pretty repetitious now. I'm not trying to figure things out or test areas of strategy or work on my mindset, so there is less variety in what I do. Trading has become easier but with it, a tad monotonous. So keeping focus is going to be a real challenge. I'm hoping that an increase in stakes will bring with it a new set of challenges and perhaps new trading ideas, which will keep me interested. There is also still room for me to develop a more aggressive approach and I may look to do this. I've been playing it relatively safe and have not gone for the really big greens. If I hit a few of them, it will take my trading onto a whole other level.

I was going to trade some football over the next few weeks but to be honest, the win I got from Reading v Arsenal (have I mentioned I layed 1.03 at 4-0 yet?!), is as much as I could have hoped for in the whole off-season. As football managers like to say "I would've taken that before the start". Besides, my fall out of love with football continues. I'm sick to death of all the stuff that goes on around football - the racism, the pathetic behaviour of some fans, the vile chants, the farcical governing bodies, the diving, cheating and gamesmanship, the moaning, whinging, biased-beyond-all-reason supporters, the primadonna players and the endless debates over the same, nonsensical issues such as goal-line technology. When I trade a sport, I need to be enjoying it and I actually find myself getting angry with a lot of what I see and read. That's no way to prepare for a session on the ladders. I won't be back as a regular viewer or trader until some serious changes are made - ones I don't expect to see any time soon.

So it'll be quiet on the posting front from me. I've added a couple of new sections to the side-bars of the blog; a list of my most popular posts (automatically chosen by Blogger based on no. of hits) and 10 of my favourite other posts. Might be something of interest to tide you by till I return. I'm not even going to think about trading at all until the New Year, so that's it for 2012..............happy Christmas, traders!

Ana Ivanovic:

OK, it's an overly-dramatic title to reel you in but nonetheless, what I have to write about does suggest a certain amount of sparring! I was disappointed to read in Tradeshark's latest post, the following:

"For the rest of the year I will be looking at the football and cricket. I read on another blog almost a criticism of tennis traders that switch to other sports at the end of the season. 6 weeks is a long time to take off and while some may be in a position to go travelling etc those of us with families don’t have that option. My wife works in a care home and the elderly and sick still need nursing just the same as at any other time of year. In fact my wife will be working Christmas day. I will be working considerably fewer hours but I aren’t one to sit around doing nothing."

I attempted to respond with the following comment:

Hi TS, I guess you are referring to me as the blogger who 'almost' criticised tennis traders! I did no such thing, here's what I wrote:

"A lot of tennis traders will switch to another sport during November-December but I have always planned my trading so that I don't have to do this. For me, taking a break for 5 or 6 weeks during the cold, heart of winter is ideal; just the right amount of time to re-charge the batteries, visit family over Christmas and go abroad travelling somewhere warm. I've proved this year that I don't need to trade anything else. I've adapted my life to the tennis calendar and adapted my trading so that it should (eventually) fill my requirements financially."

Where is the criticism here? I've simply stated what my plans are, how I've attempted to fit my life around the calendar and how it might differ from others. One of the reasons I got into trading was to give me more time to travel, as it's a passion of mine. So I've used the trading calendar to give me time to do this. It's in no way a slight on anyone else and I'm sorry you've come to that conclusion but it's not meant that way.

I don't focus on what anyone else is doing, I learnt a while back that you have to do what works for you. 6 weeks is a long time off but when you've worked with no holidays or bank hols and few weekends off for the entire year, it works out as no different to anyone else. I just choose to condense my time off into one longer period. Anyway, hope that settles things!

The comment has not been posted up so instead, I'll have my say here. I don't want any of Tradeshark's or my own readers to think that I've made any criticism which they might take personally. He labelled it as "almost a criticism" - well it either is or it isn't and as he's gone to the trouble of writing about it, it's obvious he thinks it's a criticism. It isn't. If you'd like to read the original post I made, to see the full context, here it is.

Just for the record, I work two jobs (trading and freelance writing) so the six weeks I take off after working 7 days a week, most weeks for 10 months of the year, is well deserved. Why would I criticise anyone for changing sports anyway? In many ways, I would like to be able to trade another sport successfully through the winter, as it would allow me more options on when to take my time off. I could trade football for 6 weeks but in all honesty, I can't be bothered. I still need to take a break, so I'd only be trading football for a 2 or 3 week period at most. I would rather trade my arse off in the tennis season and take all my time off during the winter lull instead. That allows me to really travel a country properly, rather than rush through in a week or two. This does mean I have to work very hard for those 10 months because I need enough to cover the travelling and usual expenses for November and December. So I'm not working any less or taking any more time off than anyone else in any normal job.

This does at least provide me with a topic to write about; long term goals. I think it's something many new traders don't think about but planning ahead is vital if you are considering doing this professionally. I've always said that I got into trading to have more options and free time. My future aim is that I won't have to work so solidly for 10 months and that will happen as my bank grows and my profit with it. In a normal job, you get paid for 4 weeks of statutory holiday (plus bank holidays) but traders don't and neither do freelancers - no work, no pay. This means I have to conjure up 12 months' pay within 10 months work. That's not easy but I have made sure that my trading strategy and style allows me to make a fairly consistent amount which I know will fill my requirements.

Nothing is guaranteed in this game but you must have a plan if you are reliant on the money. The first time around, when I failed miserably, I didn't have one. This time, I looked at everything; from projections of potential profits, to the effect of the premium charge, to pension schemes, to savings accounts, to mortgage and loan options, to living expenses forecasts, to fitting in holidays, to the effect the tennis calendar will have on my social life at different parts of the year to financing during the off-season. I've left no stone unturned. If you have a family then you will probably have a very different plan to someone who is single. Neither is right or wrong. I would never criticise anyone for the way they plan their trading.

The next paragraph of Tradeshark's post has a general dig at trading blogs, of which I'm sure this one is not exempt from. I'm fine with that, it's his opinion and he's entitled to it. Unlike him, I don't rely on my blog to sell anything, so it really isn't an issue what people think. If reader numbers go down I will continue to write cos I enjoy it. Anyway, nothing more for me to say for this year, I'm off travelling! I'm thinking North Africa this year; maybe Morocco, Egypt, Tunisia. Maybe even Libya! Happy Christmas and New Year to all, whatever you decide to do - trading or no trading!

Agnieszka Radwanska:

I've got really itchy fingers from not trading or blogging for 2 weeks so thought I'd do a catch-up today, with a few things which may be of interest.

Firstly, I've decided to have a go at trading a long term football market. With QPR sacking Mark Hughes and installing Harry Redknapp, I believe there may be some value in laying them in the relegation market. A quick look at their fixture list last weekend, gave me cause to think that 1.8ish was worth a speculative lay:

Sunderland Away
Aston Villa Home
Wigan Away
Fulham Home
Newcastle Away
West Brom Home
Liverpool Home

That brings us up to 2013. A rather winnable looking set of matches in my opinion. Certainly, there is no one to fear and no fixture that a team like QPR would not fancy taking 3 points from. Newcastle away looks the toughest fixture but with all their injuries, I think they will be lucky to finish top half this season. A rejuvenated side under 'Arry should certainly be capable of getting something. Liverpool don't strike fear into anyone anymore and West Brom are dead certainties to drop off after their brilliant start - the congested Christmas period should be a test for their squad and a great time to play them.

I was pleased to see a reasonable start last night with a 0-0 at Sunderland. Having watched the game I'll tell you this much; QPR are better than Sunderland. I also layed the Mackems, so was doubley pleased. Unfortunately, Villa's win over Reading means the gap to safety is even wider but I'm not worried. Redknapp can't possibly do worse than Hughes, so the only way is up. Taarabt was the best player on the pitch last night and he's a classic 'Arry flair player who he will undoubtedly get the most out of. Sean Wright-Phillips who came on as sub and has been a forgotten man, also fits into that category.

Esteban Granero is a real talent in midfield. I watched him loads when he was at Getafe and Real Madrid and wondered what on earth he was doing at Loftus Road. He's way too good for QPR and again, he'll thrive under Redknapp. Cisse is a proper striker and will get goals, I've no doubt at all. I will probably be mocked for this but I think Rob Green might just turn his career back around! He came on as sub for injured Julio Cesar last night and made a great point blank save. This could well be 'fate' for the forgotten England goalkeeping number 6 and this chance under a new manager, could be just what he needs to resurrect his ailing career.

Overall, QPR knocked the ball about far better than Sunderalnd and should be able to catch them with a good run, which looks do-able with the above fixtures. After that, Redknapp can work his magic and bring in some January transfers. QPR have the money and the manager to get out of trouble and a few gems amongst the playing staff who just need some good man-management. Most importantly, there are enough weak teams above them to make the great escape possible. Reading look dead certs for relegation. Southampton, Villa and Wigan are almost certainties to be scrapping for safety. I also wouldn't rule out West Ham dropping sharply in the second half of the season and Newcastle continuing to struggle. Add in Sunderland and Norwich (who I think will be strong candidates to go) and there's plenty of hope for QPR.

Elsewhere, I came across a few entertaining videos posted on the Running Forehand tennis blog. There are clips on that link of some fun and games during exhibition matches, the best of which show Andy Roddick doing impressions of Djokovic and McEnroe and Djokovic doing an impression of Gustavo Kuerten. This is particularly funny (in fact, I could genuinely write LOL because that's exactly what I did - but I won't) because his opponent at the time was Gustavo Kuerten! There are also clips involving Gael Monfils and Marcos Baghdatis clowning around. What they show is that, as I wrote about in this post, there are still some characters in the game, it's just that they are limited to show-boating and entertaining the crowd in exhibitions because the tour is so professional and competitive now.

It's X-Factor semi finals week and as usual, I'm looking to make some money on what has become a lucrative market for me (I picked the winner last year well in advance). I've had money on James Arthur for several weeks now and his price continues to crash to the point where he is now favourite for the first time - joint with Jahmene Douglas on Betfair. I took him at 5.2 and he's now 2.5ish. I'm slightly nervous this week, as I had intended to green up here but am going to let it run. After his bottom-two face-off with previous fave Ella Henderson, it was obvious James would get the rebound vote. Also, it is obvious that no one is going to beat him in a judges vote situation. However, that scenario no longer exists and elimination can only be decided by public vote from now on - and let's face it, anyone stupid enough to waste money voting on this shit cannot be trusted!

The rumours for weeks now are that Chris Maloney is taking a huge share of the votes. I doubt this is true as if the voting has been leaked, surely there would be insiders piling in on him for victory, yet he's still third fave at around 6.8. I think it's clear that a number of voters are trying to somehow 'upset' Simon Cowell and the production team by voting for Maloney. Pathetic really, as Cowell makes money off the very calls they are making to supposedly piss him off! Whilst I think there are people who want to see the underdog triumph in the face of the harsh criticism he's faced, I think when it comes down to the nitty-gritty, people will vote for the ones they feel truly deserve to win based on talent alone (especially with Ella eliminated more than likely due to voter complacency). The latest poll on the Digital Spy X-Factor forum has James ahead as reader's favourite by a huge margin. Therefore, I'm biting my nails for another week and hoping the British public vote for the best artist which is clearly James Arthur.

Finally, I'm sure many of you will be watching the 'Trading Academy' show on the City Index website (and you may have even entered and failed to make the cut, like me!). It's a 6 week programme in the style of The Apprentice, only with candidates that are attempting to win £100,000 by coming top after a series of financial spread trading tasks. It's well worth a watch, if only to see how the traders (each with varying degrees of trading experience, though all still novices) cope with the pressures of the tournament, TV cameras and increasing banks of money to play with.
You won't learn anything about how to trade the financial markets but it's interesting seeing how the psychological side affects each trader and also how the two Alan Sugar characters (one of whom is way scarier than the real thing!), choose who is to be 'fired' each week. It's not always who you might expect and this tells you a lot about what it really takes to become a trader. Spread betting is the closest form of financial trading you will get to sports trading (because you can make money on prices going down as well as up), so it's a relevant watch especially if you are new to trading. It's the final next week so plenty of time to catch up till the end!

Serena Williams:

So as another year draws to a conclusion, thoughts turn towards resolutions for 2013. But what about 2012? Most people tend to forget or fail at sticking to their New Year's resolutions but I recorded mine in this post. Did I stick to them?

1. Continue to trade only when I feel there is value

I can't lie, I've not always taken good value, quite often taken borderline value and sometimes taken poor prices. However, these instances are few and far between. As the months have gone by, I've become better and better at only entering the market when the value has screamed out at me. I've learnt that whenever I get an instant gut feeling on a price, I should take it, as I'm usually right and on the flip side, I've learnt that if I am deliberating over whether to enter or not, that's a signal that I shouldn't bother. I'd say that 90% of my trades have followed this rule, which means there is still room for improvement next year!

2. Trade without any monetary goals or time-limits

This was not a problem at all until the last few weeks of the tennis season. I stopped setting any monetary goals years ago but sometimes, it's hard to ignore what is in the back of your mind. Sometimes, you have a figure that you'd like to achieve, maybe a personal best or an amount you need to pay for something. No matter how much you tell yourself it doesn't matter, you still become obsessed with hitting that figure. As the season came to a close, I started to trade with a figure in mind that I wanted to hit and it completely messed with my head. That was in October, which despite a few days of dreadful trading where I risked too much, I still managed to attain my highest ever monthly profit - but would've been far higher if I hadn't been so greedy!

3. Continue not to look at my P&L until the end of each week

This is never an issue - it's fully ingrained in me not to look and so I never do. I will normally check on the Sunday but I have left it for over a week on plenty of occasions. One of the best moves I ever made, as previously, my eyes would flick constantly to my balance at the top of the screen and it would affect everything I did with my trades.

