Today, I realised why I dislike the grass swing so much; England in June. The last couple of days have been very stop-start due to the rain and it's a nightmare getting into a groove with trading. During the delays, I have repeatedly sat down at my laptop to begin blogging but as my fingers poised over the keyboard in readiness, my mind has been blank. It's been a struggle since I decided to start daily blogging again. I have come to the conclusion that actually, I have nothing left to say.
When I began Centre Court Trading, it was for 3 reasons: to record my mistakes and develop as a trader, to give me a creative outlet that I would find fun and if I'm perfectly honest, to show that I'm a bloody good trader (even though I obviously wasn't when I started!). Well, I no longer use the blog to record mistakes as I have developed enough that I don't need to. I think I've proved to myself that I'm a good trader (though I didn't expect it to take 2 years to do so!) and to my readers that it is possible to improve from a consistent loser into a consistent winner. So the only reason now that I would keep the blog running, is as a creative outlet. Unfortunately, I am no longer really finding it that much fun. I'm not sure there is anything else to write about that I haven't covered previously. My first year was all about making mistakes and learning from them; finding out what needed to be changed and then showing the process of change. The second year was about tweaking and sticking to those changes, so that I eventually became a consistent winner. This 3rd year really will only be more of the same, only with larger stakes and hopefully larger profit. I cannot see where I will find enough interesting material to blog about every week, let alone every day.
For me, trading has only ever been about one thing - making money. I don't have a betting background and so I don't get massive satisfaction from being part of a betting community. I don't spend time in chatrooms or tweeting constantly all-day or instant messaging other traders because it doesn't interest me. Some traders see this as a hobby, a fun pastime that they would participate in regardless of how successful they are at it. Not me. To me, it's always been a job, a means to an end, with that end goal being to have more freedom, both financially and socially. When I finish trading, I don't want to talk about sports, be around a computer screen or think about trading. I don't even want to watch sport, for the most part (unless I'm actually at the event). I want to be spending my winnings and being more social - real world social, not twitter/chatroom social! Writing this blog therefore, is just more time being part of something I am trying to spend less time being part of.
Don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed being part of the betting community. I was addicted to the Betfair forum for a couple of years, absolutely love being 'The Sultan' as part of the trading blogosphere and have really started to enjoy Twitter over the past 6 months, in sporadic bursts. But I don't feel as though I'm gaining anything from all of it now. I read blog posts and for the most part, it's the same old stuff regurgitated. I'm not really learning a great deal that is new, reading anything inspirational or engaging in any fascinating discussion and so it impacts on my own ability to come up with material. Also the simple fact is, there is a lot more to say when you are struggling and in the early stages of development as a trader, than there is when you are doing well.
I am now to all intents and purposes, a professional trader; I rely on the income, I do it full-time and I'm making profits each month that are above anything I've ever made in any regular job. I'm not a 'big fish' but that was never my goal. I just wanted a comfortable wage and more freedom to enjoy life - I don't aspire to be rich. So I'm on the way to attaining my original goal. However, I have over the last few weeks, decided that I will probably change this goal. Rather than be satisfied with a reasonable yearly income, I think I will be aiming to make hay whilst the sun shines. That means attempting to reach the £250k mark (where the super premium charge kicks in) as quickly as possible, so I can save enough of the profit to invest it into something else and become less reliant on trading. I don't think solitary trading day in, day out, is something that will keep me stimulated year after year and I'd like to get my fingers into other pies so I don't lose focus.
Some will tell you the sports markets are not scalable; well they are scalable enough for me and that's all that matters. I still have a long way to go before I hit that ceiling but as I sit here typing, I just can't summon up the old excitement I had about blogging or trading, that I had in 2011 or 2012. I'm a little bit sad about this but also realise that this is a by-product of becoming successful as a trader; it does become monotonous. The passion just isn't there any more. So for those reasons, I'm semi-retiring Centre Court Trading. I say 'semi' because I'll still try and update at least once a month to show where I am with my own personal journey. I'm under no illusions that things can change - for the better or the worse. The hard work maintaining my edge, consistency and focus will never end. But regular posts will now cease.
I would like to thank everyone who has followed the blog over the past 2 and a half years and especially those who have posted comments, given me advice and boosted my confidence when I was down. It's easy to forget just how low I was during that first year and how I nearly gave up on several occasions. Quite often, it was reader's comments that helped to pick me back up and even set me on the right path. I'd also like to thank those traders who took the time to tell me how much they enjoyed Centre Court Trading. Those messages really meant a lot to me and I always had them in mind when writing my posts because I always wanted the content to be of a high quality to keep those people satisfied.
Finally, I want to end with one message to any traders out there who are struggling to make this pay - stick at it! If I can do it successfully (a guy who began this journey with little knowledge or interest in maths, stats, money management, betting or tennis, plus zero patience and mental discipline) then anyone can! Well, almost anyone. Because although I had a mountain of issues to work on, I was always prepared to do just that - work. If you don't have that work ethic and that desire to push on and make changes when things inevitably go wrong, you've got no chance in this game. And if you want to know how I did it, well it's all documented right here! I have mentioned before that reading other blogs (particularly Cassini, Mark Iverson and Matt from Punt.com's blogs) from start to finish, was a real inspiration and I got a lot of information doing so. I hope that Centre Court Trading will also provide that same value for aspiring traders.
Good luck with your trading and from The Sultan, this is game, set and match.Well, sort of. Like I say, I'll still post every month to give an update. So keep checking in. OK I've now ruined my signing off speech. Let's try again: Good luck with your trading and from The Sultan, this is game, set and match!!!
Tsvetana Pironkova:
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When I began Centre Court Trading, it was for 3 reasons: to record my mistakes and develop as a trader, to give me a creative outlet that I would find fun and if I'm perfectly honest, to show that I'm a bloody good trader (even though I obviously wasn't when I started!). Well, I no longer use the blog to record mistakes as I have developed enough that I don't need to. I think I've proved to myself that I'm a good trader (though I didn't expect it to take 2 years to do so!) and to my readers that it is possible to improve from a consistent loser into a consistent winner. So the only reason now that I would keep the blog running, is as a creative outlet. Unfortunately, I am no longer really finding it that much fun. I'm not sure there is anything else to write about that I haven't covered previously. My first year was all about making mistakes and learning from them; finding out what needed to be changed and then showing the process of change. The second year was about tweaking and sticking to those changes, so that I eventually became a consistent winner. This 3rd year really will only be more of the same, only with larger stakes and hopefully larger profit. I cannot see where I will find enough interesting material to blog about every week, let alone every day.
For me, trading has only ever been about one thing - making money. I don't have a betting background and so I don't get massive satisfaction from being part of a betting community. I don't spend time in chatrooms or tweeting constantly all-day or instant messaging other traders because it doesn't interest me. Some traders see this as a hobby, a fun pastime that they would participate in regardless of how successful they are at it. Not me. To me, it's always been a job, a means to an end, with that end goal being to have more freedom, both financially and socially. When I finish trading, I don't want to talk about sports, be around a computer screen or think about trading. I don't even want to watch sport, for the most part (unless I'm actually at the event). I want to be spending my winnings and being more social - real world social, not twitter/chatroom social! Writing this blog therefore, is just more time being part of something I am trying to spend less time being part of.
Don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed being part of the betting community. I was addicted to the Betfair forum for a couple of years, absolutely love being 'The Sultan' as part of the trading blogosphere and have really started to enjoy Twitter over the past 6 months, in sporadic bursts. But I don't feel as though I'm gaining anything from all of it now. I read blog posts and for the most part, it's the same old stuff regurgitated. I'm not really learning a great deal that is new, reading anything inspirational or engaging in any fascinating discussion and so it impacts on my own ability to come up with material. Also the simple fact is, there is a lot more to say when you are struggling and in the early stages of development as a trader, than there is when you are doing well.
I am now to all intents and purposes, a professional trader; I rely on the income, I do it full-time and I'm making profits each month that are above anything I've ever made in any regular job. I'm not a 'big fish' but that was never my goal. I just wanted a comfortable wage and more freedom to enjoy life - I don't aspire to be rich. So I'm on the way to attaining my original goal. However, I have over the last few weeks, decided that I will probably change this goal. Rather than be satisfied with a reasonable yearly income, I think I will be aiming to make hay whilst the sun shines. That means attempting to reach the £250k mark (where the super premium charge kicks in) as quickly as possible, so I can save enough of the profit to invest it into something else and become less reliant on trading. I don't think solitary trading day in, day out, is something that will keep me stimulated year after year and I'd like to get my fingers into other pies so I don't lose focus.
Some will tell you the sports markets are not scalable; well they are scalable enough for me and that's all that matters. I still have a long way to go before I hit that ceiling but as I sit here typing, I just can't summon up the old excitement I had about blogging or trading, that I had in 2011 or 2012. I'm a little bit sad about this but also realise that this is a by-product of becoming successful as a trader; it does become monotonous. The passion just isn't there any more. So for those reasons, I'm semi-retiring Centre Court Trading. I say 'semi' because I'll still try and update at least once a month to show where I am with my own personal journey. I'm under no illusions that things can change - for the better or the worse. The hard work maintaining my edge, consistency and focus will never end. But regular posts will now cease.
I would like to thank everyone who has followed the blog over the past 2 and a half years and especially those who have posted comments, given me advice and boosted my confidence when I was down. It's easy to forget just how low I was during that first year and how I nearly gave up on several occasions. Quite often, it was reader's comments that helped to pick me back up and even set me on the right path. I'd also like to thank those traders who took the time to tell me how much they enjoyed Centre Court Trading. Those messages really meant a lot to me and I always had them in mind when writing my posts because I always wanted the content to be of a high quality to keep those people satisfied.
Finally, I want to end with one message to any traders out there who are struggling to make this pay - stick at it! If I can do it successfully (a guy who began this journey with little knowledge or interest in maths, stats, money management, betting or tennis, plus zero patience and mental discipline) then anyone can! Well, almost anyone. Because although I had a mountain of issues to work on, I was always prepared to do just that - work. If you don't have that work ethic and that desire to push on and make changes when things inevitably go wrong, you've got no chance in this game. And if you want to know how I did it, well it's all documented right here! I have mentioned before that reading other blogs (particularly Cassini, Mark Iverson and Matt from Punt.com's blogs) from start to finish, was a real inspiration and I got a lot of information doing so. I hope that Centre Court Trading will also provide that same value for aspiring traders.
Good luck with your trading and from The Sultan, this is game, set and match.Well, sort of. Like I say, I'll still post every month to give an update. So keep checking in. OK I've now ruined my signing off speech. Let's try again: Good luck with your trading and from The Sultan, this is game, set and match!!!
Tsvetana Pironkova:
