FAO MarkCorrigan

@kiko – It basically involves backing and laying ONLY on the exchange, in the hope of exploiting price movements. Google “Caan Berry” – he has a decent site that explains it quite well, as well as a good number of video tutorials on youtube.

@pbetts – How has your start to trading been going? What strategies are you using and what tips can you pass along to others? Which API software are you using and how have you found it? I am also considering the move to trading and would appreciate any info you can share.

Cheers @beaser

I have been doing lots of reading already, but obviously most of what you can find is published by those very proficient and making a living out of trading (and normally selling you something, be it a system, API software…), so I am more interested in hearing what newbies to it have to say.

To be honest, I growing also tired of watching videos of Caan Berry or the BetAngel guy trading and just saying “this favourite looks weak…” without actually telling you WHY they think that. Scalping, swing trades, bounces, resistance points… it’s all interesting stuff, but the trick if obviously being able to spot these things in advance and react quickly enough.

How long have you been at it? Anything specific you can share?

Hi pbetts,

Essentially, no-one is going to give you a profitable strategy (like in the case of MBing), as trading on the exchanges is scalable, and an inefficiency which is public information won’t remain an inefficiency for very long. Although there may be some value in the trading courses offered, they will/can only teach you the basics that complement having an edge. My advice will always be to do your own research and see if you can find an inefficiency within the market (finding an edge is extremely difficult, of course).

From there you need to understand the variance involved… i.e. optimise staking plans and practice good bankroll management.

To be honest, I think the trading videos on youtube are potentially quite dangerous for beginners. Somehow they suggest that the trader has identified a move in the moment, when in reality they will have conducted their research beforehand (in general). Ultimately, you need to remember that exchanges are (less than) a zero-sum game, with the majority of players net losers in the long-run… It’s not easy.

Good luck,
Mark

@Tony, I too have been reading up on sports trading and watching various trading videos on youtube recently. Matchbetting has a limited life (you get closed down by the bookies) and so I am just looking at what I might do once I have ran out of all the bookies.

I did a bit of financial trading many years ago, using technical analysis but found it extremely difficult, and eventually moved on to on line poker which back then was fairly easy to make money from.

I too have found that the guys in the videos do not give enough information so that you can exactly follow what they are doing. I suspect this is on purpose so that you will pay them for this information.

Cann Berry sells an online book and on line videos which apparently give away more information than he provides in his videos.

The Bet Angel guy does a couple of course which again can be useful and may help you.

Here are a few things which I think are probably correct.

Most people who take the courses and or buy the books and videos will not make any money on the exchanges. Less than 5% of traders on betfair are profitable.

Some people have a natural gift for trading (something to do with their mental makeup) but most of us are not wired that way. I do think one can re wire ones brain to become profitable at trading but for most people it takes a long time and costs a lot of money.

Using play money and or very small stakes can be helpful because if you are loosing money doing this then there is no point using proper stakes, but its nothing like using money that means something.

If you read some of the older posts on forums such as BA you will find people that paid out lots of money for courses and then lost lots of money in the markets before they eventually managed to turn it around.

I found exactly the same thing when I was involved in the financial markets, the vast majority of amature traders working from home loose money. The real money tends to be in teaching people to trade.

Have you looked at some of the mgeducation videos on youtube these are by a guy that used to post a lot on the BA forums, seems a down to earth guy, he again is selling courses too but does tell you like it is.

Most of the people who sports trade full time for a living (and aren’t trying to sell you something) wish that they hadn’t packed in their jobs to do it, they wish instead they just traded part time and had kept working. That should tell you something I think. I guess its different if you are in a crap job with no promotion prospects and very few perks.

I totally appreciate that these profitable traders are not going to just divulge all their secrets – as Mark says, once something decent becomes public knowledge it is usually no longer exploitable.

Due to day job commitments I am limited to what I can do just now, so have been focussing on football matches in the evenings, normally looking for prime lay the draw opportunities (in play). The numerous Euro qualifiers, which often feature a heavy favourite, have also been interesting to study in terms of what happens when the underdog leads, which has been a common occurance this and last week.