I've had a very busy 10 days and apologies for no updates to my blog. I moved apartment last Sunday and it's been a very eventful time. The funniest of happenings came when we had to walk 20 mins through the centre of Madrid with a sofa strapped to our backs. 4 of us tackled many hurdles on the way. Playing chicken with a car on a narrow street was hilarious, which somehow we won! Also the ballards on every street in Madrid came into their own when you have more important things to worry about. I've newly named these little bastards knee whackers, for obvious reasons.
As a trader working from home, it's imperitive to adjust to your new working environment as quick as you can. Also it's very important to have a solid internet connection installed instantly if possible. This area I haven't had much luck with :( I'm still awaiting my line to be switched on at home and these lazy Spaniards are frustrating me to say the least! I'm writing this from an internet cafe nearby, but unfortunately the connection isn't stable enough to trade on. From past experience I've told myself never to trade on a connection that is spiking all over the place. I've lost money in the past working in tricky conditions and I'm not making the same mistake again. So hopefully shouldn't be too long before back to trading.
The time off from trading however, has given me the opportunity to finish off the information regarding my training courses. I have written a word document which describes the courses in detail and gives a structured breakdown of all 4 packages I'm going to offer. Including the prices individually for 1,2 or more people who attend for each package. I live with a graphic designer who is going to help me get my website up and running as soon as our internets up and running. The website will have videos, screenshots and a lot more material to look at. The content is all there for the courses and I'm ready to start training from October onwards. The only reason I have hardly mentioned the courses, is because I want everything to be clearly presented on a nice professional website. But due to the interest shown I wanted to have something that I can send out to people to have a look at.
Here's a paragraph from my word document:
"I’m going to teach you how to control the inevitable losses you will make and control your money through money management advice. Also how to effectively turn small profits into nice monthly profits over time. With strict staking plans to ensure you are comfortable playing with gradually increased amounts. Planning out your journey over several months to reach the goals you are dreaming of. I aim to dramatically expand your knowledge of what it takes to go full-time working as a trader on Betfair."
My courses will be on a 1-1 basis, or with a small group of people. With large reductions individually for people attending the course with 2 people or more. The client will fly out to sunny Spain and get a very hands on experience. I want to provide a very intensive course where the client can understand what a full-time trader goes through on a daily basis. I will also briefly list here what the 4 packages will entail:
- Work with a full time professional trader for 3-6 days. Intensive training course with a clear set out lesson plan. Adjusted for the clients needs.
- Listen in and watch two traders working as a team on Skype, combining brains and ideas throughout the trading day. Ensuring discipline, control and confidence at all times.
- A walk through of all the necessary hardware and software needed to trade efficiently on Betfair’s exchange. Looking at ways to improve your own home trading set-up, and making your desk space an on-going cash machine. Being happy with your surroundings can create a very successful working environment.
- BetAngel or BetTrader: 6 months-1 years (depending on package chosen) worth of access to the best trading software out there.
- Personalised Training DVD of the entire course from start till finish, with no editing. Made with Camtasia software, the videos will show every second I trade over the duration of the course. Providing the client with a priceless piece of training material to continually look over and study. The videos will have audio recorded after, with in depth details and explanations of all my days trading activities. This content could be anything from 10-35 hours worth of training videos!
- On-going mentoring service - Providing the client with a mentor that has been through the mistakes a trader makes when learning. Trying to reduce the mistakes the client might possibly have in the future. Having someone at the end of the phone to chat to about anything. Guiding you through those tricky times of losses and how to overcome them. Also providing the client with continual training video's sent to them every month.
If anyone would like the word document sending to them, please just email me via the link on the right of my blog. Bit of a long post sorry for the long read =/
Telefonica are bastardos!
ReplyDeleteIf you are using them check your bills and don't let them charge you for anything you don't want!
The connection was ok, but I eventually switched to JazzTel cos I got fed up of getting ripped off and I now get more bandwidth for cheaper.
I think you can get 20Mb in Madrid
PS Happy Birthday! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks Cran, yeah I've got Jazztel already mate. Telefonica are terible! Spanish version of BT. They have got the monopoly and are useless!
ReplyDeleteFrom copying and pasting things from my word document on this post, it's messed things up on my blog, the headings appear to have gone larger. Strange!
hi jack
ReplyDeletehappy birthday
Do u tend to hold a position in the market or get in and out very quickly and also do u trade on more than one horse on every market or only on selected markets...
Jack - I wish the England batsmen could score a quarter of a century! Look forward to the course. In the meantime, can I ask a question about your style of trading, do you try to get in at the edges of a trading range, the high or low invariably on the fav? I have tried this but it's often difficult to determine when that high or low has been reached, how do you stop getting in too early and avoid playing catch up too late?! Or do you tend to trade anywhere, low, high, middle based on the WOM? Hope your connection is back on soon. Thanks and best, Mike
ReplyDeleteIts a pity!
ReplyDeletejust another bloke who has some skills in trading starts his own blog and then just one month later declares that it is actually a commercial project :( not a real blog :(
Jack - speaking as an L plate trader, I'm interested in the course. It's up to the individual whether or not they are interested in subscribing to it, and indeed reading the blog - so I hope Mr Anon above gets over it. We're all out to make money, after all!
ReplyDeleteWhile I'm here, can I ask you about losses in a trade. What do you put your losses down to, since you've been trading so long but you seem to average about 75% strike rate. You clearly handle the losses well, but how come you keep getting them? Easier said than done, I know, rubbing out the losses. Do you ever switch a position mid-trade if it's going red in order to rectify it, or do you just take the loss and wait for the next bus? Thanks and all the best, David Moore
Happy birthday for yesterday (or was it today?) Jack. Hope your back trading soon. Thanks for the pointers on how you prefer to use the three ladder interface. How do you trade out of a position with the three ladder? Do you do it just by matching the trade on the ladder itself or do you 'pin' the trade calculator on there? I find that gets in the way but you might have a bigger screen - or do you have the big quad set up? Hope to see you in action in Spain. Much thanks, KL
ReplyDeleteHello Jack, how's the post-birthday hangover? :) Can I ask two quick questions pls: 1. What is your threshold on taking a loss? You clearly can brush off losses and get on with it, but how far are you prepared to let a loss go before cutting it, is it a set figure or a set number of ticks? 2. When you trade are you fairly relaxed, or are you looking to analyse everything? By this I mean do you have a 'feel' for how things might go or do you wait for clear signs, movements, supported by movements on other horses etc before you initiate a trade? Thanks so much and I hope you have lots of success in your new trading environment. Best, Tom
ReplyDeleteHello Jack, nice overview of the course, I have sent you an email and I look forward to hearing more details. Can I ask in the meantime about your trading bank? What sort of k size are you comfortable to trade with, and have you ever thought of or tried to scale up your trades and profits? I know Adam Heathcote seems to use a betting bank of 6-12k and he averages 58k volume per race, though that's increased by the big meetings so it's probably closer to 30k a race. What do you think your average is and have you reached a level that you're happy at or do you want to increase? Finally, did you get to this level quickly or start by making 10 quid a day or something like that, and then build on it? Hope you can answer as many of us simply want to know what is realistically achievable and what kind of money you need to put through a market for good profits. Thanks so much and cheers, IanH
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday Jack, a fantastic blog and a great life you've got for yourself in sunny spain.
ReplyDeleteI'm started a trading blog myself and hopefully I'll be able to go full time in the next couple of years.
I've added a link on my blog and was wondering if you could do the same please mate?
Cheers
Steve
http://www.thebetfairfootballtrader.com
http://www.thebetfairfootballtrader.com
Anonymous 1 - I try and make the most money I can out of each trade, riding the price at every opportunity possible. I occasionally get involved trading 2 horses at once, only if I believe the top 2 fav's price are reflecting each other accurately.
ReplyDeleteMike - Check on my comments on the 'Back To Business' post. Answer to your question is there mate :) But avoiding entering the market too early before the flow picks up sounds easy. But is very hard to do when theres number flickering around, and your getting an itchy finger. But just be patient and wait for an opportunity that should make you profit.
Anonymous 3 - Your opinion
David - Thanks and well said. I'm always looking to improve myself and be able to trade every market with profit attached to it. However this is next to impossible to acheive, and the mistakes come from the occasional loss from in running. As I'm trading so close to the off its inevitable im going to get caught out once in a while, also other events out of my control. Also losses that arise from a market not reacting like you think it should. The important thing is not let these losses bother you. I think you have to get the next bus mate, get out and start again.
KL - I get out using the hedge/profit calculator on the left of the ladders. Nice and easy and is a great tool. No quad set-up for me. 2 monitors on same computer, 1 imac and a lappy :)
Tom - 1)threshold on a loss is a tricky question, I will sometimes be looking a 2 tick loss, but my instincts and knowledge are still telling me the markets still going in the direction I think it is. So I will wait for the profit, but instantly get out if it doesn't come back. Being generally a swing trader I know im not going to get it right all of the time, as im trying to pick exact changes of direction and sometimes I'm in risky positions. This is where a solid mindset is required to take a potential loss and move on.
2)I use my instincts a lot, but of course I need clear indications to back up my feelings. Large volumes of bets on 1 side/ other selections doing the opposite/how much money is actually being taken at cetain prices etc.
Ian - My bank is 3k on average. I've reached a level I'm happy with but of course looking to increase. But I'm at the level where its more about increasing your stakes according to how condifent you are on that particular trade. That's where you get the best out of increasing stakes, where you really smash the markets you are getting right. I do feel like I use my relitively small bank in comparison to some with some aggression. I feel very much at ease with using all my bank if I need to.
I got to this level with upping my stakes over several months. Playing around with £2 stakes for ages, then increasing them when progression was made. I took several hits early on, but I just kept going and never knew when to quit. It depends on the individual how long till success arrives. Could be 6 months, 1 year or more. Then the profits should gradually increase there after.
Steve - Thanks and good luck with your venture, ill add link.
Did I meet you on Peter Webb's course?
ReplyDeleteAnonymous - You may have met my dad who has attended the course, unfortunately I have never got round to attending 1 of Peter's courses. Your name please?
ReplyDeleteHi Jack,think i bumped in to you at the Highgate exchange in London.You were talking about setting up courses in trading.Good luck with the project ,shame your not London based as my wifes not keen on the idea of me jetting off to Spain for a weeks gambling...!!
ReplyDeleteKeep up the blog ,always nice to see someone making it pay.
Tim.