Some say that in life there are no mistakes and only lessons to be learned. This is partly true but thanks to blogs like the one you are reading you can learn from the mistakes of others in order to prevent yourself from suffering a similar fate.
Here are the 4 most common Betfair Trading Mistakes
Cashing Out Too Soon
This has to be the number one newbie mistake and it is very frustrating when I see people doing it. Some traders will get into the market, get into a position where they can profit and just take the profit that is on offer. They do not realise that if you want to really make money from trading you need to “cut your losers short and let the winners run longer” and many newbies do the opposite. For example, if you get into a trade where you are risking a £100 loss and you take a £10 profit just because it is there then you are only cheating yourself in the long run as eventually that £100 loss will arrive and it will set you back 10 winning trades. Do not think that just because you can see a chance to profit then you should take it. You need to ask yourself if the profit on offer is enough at this point, if not then decide how much you want to make from this particular trade and aim for that.
Not Staking Correctly
This is a huge typical mistake and one I see frequently. If you have ever “blown a bank” it is simply because you were not staking correctly. You should only ever be risking a small % of your bank on every trade and this figure can range from 1-5% amongst the professionals. Some might be a bit more aggressive and go up to even as high as 10% but I have never seen a pro risking more then that. Therefore, if you have ever blown a bank it is more then likely because you went “all in” and risked 100% of it. This is not staking correctly at all and risking 100% of your bank in any one transaction is just asking for trouble.
Jumping From Strategy To Strategy
If you keep trying different strategies and also altering the ones you currently have then you are never going to get anywhere really. A common Betfair trading mistake is to try one strategy but then chase the next shiny thing that comes along. The worst is when they try a strategy once or twice and just give up on it from there. I had an email from someone who was asking about the LTD:Reloaded strategy. I explained to him it is a strategy I have been using for years myself and I do very well with even to this very day. He emailed back to say he will give it another go as he tried it but lost 3 times in a row on his first go so never tried again. It is obviously not nice to lose 3 times in a row but if that is the only effort you are going to make with a strategy then you may as well not bother at all. You can lose 3 times in a row with almost any strategy it does not mean it is a losing one in the long term.
Trading Without a Plan
A very common Betfair trading mistake is watching an event and not really having a plan of how to trade it. Many will just turn on the TV and trade a match that is on without thinking through the strategies and other important factors. This is also called “trading for the sake of it” or for entertainments sake. It is this sort of trading that can often lead to staking wrong and then eventually blowing a bank.