4. Move as much as possible over to Betdaq once the Geek's Toy purple is released

Errrmmm.......! To be honest, after the fuss I kicked up in January over Betdaq not attempting to lure tennis traders over during a Betfair outage, I haven't even thought about the purple place. I feel let down by them still. However, with the premium charge looming, I may be tempted to check things out for next year.....

5. Take time off from trading more often, when required

Whilst I haven't had any sort of holiday or long break from trading (deciding instead to take 5 or 6 weeks off during the off-season and not trade any other sport) I have definitely been much better at taking small breaks. That just means not trading when tired or when my head hasn't been right. I could improve on this though, there have still been occasions where I've lacked focus but still forced my way through a session. Overall though, I can't remember any incidents where I've seriously messed up due to over-trading and considering how prevalent that was last year, it's a giant step forward.

6. Continue to work on keeping those frustration levels low

Massive, massive improvements in this area - but still a long way to go. Gone are the days of punching walls, kicking furniture, straining muscles and smacking my own head! The red mist doesn't descend anymore and cause me to do irrational things. But I still get frustrated at little errors. October in particular, was a month where I did start to lose the plot and return to some bad old habits but I quickly realised and nipped it in the bud. Something to always keep an eye on but hasn't been a real issue.

7. Eradicate my impatience

Yikes! Not even close! I think I'll always be impatient. The key is to temper those feelings. I'd be doing even better if I could just stay patient, it undoubtedly costs me money every month. Usually it's due to forcing a trade with not enough value (which ties in with number 1) because I'm desperate for a win or because it's just been quiet. Usually, it goes wrong! I did however, accept that 2012 was not going to be the year when I hit the kind of profits that would enable me to go pro again. I think once I accepted that, it enabled me to trade with less pressure and just enjoy my profits and consistency. Hopefully next year, I can hit those profits and this will no longer be an issue.

Ana Ivanovic:

After a well-earned rest, I'm now champing at the bit for the start of what I hope will be the season which cements my progress as a long-term, consistently profitable tennis trader. I won't do another list of New Year's Resolutions, as my goals for 2013 are very simple: build the bank up to 5 figures and remain consistently profitable. There isn't anything I feel desperately needs working on to make that happen and as I have been saying for a while now, if I am thorough, professional and my head is in the right place, I will make money - it's now just a matter of how much.

The tennis season starts officially on the 29th December, when the annual Hopman Cup mixed-gender team event, takes place in Perth, Australia. However, the first Betfair tennis markets will be open on the 27th, for the Mubadala Exhibition in Abu Dhabi, as Andy Murray starts the ball rolling. I'm sure many traders will not want to trade this as it is nothing more than a warm up but I like to play it. Firstly, it is a nice warm up for me too. After such a long break from trading, throwing yourself straight back into serious action can bring up issues such as rustiness. Best to get acclimatised for a couple of matches, get a feel for the markets and the routine again. Secondly, these tournaments can throw up excellent trading opportunities. Last year, the big 3 attended. Federer simply wasn't up for it and it showed starkly in his performance, making him an easy lay. On the other hand, Djokovic looked sharp and took it very seriously, which prompted me to back him immediately to win the Australian Open - which he did. No Fed this year and Nadal has had to pull out with a stomach illness, so we should get a nice Murray-Djokovic final already, to look forward to.

The WTA and ATP tour main draw matches get underway on December 30th and there is no easing slowly into things, with a glut of events during week 1; Brisbane, Chennai and Doha for the men and Brisbane and Auckland for the women. I tend to wait until week 2 before switching my schedule and turning my life upside down for 3 weeks to trade in Oz time. With Chennai, Doha and Hopman Cup all on at more reasonable hours GMT, it means I can postpone the midnight starts and 9am finishes for a little longer! January is not the most enjoyable time to be a tennis trader but it's something I've gotten used to, liquidity is still always good and the climax of the Australian Open, is my favourite Grand Slam. What you do always get in January, is a high standard of tennis. Players are usually in peak condition, are raring to go after the break and so you'll find matches are of a better quality across the board.

I too, am raring to go. I badly needed the break but the last 2 weeks have left me itching to get back on the ladders. I had a good December thanks to James Arthur winning The X Factor (as predicted here!) and QPR were doing me proud until today, when they lost at home to West Brom (though suffered from a truly awful refereeing decision for the 2nd goal). They are now 6 points from safety but I still feel they will put a run together at some point which will save them. Reading will go down and whilst Wigan and Southampton remain just a couple of wins away, there is plenty of time for Harry to work his magic - though he badly needs new players in the transfer window. Can't say it's been much fun pretending to be a Rangers fan though! This is certainly not the way to enjoy your Saturday afternoons and this long-term market trading thing definitely isn't for me. Roll-on the tennis, I cannot wait!!

Sania Mirza:

2013 has been a total disaster. Since the tennis season started, I have only recorded TWO wins. I daren't even look at all the reds but it's easily my longest draw-down EVER. I didn't suffer anything like this in the whole of 2012. So what has been the reason for it? Well, aside from 1 particularly bad trade, I haven't really done much wrong. It really has just been a case of extreme bad variance. In fact, the worst loss (which totals just under 50% of my entire losses) was in the very first game of the season! I completely messed up in the opening Andy Murray match (where he was dumped out of the Mubadala Exhibition) because I didn't follow my strategy which has been so successful for 12 months. It was pure rustiness on my behalf. I wasn't reading the market well and simply wasn't in tune with the ladders after a 6 week break. The Abu Dhabi Exhibition was supposed to be a gentle sway back into trading, to lift off the cobwebs but I stupidly went in full steam ahead without allowing for the loss of that natural feel for the processes.

To be fair to myself though, I reacted well to this. I haven't panicked and haven't done anything massively stupid or reckless since. My other losses have all been standard size reds and although there are one or two regrettable trades where I lost patience, not one of them cost me much. But they do pile up and it is now going to take a pretty fantastic Australia Open to make January a decent month.

There is some good news though. I have barely traded any of my bread and butter WTA, as it's mostly been on in the small hours. That will change as of today, as I work the graveyard shift for Oz time - midnight to morning. So that should improve matters. Plus, I know what the potential is for a nasty draw-down with my strategy. It's good to know this because with my success last year, I wasn't quite sure just how bad it could get and what I needed to prepare for. Now I know! It's painful but it's bearable. And if the tennis has been a disaster, the football has at least cheered me up. I predicted that QPR would get a draw against Chelsea (in the comments section of my previous post) but even I was shocked to see a 0-1 away win for the bottom placed Premier League side against the form side in English football.

I just had a gut feeling this would be an upset; London derby, midweek following the congested festive period, at night under the lights - it just had that feel about it. They were so dire against Liverpool 1st half, I just couldn't see them performing that badly for the next game and they matched them in the 2nd half. Plus, I never go against a team that I know will just get everyone behind the ball and defend for 90 mins. Can just as easily end 0-0 as it would 6-0. The win puts QPR back on the coat-tails of Wigan, Southampton and Villa and I still believe they will stay up, so my lay of them in the relegation market remains in place - for now.

NB: Just one important piece of info I feel I need to correct. Gundulf over on 'A Football Trader's Path' has labelled me as a QPR fan. This heinous piece of blasphemy has to be corrected! I have never been nor will ever be, a Rangers fan. Though I have been to Loftus Road and it's a great little club. I merely 'support' them because I have a bet on them. I am actually a Nottingham Forest fan - not that that's anything to be proud of at the moment..............

Camila Giorgi:

So you are probably expecting a review of the Australian Open. A summary of who to watch and my picks for outright winner, perhaps a couple of outright market value bets to trade. Well tough, cos that ain't gonna happen! To be frank, we all know who is going to win on the men's side as there are really only 3 or 4 who stand a chance. On the women's side, there is only one player who will win if she's on form and everyone will be tipping her. The outright markets don't interest me. I'll be sticking with what I normally do in-play. It's tried and tested and only my own supreme idiocy can mess things up so I don't come out of my favourite tournament on the calendar with a profit. So what the hell is this post about, you ask? Well, nothing to do with the Australian Open, in truth. But like the hours I'm now trading, it could turn my life upside down.

I've had a very interesting offer put on the table for me. I've been given the opportunity to trade with a bigger bank. Basically, I've been approached through this blog by someone who is willing to risk their own money in order to take a share in my profits. I won't go into exact specifics of the deal but it is still being discussed before we come to an agreement on all aspects. Suffice to say, I'm a tad sceptical but at the same time, very excited. If this goes to plan, I will be able to make significantly larger profit than I have so far been able to accrue, due to my relatively small trading bank, even accounting for the shared profits. This was something I was not going to reveal on the blog but as the interested party shows no problem with it, I don't see why I should keep it a secret.

It's actually something I've thought about for a while, finding an investor who would be willing to bankroll me in return for a share of the spoils. With a year of solid profit behind me, recorded on this blog, I did hope that I might seem an attractive prospect to someone. Of course, with the online world a murky river full of sharks, you can't be too careful with whoever approaches you but rest assured, I have my head pretty screwed on and won't be venturing forth without diligent scrutiny. But I have been bemoaning for a while now, my lack of opportunity to grow my bank. Certain circumstances still prevent me from compounding and without that, I'm treading water when I could be applying the exact same techniques but earning several times more with a relatively small cash injection. If I'd had a similar investment in 2012, any investor would have seen an average 50% return on their money every month - can't ask for much more than that! Of course, that would've been split with myself but still a very handsome return for doing very little.

Anyway, it's pretty much all that is occupying my mind right now, so the Australian Open has taken a back seat somewhat. So no write up for me this year. What this opportunity has made me do, is start to think more about other ways to make money, increase the bank etc. I've been approached about various projects since writing this blog, most notably last year, which is little surprise as that was when I started to make money! Most of them I've declined, a couple of them I got involved with but I felt I didn't have the time to give my all to them. I was still moulding my trading, still aiming to reach consistent profitability and I wanted to devote all my energy to getting that right. Now that I feel I'm 'there', I am now more open to ideas and anything which might push my trading to the next level. 2013 could be an even bigger year than I expected. The Sultan is now open for some serious business!

Elena Vesnina, Tsvetana Pironkova and some fit bird:

"This match exhibited perfect trading characteristics again. It was another match, where if you were trading, you couldn’t lose. If you backed the outsider his price shortened considerably. If you backed the favourite he won!"

I am really sick of reading this! Typically, it is the blogs which have tennis systems and other trading tools to sell, that trot this complete garbage out time and time again. This was taken from Peter Webb's latest blog post on the Wawrinka-Djokovic Australian Open match. Whenever there is a tennis match which swings back and forth, we never hear the end of it. All of a sudden, tennis becomes the best sport to trade, so good that you can't possibly lose no matter what you do! I'm sure most of you will already realise that this is simply not true but I'm also sure that plenty will be taken in by this. So as a tennis trader of 3 years now, I'll make it very clear just why it's a fallacy.

Let's say you layed Djokovic at the start of the match. I don't know what the SP was as I was actually going to bed when this match started and missed out on all the fun. It will have been sub-1.05. So that's a very low risk lay of Djokovic which would have won you some money greening up at any point up to just over evens. Of course, I'm 100% certain that some people will have stayed in looking for the big win on Wawrinka and ended up losing the lot but I won't split hairs on that.

If you'd backed Djokovic at SP, first and foremost, you are a mug! But putting that to one side, at what point do you decide (as a TRADER, not as a gambler) to exit your bet? If you don't already know this, then you are not a trader with a plan and a trader without a plan is normally a loser. So let's say that you know your stop-loss point. Where is it? If you backed at SP, you would be in a lot of trouble once Djokovic hit 1.5 in set 1. You are then staring down the barrel of a rather hefty all-red screen if you didn't exit before then. Djokovic actually traded over evens later on. Surely no one at that point would have not hit their stop-loss point? If you hadn't exited your trade by then, you were really just gambling. And this is the point I'm trying to make. All traders have to have an exit point, otherwise, they are not trading.

I'm certain that lots of people who backed Djokovic (either at SP or more wisely, above 1.2) would have been in a serious quandary once he hit 2.0. I'm certain many will have redded up nice and early and taken a small hit. I'm certain others will have let it ride a bit longer than usual, just because it is the world number 1 and taken a slightly larger hit than usual. I'm certain that some will have gradually reduced the liability as the price increased. I'm also certain that many will have panicked, not exited, bitten their nails to stubs and gone through emotional torment to bag themselves a green. So to say 'you couldn't lose' is obviously a load of horse manure and many who will have won, will know deep down that they got off the hook on this one. Just as many will know that they made a loss but did the right thing in redding up on Novak. Others will learn never to back at sub 1.10 ever again, whilst some will think this is a license to do it even more!

My point is that everyone has a different strategy, different stop-loss points and different risk aversion. So there are of course, always going to be winners AND losers on every tennis match. It's impossible to guess which way it will swing and when it will happen in every tennis match. I'm sure plenty of people layed Djokovic between 1.5 and 2, when it would have seemed obvious that the market was in love with him, despite being a set and a break down. The price will have looked great value and I can't argue with that- it looked a good move. How do you think most of them reacted when the price tumbled back down to sub-1.10? It would have been different for everyone - some would have taken a small green after a few ticks, others will have gone for more and had to scratch when it reversed, others will have held on longer and taken a red.

Let's say you greened up after an early lay of Djokovic. Some will have re-invested that green by backing Djokovic, as Peter Webb did. But Djokovic then went back out to over evens - so what do they do then? It's possible they may have scratched and won nothing or they may have dipped back into the red and ended up redding-out despite the fact they'd initially made a profit. There are many scenarios which illustrate my point but I'm sure you get what I'm saying now.

A tennis match only shows 'perfect trading characteristics' when it fits YOUR strategy. Otherwise, it's only a perfect match for someone else. Of course, a match that swings back and forth and has a wide odds range (which this one didn't, ironically, as Novak barely shifted above evens) is usually a better match for most traders to get involved in, as it offers more opportunities but that still doesn't make it impossible to lose. But authors such as Peter Webb (and this is in no way a personal attack on him as other blogs are guilty of this too) make it seem as though all these tennis matches are ripe for the picking and that you'd have to be a complete cretin not to make money from them. But I guess that is entirely the point when you have something you are trying to sell................

Julia Goerges:

My previous post which focused on a comment by Peter Webb on his blog, has struck a chord with many people. I've had lots of comments, both here and on Twitter, the latest of which came from the man himself. So I felt it would be of interest to my readers to take a closer look and allow me to respond in greater detail:

"Sorry guys, but you have got the wrong end of the stick. Just because you trade differently to me doesn’t mean either of us are right or wrong, but perhaps you should be asking yourself why I would say something like that? It may give you an insight into how I trade? Sultan, if you live near us you are welcome to pop in for a coffee and some enlightenment."

First of all Peter, thanks for your comments and taking the time to respond. I can't help but find this first paragraph just a little patronising though! I have been trading tennis for 3 years now and although I admit the first 18 months were spent mostly in the dark doing the wrong things, I'm pretty certain that I don't need any 'enlightenment' these days (though I appreciate the offer and may well take you up on that coffee if you can change it to a decaf tea!). That's not to say there is nothing left to learn and improve upon but I consider myself experienced enough to know the differing ways that a tennis market can be traded. I thought your insight into how you trade was very clear, especially on this particular game. You backed Wawrinka, greened up and then put some of the green on Djokovic. I didn't trade this match but if I had done, that is almost exactly what I would have done too.

There was almost no way you could lose using that strategy on this match (but only because it fit YOUR strategy). At a guess, I would say that this is what you meant by your comments that I picked out. I did illustrate in my original post that it IS still possible to end up red by doing this. This is because it will depend on a) How much green you made when you backed Wawrinka/layed Djokovic b) How much of that green you used to back Djokovic and c) How long you stayed in the market when Djokovic's price went back out and over evens. Maybe that is all a bit pedantic but the whole point of my original post was that you claimed that it was impossible to lose no matter what ANY trader did (you were not talking about yourself specifically) and that simply isn't true.

"I would ask anybody who disagreed with my post to look a little deeper at how you trade. Tennis is a unique sport and you should approach it differently to other sports. Many sports offer the ability to profit, many, many times throughout the event, if you trade; sometimes regardless of your opening position."

Again, a tad patronising Peter! Perhaps some of those people who commented don't understand that you can churn over your profits in order to place risk free bets and trades (or at least lower risk ones), throughout the match but I thought I made it clear in my analysis that I understood this and it is something I do too. But just because you can keep churning over your profits, cutting bad positions and re-entering to nullify reds, it doesn't mean that you are going to make the 'correct' decisions every time. Your reds can get bigger, just as your greens can.

The main problem I had was with the one paragraph where you said:

"This match exhibited perfect trading characteristics again. It was another match, where if you were trading, you couldn’t lose. If you backed the outsider his price shortened considerably. If you backed the favourite he won!"

I'm sure you will acknowledge that this is not true because, as I went to great lengths to prove in my original post, everyone has different entry and exit points, so even if their basic strategy was the same as yours, it doesn't mean they would end in profit. So to say it was 'perfect trading characteristics' and 'you couldn't lose' comes across as though you are trying to make profiting on tennis trading seem simple, no matter what you did.If traders did EXACTLY what you did, they couldn't lose! But most traders will not have done exactly the same. As you say, doesn't make either them or you, right or wrong. But it doesn't change the fact you did say "It was another match, where if you were trading, you couldn’t lose" and it is this line in particular that I think has annoyed a lot of people, especially when you tie it in with the fact that you do have products to sell which would benefit from you making tennis trading seem easy.

"At the end of the day I blog based on personal experience. I know people trying to flog crap post up anything, but each post I make is because I was active on a market and something interesting happened. Interesting enough to think it’s of value enough to talk about it. I did post a nice visualisation for everybody as well BTW."

I always read your blog and appreciate your posts because they are based on your own experience. But every single Grand Slam, I read posts claiming that matches were a "trader's dream" and that you "couldn't lose", not just from yourself I should add. I still stand by the fact that a match is only perfect if it fits your trading style and your comments seem pretty clearly to me to suggest that you should be profiting from matches such as Djokovic-Wawrinka no matter what your trading style.

You say "perhaps you should be asking yourself why I would say something like that?"Well I've been doing exactly that and I still don't really understand why you would say something like that! I've spoken to other, equally experienced traders about your post and they all agree that just because a match swings back and forth, providing lots of opportunities, it doesn't mean we can't end up with huge all-red screens after 4 hours! Maybe it is just your choice of words that is the problem and if that is the case, now is your chance to perhaps explain what you did really mean because it's not just me who is confused.

"I do take comments on the blog, but you are also welcome to visit the forum to chat which is where most of my interaction takes place."

I have often wanted to comment on your posts but have never been able to do so as they've always been closed off (maybe I need to be a member?). If I'd been able to, I would never have written a blog post in the first place! Over to you, Peter :)

Sloane Stephens:

A second comment from Peter Webb today, in response to my second blog post:

"After a significant number of years of trading and blogging I'm sort of resigned to the fact that people will take what they want out of my blog posts, positive and negative. In and out of context.

In the blog post, I did make it clear that you wouldn't lose if you took the entry point I indicated. I also dropped in nice graph to really show up the characteristics of the match. When I do posts like this I am not looking to mislead people, quite the contrary. I'm saying, "Wow look at this". I'll often post on mens five set matches because they can create such outstanding trading opportunities.

Over the course of the tournament I've collected tons of data which will allow me to research and refine what I do further. I'd like to post some of it up at some point. I'm pretty sure people will be looking for where the best trading situations occured, rather than how they could have lost money. So that's the context in which I am always likely to post.

It's fine if you want to disagree with me, I have no problem with that. But it won't change how I trade Tennis. I don't really have the desire to point score, excuse the pun. So I'm just happy to agree to disagree.

Even after 13 years on Betfair I still learn new things quite often. So I'm always deliberately critical with myself so that I can improve what I do going forward. I'm a firm believer that you should never take anything for granted in this game, even if you are settled in your trading.

BTW, I was trying to be patronising in my previous comment. I just wanted to offer you the chance to have a first hand discussion. Can't really be fair than that."

My response:

"Hi Peter,

I don't think you did make it clear that you wouldn't lose if you took the entry point you indicated. It doesn't say that anywhere in your original post, all it says is that if you were trading that match, you couldn't lose. This is the sort of thing that bloggers write who are trying to get people to think tennis trading is easy so they will buy their products.

I'm not arguing about your strategy, I was just riled at the fact that you (and other bloggers) keep writing things which can be misleading for new tennis traders.

