That's right, I'm back once again like the renegade master, to speak about myself in the third person! This has been the longest period in my 2 years of blogging, without writing a post. I haven't felt like writing anything, apart from a brief reply to a couple of comments on Cassini's blog, where a bit of negativity cropped up. Some people (who obviously don't read this blog regularly) have decided I am only writing about my experience trading on behalf of a syndicate, as a 'sales pitch'. Others have labelled it a poor sales pitch because I don't have any results to back it up. Well, I do have results and I posted them up with a full P&L screenshot at the beginning of each month - either the first or second post of every month I traded in 2012. Anyone who doubts my ability to make money trading can check them out. You can also check out my October results, where you can see I posted up two screenshots; one which was traded using my account and another traded using the account set up for me by the syndicate. But as my posts have NOT been a sales pitch, it's pretty irrelevant. I certainly would do a damn better job if I WAS making a sales pitch!
I have never touted for business on here but have been approached by people interested in giving me their money to trade with long before I wrote my so called 'sales pitch'. I've turned down all but one. Whatever you might think about those people risking their money on me, the facts are, if they'd invested in me last year, they would have made a profit. The syndicate that did invest in me, made a profit. I've heard it said that the sports markets are not scalable, which is rubbish. I've already scaled up from £2 bets to £200 bets and the markets will be able to take far more than that before I even get close to finding it tough to get matched. I am not looking to get rich, just to make a comfortable wage. I know that I can quite easily do that without putting down thousands of pounds on every trade, something which would affect the market (in fact, for many games I trade I'd need to be putting TENS of thousands into the market before scalability became a problem). The tennis markets are scalable to a point and that ceiling is still well above what I would be happy hitting.
Thankfully, I've not had a single negative comment on this blog, only positive thoughts and constructive criticism, all of which I have taken on board. I'd like to thank everyone who did comment. I haven't replied individually but I'll do so collectively here. Firstly, I want to clear up the whole situation with me not being able to compound. The reason why I can't is irrelevant, that's nobodies business but mine, the only important detail anyone needs to know is that I can't. Therefore, trading with someone else's money is a good alternative as far as I'm concerned, in order to get me to a point where I CAN compound. Secondly, I am not a professional trader. I tried it once, it didn't work out. I have a job, I fit my trading around it easily because the two jobs are related. So it's easy for me to trade what would be considered 'full-time' hours AND do my other job, without adding too many extra hours. Very little of my time is actually spent in the market. I'm mostly watching and waiting and I've reached a point now where I don't even need to watch a match that closely. I only enter the market a couple of times in a match usually, so I have plenty of time to get on with other work.
Thirdly, no more O'Dwyer comparisons please! O'Dwyer believed his strategy could not be implemented unless he had a large bank (£1000 was the figure he always quoted). If I had a larger trading bank, my strategy will remain exactly the same. I don't NEED a larger bank to make money, I WANT a larger bank to make MORE money - it's not rocket science! O'Dwyer tried to gamble his way to a larger bank by placing straight bets which apparently had nothing to do with the strategy that won him tens of thousands (before losing him tens of thousands). If I don't get a larger bank, I'll continue as I am until I reach the stage where I can compound. It's not a big deal. But if I can get there quicker with the help of an investor that I'm comfortable with, why would I turn it down? Yes, there are pitfalls but all trading has pitfalls and it doesn't stop us taking risks in order to be successful.
Finally, you don't need to have a ruthless streak in order to make money through trading. You don't need the devil inside you! But you do need to be strong-willed, tenacious and confident, qualities which I already possess in abundance. So I am not giving up. I wrote my previous post in an emotional state where I was a bit down, fed up with the grind, the treading water, the repetitiveness and the fact I know I could be making so much more. That is something I'm sure affects a lot of long term traders and it's not a new thing for me, it happens every few months. But I have firm goals, I know exactly where I want to be and what I want to achieve. But sometimes, a spanner gets thrown into the works or an opportunity arises and you have to adapt and tweak those goals. That is what has happened in recent months and so it has got me thinking about other possibilities. I've had time to contemplate and have made a few decisions about where I'm going to go from here, which will become more apparent in the coming weeks.
Just wanted to end by mentioning Ladbrokes/Betdaq; finally, we seem to be getting some action! I like the new Russian Revolution-styled advertising campaign and the Betdaq Manifesto could have been based around the email I sent them. So they are listening but then, it didn't take a genius to work out that customers hate the premium charge and want more liquidity and freebies. Why they needed a Ladbrokes takeover to kick their arses into gear, I don't know; there's nothing here they couldn't have done 18 months ago following the PC hike. At least it's a step in the right direction though and who knows, the Purple Revolution may just end in complete revolt...............
Sloane Stephens:
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I have never touted for business on here but have been approached by people interested in giving me their money to trade with long before I wrote my so called 'sales pitch'. I've turned down all but one. Whatever you might think about those people risking their money on me, the facts are, if they'd invested in me last year, they would have made a profit. The syndicate that did invest in me, made a profit. I've heard it said that the sports markets are not scalable, which is rubbish. I've already scaled up from £2 bets to £200 bets and the markets will be able to take far more than that before I even get close to finding it tough to get matched. I am not looking to get rich, just to make a comfortable wage. I know that I can quite easily do that without putting down thousands of pounds on every trade, something which would affect the market (in fact, for many games I trade I'd need to be putting TENS of thousands into the market before scalability became a problem). The tennis markets are scalable to a point and that ceiling is still well above what I would be happy hitting.
Thankfully, I've not had a single negative comment on this blog, only positive thoughts and constructive criticism, all of which I have taken on board. I'd like to thank everyone who did comment. I haven't replied individually but I'll do so collectively here. Firstly, I want to clear up the whole situation with me not being able to compound. The reason why I can't is irrelevant, that's nobodies business but mine, the only important detail anyone needs to know is that I can't. Therefore, trading with someone else's money is a good alternative as far as I'm concerned, in order to get me to a point where I CAN compound. Secondly, I am not a professional trader. I tried it once, it didn't work out. I have a job, I fit my trading around it easily because the two jobs are related. So it's easy for me to trade what would be considered 'full-time' hours AND do my other job, without adding too many extra hours. Very little of my time is actually spent in the market. I'm mostly watching and waiting and I've reached a point now where I don't even need to watch a match that closely. I only enter the market a couple of times in a match usually, so I have plenty of time to get on with other work.
Thirdly, no more O'Dwyer comparisons please! O'Dwyer believed his strategy could not be implemented unless he had a large bank (£1000 was the figure he always quoted). If I had a larger trading bank, my strategy will remain exactly the same. I don't NEED a larger bank to make money, I WANT a larger bank to make MORE money - it's not rocket science! O'Dwyer tried to gamble his way to a larger bank by placing straight bets which apparently had nothing to do with the strategy that won him tens of thousands (before losing him tens of thousands). If I don't get a larger bank, I'll continue as I am until I reach the stage where I can compound. It's not a big deal. But if I can get there quicker with the help of an investor that I'm comfortable with, why would I turn it down? Yes, there are pitfalls but all trading has pitfalls and it doesn't stop us taking risks in order to be successful.
Finally, you don't need to have a ruthless streak in order to make money through trading. You don't need the devil inside you! But you do need to be strong-willed, tenacious and confident, qualities which I already possess in abundance. So I am not giving up. I wrote my previous post in an emotional state where I was a bit down, fed up with the grind, the treading water, the repetitiveness and the fact I know I could be making so much more. That is something I'm sure affects a lot of long term traders and it's not a new thing for me, it happens every few months. But I have firm goals, I know exactly where I want to be and what I want to achieve. But sometimes, a spanner gets thrown into the works or an opportunity arises and you have to adapt and tweak those goals. That is what has happened in recent months and so it has got me thinking about other possibilities. I've had time to contemplate and have made a few decisions about where I'm going to go from here, which will become more apparent in the coming weeks.
Just wanted to end by mentioning Ladbrokes/Betdaq; finally, we seem to be getting some action! I like the new Russian Revolution-styled advertising campaign and the Betdaq Manifesto could have been based around the email I sent them. So they are listening but then, it didn't take a genius to work out that customers hate the premium charge and want more liquidity and freebies. Why they needed a Ladbrokes takeover to kick their arses into gear, I don't know; there's nothing here they couldn't have done 18 months ago following the PC hike. At least it's a step in the right direction though and who knows, the Purple Revolution may just end in complete revolt...............
Sloane Stephens:
