Monday 17 August 2015

Steady as she goes

A good day trading on the Australian races.  23 races traded for 12 wins, 9 losses and 2 scratched.  I had two average trades where I lost more than I had planned due to not getting out early enough.  A low strike rate for me yet I still showed a profit.
Reasonably happy with my efforts.  Reasonable discipline today, still with room for some improvement.  Good to know that I made some small errors yet still showed a profit.  I feel that the plan is good if I can be patient enough to let the small profits grow.

Monday 10 August 2015

Mistakes

I have been recording my trading lately so that I can go back and see what I am doing right and wrong.  It can be a bit of a whipping session where I get down on myself for making another mistake but I also try and pat myself on the back when I make a good decision.  This could be something as simple as getting out at my stop/loss or even earlier when it becomes obvious that the reason that I entered the trade is no longer there.
A common mistake that I have noticed is that when I have had a loss and stopped out in a race and there is still time to trade in the race that my second trade in the race is more likely to lose as well which compounds my losses.  The lesson is to either stop trading the race after a loss and moving on to the next race or to take a lot more care when going in for a second try.
I also have a tendency to lay a short priced favourite too early.  If I showed more patience I could have layed the horse at a lower price and increased my win percentage on these types of trades.
I also take too long to get away from some losing trades.  Instead of waiting for it to reach my stop/loss I should get out when it is obviously going the wrong way.  I don't mind it hitting the stop/loss if my original idea is still valid, I just don't like throwing away extra ticks when it is obviously going against me.
I had a good day trading on the Australian races yesterday (Monday).  I traded 14 races and had 11 wins and showed a small profit which is good.  I had 2 races that I traded poorly and lost more than I had planned but the good news was that I kept my head and traded well for the rest of the day.  I think my last 8 trades were all profitable which was a good consistent effort.
I have today off so will trade the Australian races and if I am not too tired a will trade some of the UK races tonight.

Sunday 9 August 2015

9/08/2015 UK racing

I have a few days off now so will hopefully have lots of opportunities to trade over the next 3 days.  I started off with the Sunday UK races.  I traded 29 races for 18 wins and 11 losses.  I was behind for some time and it took a lot for me not to overbet to try to get out.  As it was a few trades late in the day did very will for me without risking the bank which was another good reminder that I just have to grind away and the wins will add up.
A $12.65 profit for the night which is good for me on the UK racing as I find that it can be less predictable than the Australian racing. 
Still lots of work to be done on the mental side of trading.  I continue to have trouble accepting a small loss on a race even though I know that losing is unavoidable.  I make a point of giving myself a pat on the back when I get out for a small loss as avoiding the big loss is a large part of ensuring a profit at the end of the week.
Bet sizing is another area that I need to work on.  When I lay first I am alright but when I bet first I don't know how much to bet.  I tend to bet too much and am risking more per tick than I do on the lays so I will have to find a way of betting that gives me the same profit/loss per tick no matter what price I enter.

Thursday 6 August 2015

6/08/2015 Australian and US racing

Enjoyed the last of my days off with a few hours of trading.  Traded 23 races in total for 18 wins, 4 losses and 1 scratched.  I managed to stick to my rules for the whole day. Unbelievable.  The result was a $13.83 profit with very low risk.  If I can replicate these results over the long term I will be extremely happy.  I had very few losing trades and got out of them at the planned stop/loss which has been my main area of concern. 
The Australian racing seems to suit my way of trading and seems easier to read for me.  I will continue to trade the Australian racing in the same way as much as possible.  The UK racing is a different story.  I find it much harder to read the market and have a much worse strike rate.  This is something that I will have to work on because the rewards could be much greater on the UK racing with the large amounts being traded.
I will be away for a few days so no trading until Sunday at the earliest.

Wednesday 5 August 2015

5/08/2015 Australian racing

I got off to a bad start in the first 3 races that I traded.  Overbet and gambled and got lucky.  I then settled down and traded properly and did reasonably well.  Up $27.66 for the day which would have been a great result had I kept to my rules.
I have been trying to figure out what triggers me into breaking my rules and taking stupid risks and I haven't put my finger on it yet.  I know that if I break my rules and have a loss that I am more likely to compound this error by trying to play catchup and breaking more rules to make up for the previous loss.  This doesn't explain why I broke my rules initially.  Obviously some psychological issue that I should be able to rectify if I can come to understand what the trigger/issue is.
Any ideas/comments appreciated.

Tuesday 4 August 2015

4 and 5 of August 2015 US racing

I had time to trade the US races yesterday and today.  With the low liquidity it can be very frustrating when it goes against you and the liquidity evaporates making it tough to get out at a predetermined point.  I did well in that I kept my head and obeyed my rules.

I traded 14 races over the two days for 7 wins, 5 losses and 2 scratched trades for a small profit of $10.94.

I am settling in for a few hours trading the Wednesday afternoon Australian card so hopefully I will be able to post a profit if I continue to follow my rules and keep my emotions out of the trading.

I MUST remember that losing is an unavoidable part of trading.  I cannot only have winning trades.  It is just not possible.  Eliminating big losses is possible and if I follow my rules I should be able to avoid the big losses.

Sunday 2 August 2015

Self sabotage Saturday

What a shocker, and only myself to blame. 
Things I did wrong.
1) Overbet - check
2) Let a trade go in play - check
3) Have a trade go to my stop/loss and not get out - check
4) Unwilling to accept a small loss and suffer a much bigger loss - check

There are probably more errors that I made but these are the repeated errors which have cost me consistently.  They seem like easy mistakes to avoid yet I keep doing them.  This one cost me a massive $249.75 (massive for my stakes level).

The good news is that even with this shocker that I have had 85 winning trades and 39 losing trades.  This ratio of winners to losers is enough for me to show a profit if I can just stick to my rules.  IF

I have to learn that taking a loss is an unavoidable part of trading.  I can not have only winning trades no matter how much research I do.  So if taking a loss is unavoidable I have to find a way to accept this and take the loss at my stop/loss point and move on to the next trade.  I will find a way to do this.