I'm not the only one who felt the same way about your post, so it's not just me who 'took it out of context'. You did say exactly what you did (regarding trading the Wawrinka-Djokovic match in the second part of the original post) but before that, you were just talking generally. The quote is clear, I'm not sure how you can take it out of context:

"This match exhibited perfect trading characteristics again. It was another match, where if you were trading, you couldn’t lose. If you backed the outsider his price shortened considerably. If you backed the favourite he won!"

If you were talking about yourself, why do you keep using the word 'you'?

Anyway I won't go on any more, you've explained yourself and I'll accept what you've said but surely you can see from the above quote, how it can be perceived as though you are making tennis trading seem simple?"

I'm still left feeling confused. If anyone can point out where Peter is talking specifically about his own trading in the first few sentences, then they are a better man than me! My original intention was not to have a go at Peter Webb. Others have questioned his trading style (see comments on previous post) but I haven't at all, that was never the issue. My intention was to question why someone would say that any tennis match was a match where you couldn't lose, and as I couldn't comment directly on his blog, I did so here. The whole "trader's dream" thing is something which has annoyed me for years - I guess this was just the straw that broke the camel's back! I never wanted it to seem as though I'm sniping at Peter but the answers given are quite ambiguous and I can't really make out what he is trying to say.

He ends by saying he was (wasn't?) deliberately being patronising in his original reply, in order to stimulate some debate over his tennis strategy. But I was never puzzled about his strategy. The only thing I'm puzzled about is why he would say that you (as in 'us', the readers) couldn't lose, unless this was a deliberate attempt to make tennis seem an easy sport to make money from. I still wasn't 100% convinced by his answer and then I spotted a post he'd made a few days earlier which really cemented my initial opinion. In this post (talking about the Kvitova-Robson match)Peter says:

"The practical upshot is you had masses of chances to either profit or avoid a loss in this match regardless of whether you backed or laid either player at the start. The only way this couldn’t have happened is if one player dominated the match from start to finish. Even then you could have guessed that position correctly 50% of more of the time by backing the ‘right’ player, probably the favourite.

So in this particular match you should have struggled to lose money if you were trading. This was purely on the basis of the very large number of opportunities to profit or exit for no loss, a direct function of a competitive match playing out over a long time period.

However, I bet you people did lose. That is most likely to do with psychological issues and a lack of understanding of trading risk, than the way the market played out"

What he has written here is identical to what he wrote about Wawrinka-Djokovicbut with greater clarity. Again, he is saying you couldn't really lose money on this match, simply because it had a lot of ups and downs. He does not talk about his own strategy and how you couldn't lose money if you did the same. He says "regardless of whether you backed or laid" which means he is saying whatever you did, you shouldn't have lost money. As for 'guessing' and backing the 'right' player '50% of the time', I'm not even going to go there!

To rub salt in the wounds, he finishes by saying that you could only lose because of 'psychological issues'. So basically, if you lost money on Robson-Kvitova (I didn't trade it myself) it is not because of bad variance, it is not because the match didn't play out the way you needed it to, it's not even because you chose the wrong option at the start of the match, it's because you need to sort your head out. Really!? I'm sure a lot of very experienced traders out there willhave something to say about that!

I'm now more convinced than ever that Peter Webb's posts were only made to make it seem as though tennis trading is easy and as I mentioned in my original post, this is nonsense. This whole episode might appear to be a bit petty on the surface but there are people out there who will be duped into thinking tennis trading is a doddle, based on what they see written by someone so respected and then go out and waste money on products and get a nasty surprise when they start trading. OK, it doesn't affect me personally but it's the principal of the matter that bothers me.

Peter Webb's defence was that I/we took his words out of context and yet here we have a second, almost identical post, which clear as day states that we really shouldn't be losing money on these types of matches no matter what we did - with the caveat that if we STILL managed to lose, it was our fault because we didn't stake correctly or lost our heads!! If he is just trying to show the number of opportunities that exist within matches like these, why can't he do that without insisting that you can't/shouldn't lose? Sorry Peter but I'm just not buying it........

Bojana Jovanovski:

WOW!! What a match we had to end the Australian Open in Melbourne! If you were trading this match, there is simply no way you could have lost money! With so many momentum shifts, market fluctuations, ladder flip-flops, oscillating prices, ups and downs, peaks and troughs, twists and turns, oohs and aahs, backhands and forehands, spins and slices, drop shots and volleys, bubbles and squeaks, lager and limes, apples and pears, Ant and Decs, you would have profited from this match no matter what you did! If you backed Murray at the start, his price shortened considerably, if you backed Djokovic, HE WON!!

It really was a trader's dream, and not just any old dream, a WET dream, one involving Diane Youdale (better known as Jet from 90's TV smash 'Gladiators') and that blonde one off of Girls Aloud, who looks a right go-er! To be frank, if you lost money on this game you'd have to be an utterly shambolic, pathetic, non-entity of a man. I'd go as far as to say, you are a dufus of the highest order and should give that 45% APR credit card you so obviously used to debit your Betfair account, back to your Mummy because you should not have access to or be in possession of such funds with your limited capacity for simple thought processes.

Here's a graph of Djokovic's price which proves my point 100% and there's nothing anyone can say to refute that because you can't argue with facts presented in picture form:

Proof I'm sure you'll agree, that tennis trading is a piece of piss. I made a shit-load on this match and do on every game of this ilk and guess what? You can too!

On a completely separate note, I've recently released "Sultan Tennis: The Complete Moron's Guide to Trading Tennis on Betfair". This comes highly recommended by myself and as you can't really lose money on tennis (unless you've got serious psychological disorders or a life-wrecking gambling addiction, in which case, sort it out guv!) the cost of this £75 guide (reduced from £999.99 for a limited time period only, just 19 copies remaining!!) will pay for itself in no time!

So if you've spent the past 5 years jizzing the family's shopping budget on 3am Copa Libertadores soccer action (live from Ecuador), why not give tennis trading a whirl instead? Go on, stop being such a mug and let the kids eat this week for a change. In fact, you can treat them to a Kerry Katona King Prawn & Cocaine Iceland Party Platter or one of them tasty Doner Kebab Pizzas what they do. After all, it's a no-lose situation!

Gisela Dulko:

As 'Webbgate' rumbles on over on Green All Over, and copies of 'Sultan Tennis: The Complete Moron's Guide to Trading Tennis on Betfair', now down to the last 5 limited time period only downloads, it's time to get back to writing about more important matters i.e. me!! Newer readers of Centre Court Trading possibly won't know how it all started off. It's now 2 years and just over 200,000 page hits (just 50,000 to go before the Blogger Premium Charge kicks in) since I launched the blog (here is my first ever post), so to 'celebrate' this landmark, I thought I would look back on how things have gone for me and the changes that have occurred. So I present to you the Centre Court Trading Timeline:

February - March 2011
The Dark Ages

The start of the blog heralded a period of terrible trading which still remains my worst ever time as a trader. I almost lost the plot mentally, along with my bank but escaped with many new lessons learnt.

April - May 2011
False Dawn

Introduction of proper bank management techniques signalled an upturn in fortune, which I mistakenly believed was me becoming a consistent winner.

June - July 2011
Big Problems

Long-term loss of focus & introduction of the Super Premium Charge severely affected my trading, to the point where I had to make radical changes.

August - October 2011
Major Strategy Change

The most important period of learning in my entire trading life. I stepped it up several gears with my work-load and fundamentally changed my entire trading ethos into what it is today. A switch was flicked!

November - December 2011
Trading Interviews

Series of interesting interviews I did with leading figures of the online trading world.

January - March 2012
The Turning Point

The new strategy and plans were finally bearing fruit as I started to become profitable.

April 2012
Psychology Sessions

A series of 'sessions' I wrote about how to deal with psychological issues in trading.

May 2012 - January 2013
Consistent Profitability

Nuff said.

Unfortunately, January 2013 has been my worst month since January 2012. Once I'd got the first week out of the way, I actually had an excellent month. I have already written about how poorly I began the new season. I ended up approximately +£500. (No screenshot this month as to be honest, I can't be bothered! But also, I don't feel it is of real interest any more, unless those profits show a significant change from what I posted last year). Considering I was -£600 at one stage, that's a pretty outstanding Australian Open I had, to turn the ship around.

Going back to 2 years ago, the most interesting thing to note is that I was trading with larger stakes and much larger liabilities than I am now (twice as big!). I am of the belief that the biggest reason why most traders fail is because they increase their stakes too soon. I was certainly a victim of that but was so badly burnt during 'The Dark Ages' of 2 years ago, that I reduced my liabilities and have never increased them back to those levels. But now I feel is the time to do so. I am ready to move to the next level and that will hopefully be with the bit of extra funding that I've lacked in order to do so. Watch this space...............

Maria Kirilenko:

This time last year, those with long memories might remember my little 'crusade' to get traders to shift over to Betdaq. I guess it was never really going to work but I did feel that more tennis traders would have made an effort to give Betdaq a try during a day when there was planned maintenance on Betfair. But my real anger was turned onto Betdaq because when it came down to it, they did NOTHING at all to entice people over. A year on and that still rankles with me and is the reason why I haven't even mentioned Betdaq on this blog since. However, things are changing; both for me and for Betdaq. You'll all know about the Ladbrokes takeover. As per usual with these things, it has been greeted with a hint of hope but mostly downright miserable cynicism. With my Betfair P&L getting closer by the week to a premium charge situation, I now have no choice but to view this takeover with supreme hope!

The big question I have is, why would Ladbrokes takeover Betdaq unless they wanted to make money out of it? Sounds simplistic but surely the core of anything business related is to just make a profit, so why do some people think they won't make an effort to maximise this? Certain sources claim Betdaq don't even make a profit. Surely Ladbrokes, with their huge revenue as a catalyst, will want to change that? And the only way that is possible is to spend large sums on advertising and a 'robust' (I really hate using this 'management-speak' term but I feel it actually makes sense here) marketing plan. I say 'robust' because in my view, Betdaq need to be stronger in their message. Let me explain.

All they have to do to get the long term winners over, is say they won't be introducing a charge. A lot of trader's cynicism is based on the insistence that Ladbrokes will introduce one anyway at some point. This is something I think they need to address straight away. I'm sure they would be reluctant to commit to such a promise but a short-term compromise of some sort could be reached. Anyway, I think most of us would agree that this would bring over anyone who currently pays the premium charge or like me, is considering the impact of it in future.

However, it's the smaller fish that they really need to acquire. Remember what happened following introduction of the Super PC back in summer 2011? The big fish moved over in large quantities to Betdaq and for a few weeks, it seemed as though (certainly for horse racing and tennis) the revolution was finally happening. But it didn't last because the smaller players didn't also move in the required numbers and so most of the big money had no choice but to return to Betfair for easier pickings.

So thinking back to when I was new to Betfair/ a casual user/ non-profitable, what would I have wanted? I would require an incentive to move over to Betdaq. Better commission simply isn't something that would've bothered me. I probably wouldn't have moved my bank over to Betdaq unless I saw good liquidity on markets I wanted to trade. For me, that would be tennis in-play. So in other words, unless other tennis traders moved over first, I would've been reluctant to move. I'm sure that's the same for any trader not yet paying the PC. Bit of a catch 22! So how do they get around this problem?

I've always felt that Betdaq have never done enough to ram home the fact that Betfair is a shoddy company. That is where their weakness lies - the way they treat their customers. The customer service is shocking. When the site goes down they don't void matches. They place a charge upon winners then write to us telling us it's fine cos we will 'never be a winner'. The new site is a convoluted mess that is far worse than the old one. The PC is completely unintelligible for the average person and totally against the whole ethos of the exchange model. The list is endless yet Betdaq never seems to go for the jugular! Why so nice? I notice recently that this has changed (adverts now seem to mention Betfair's higher commission and charges much more) but it's still not enough in my book. It's not robust enough!

They should let people know in simple terms that we are getting ripped off by Betfair because they no longer adhere to the exchange model, which shouldn't ever make being a winner a problem. I would give it to them both barrels! You could argue that everyone already knows how bad Betfair are, yet still use them. It's a general apathy. Everyone wants to move over but no one wants to go first. But it's like anything to do with advertising; the more you drum it into someone's mind, the more they become brain-washed! I want to see betting folk bombarded with how crap Betfair is, day in, day out on TV, radio, magazine, newspaper, internet, football match hoardings, bus stops, massive boards over-looking bridges. It will become ingrained into our subconscious, the same way that the slogan "Betfair: where winners are welcome" *cough* became indelibly marked and the way that annoying Italian bloke with the big moustache automatically sets off my gag reflex every time his stupid, wailing voice shatters my peace and quiet (honestly, 5 years of 'Go Compare!' finally over and now Ladbrokes bring along another one!).

Ladbrokes can even save a bit on advertising, as they can just re-use the annoying, Italian bloke, only instead of shouting "KAMMY NOOOOOOOOOOO, FOOTBALL IS OOOOOOOOOOONNN!!!" he can shout 'BETFAIR NOOOOOOOOOOOO, PREMIUM CHARGE IS WROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG" or some such. I would actually incorporate the word 'mug' into this advert as much as possible, for if there is one thing that people new to betting hate to be called or associated with, it's a mug. It's tantamount to being labelled a paedophile outside of the Betfair forums - there's nothing more insulting. Have the Italian bloke screaming "PREMIUM CHARGE NOOOOOOOOOOOOO, YOU MUUUUUUUUUGGSS WHY YOU PAY THIIIIIIIISSSS??? BETDAQ IS OOOOOOOOOOOONNNN!!!'" Or some such. If he shouted this, I'd happily refrain from muting.

Why not start an exchange war, a proper, dirty battle? I guess it all comes down to money. I know people are going to tell me that Ladbrokes won't want to spend the amounts required to catch up with Betfair, and that two exchanges cannot survive successfully together, and that the "ship has sailed" and exchanges have hit their peak already, and that a thriving competitor to Betfair will only split liquidity between the two, making it harder to trade certain markets. I even had a Ladbrokes employee tell me not to expect much! But I think if you had a whole week or weekend where you offered 0% commission for betting in-play, people would come over, even if just out of curiosity as to what things will be like now Ladbrokes has taken over. Once there, we'd probably stay if liquidity was decent but we'd need to know that the original exchange model is not going to be messed with and taxes slapped on winners in future. It's the big wild-card that Betdaq has over Betfair - it's still a 100% bonafide exchange, adhering (ironically) to the original Betfair model. If Ladbrokes can find a way to exploit that situation, then why on earth can't things change?

I urge you all to be more positive and let them know exactly what they need to do. Unlike Betfair, they actually want our input, so let's give them no excuse not to earn our custom. Email them:

ideas@betdaq.com

Julia Goerges:

Recently I mentioned that I had received an offer from an individual to trade with their money, in return for a share of my monthly tennis trading profits. Talks are still ongoing. I wrote in that same post, about offers I'd had last year and these were things I'd never blogged about. One of them was an offer from a betting syndicate, which I actually agreed to. This took place back in October. I traded for this syndicate for one month. Four other traders took part in what was a trial period, which was due to last 3 months. Unfortunately, at least 2 of those traders blew their entire allocated bank (c£2000) and the other 2 reportedly made a loss. I was told I was the only one who made a decent profit. As it turned out, October was my 2nd highest ever monthly profit for tennis alone. So I was particularly disappointed to learn that the trial was to be ended 2 months early, a lack of funds for the operation being cited, no doubt due to the losses incurred by the other traders. I don't blame them to be honest! But I have since wondered what could have been achieved if I'd been kept on. I won't go into too much detail but the entire plan encompassed much more than just trading with a £2000 bank and splitting the profit. Funds were promised far in excess of this, along with a business structure resembling that of a small company. In short, it could've turned my trading into something many times greater than it is now.

I never wrote about it on the blog for two reasons. Firstly, I didn't want to upset the syndicate in any way and so felt it best I kept quiet out of common courtesy. Secondly, I was worried about the adverse affect it could have on my trading. By that I mean the added pressure of wanting to impress my readers and also the added pressure of trading with someone else's money and wanting to impress the investors. I think it was a wise choice not to blog about it because it turned out that the initial pressure did indeed get to me! The first few days, I found myself wrought with nerves in a way that I hadn't experienced for many, many months. It caused me to get frustrated at things I normally would not allow to get to me and some of the old anger started to resurface, the sort that blighted me in the early years of my tennis trading. I was fortunate in many ways, that I got off to a good start. If bad variance had kicked in immediately, I may have found things turned out very differently.

As it was, I got a win quite quickly and this calmed me down somewhat, though mistakes were still creeping in, mostly because I was just so damn keen to impress! I was desperate to prove I was as good as my results had proven over the past year (which was the reason I was contacted in the first place) and so I maybe pushed things on the ladders that I would not have pushed if I'd just been trading with my own money. So although it sounds preposterous that 2 or 3 of the other 4 traders involved, blew their entire bank within the first month (one I believe did his dough within the first WEEK!) I can kind of empathise. I know what must have been going through his head because I was probably thinking the same things.

It was such a big opportunity that the pressure felt really intense and as I've said from the very beginning of this blog, it's the psychological aspect of trading that is the hardest to master. I had been trading relatively stress-free for 9 months, yet that was changed instantly as soon as the pressure was turned up a notch. It wasn't that I was worried about losing the money because the deal was that I was not liable for any losses. In theory, that should've made trading easier and more relaxed (and that was indeed the case once I'd got a few wins on the board) but it was the strain of knowing that if I failed to make enough profit to impress the syndicate, I would be dropped and lose out on a fantastic opportunity, that was the real pressure.

Whilst others struggled and ended up chasing losses and exposing their banks with poor money management, I kept my head and gradually built my profits to over 50% of the bank - only for the experiment to be cut short. So it is not the first time I've had an offer to trade on behalf of an investor and now I have a better understanding of the pitfalls, I'm not too worried about doing it again. I'll go on record as saying the party who invested in me last October were very transparent, smart and trustworthy guys who I wouldn't hesitate working with again. So I had overall, a great first experience of this kind of partnership. Plus, trading without the pressure of losing my own money really gave me a new lease of life. It enabled me to perhaps do a few things which previously, I had held back on for fear of losing what I already had. This extra aggressiveness in my approach was no doubt a decisive factor in me achieving one of my highest ever monthly profits and is something I've tried to continue now that I'm back risking my own money. I can't help wondering 'What if?' about that trial but I definitely got a lot out of it, even if it meant giving away some of my hard earned wonga!

Iveta Benesova:

Talks have fallen through. The investment I was hoping for is no longer going to happen. I'm pretty fed up right now! I have been doing a lot of thinking over the past few days and am starting to think that I'm not sure I want to do this any more. I know I've come a long way and stopping now would be like giving up, which is something I rarely do but I just feel as though I'm not getting anywhere. I'm treading water when I could be freestyling into the distance. Yes, it's partly my own impatience that makes me feel this way but also, I'm not sure this is the path I want to take any more. I'd still like to be involved somehow as a trader but for the amounts I'm making and am likely to be able to make for the foreseeable future, is it worth it?

Maybe I need a change, perhaps the repetitive nature of my trading is grinding me down. Maybe it's because I'm not feeling stimulated any more by online debate or from learning new things. Writing this post, I realise I don't actually have much left to say. Or maybe I'm just pissed off because another investment opportunity has fallen through when it all seemed to be heading in the right direction.

I got into trading purely for the money. I wasn't that interested in tennis and had no interest at all in gambling. This was never about having a hobby, something fun to do in my spare time, a little extra pocket money. It was all or nothing for me - I want to make some serious cash or I'm really not that bothered. I always thought that was going to happen one day and I'm almost certain that it would if I could only compound my profits. But that isn't going to happen this year and I don't know if I can continue treading water for another year, when I could be doing something else. Without investment, I'm stuck and although I've been doing well, everything I earn goes straight back out.

I feel like I need a new challenge, something new to get the juices flowing. I'm just not sure what that is yet.

Kristina Mladenovic:

Chasing Broccoli

Ten Tennis Trading Myths

The Sultan's Trading Plugathon

October - The Results

100th Best in the World

2012 Trading Season Review

Tradeshark v The Sultan

QPR, Andy Roddick, James Arthur & Alan Sugar!

New Year's Resolutions: Did I Stick to Them?

Tennis Is Back!!!

Happy New Fecking Year

Australian Open 2013

Tennis Trading Fallacy

Peter Webb Responds!

The Sultan & Peter Webb Part 3

Murray v Djokovic: A Trader's Dream!!

I Am 2!!

Betdaq - GAME OOOOONNN!!

The Trading Syndicate

Time to Quit?