6. Effort – Like all businesses and jobs the people that succeed are the ones who put the time and effort in to learn the craft and sports’ trading is no different. Learning a new craft will take time and a lot of practice, but the rewards for individuals prepared to put the time in, are great. Effort in sports trading can be summed up as the ability and willingness to work hard to gain an edge on the competition in the case of sports traders this is the betting public and takes various forms. 7. Play to win, not lose – Sounds obvious doesn’t it, well how many times have you left a trade open in the market when you should have accepted the lost and hedged out. How many times have you entered a trade because you were bored? Or how many times have you traded when you shouldn’t have, like when you are drunk or in a rush. There is a big difference between a sports trader who plays to win and one who is simply playing. A sports trader who trades to win will stick to a plan and ignore trading opportunities where there are too many variables for a confident trade or doesn’t fit the criteria. They will also avoid throw-away gambles and will protect their trading bank at all times. 8. Confidence – Is having the belief in your own decision making process and avoiding the influence of so-called experts and ‘smart money’. The key to confidence is once again planning and knowing what you will do when you enter a trade and more importantly what you will do when it goes against you. This can only really be achieved through good preparation and practice. 9. Emotional control – Makes up probably the most important part of trading and learning to control your emotions is the key to success. You must learn to disconnect your emotions from losing sequences as well as winning sequences. The art of sports trading is to remain emotionally detached and implement a strategy. Remember as a sports trader you cannot know what the price movements will be in the future, but you can play the probabilities of future outcomes. 10. Belief – If you believe you can win and we mean truly believe you can win you’ll then have the confidence to make the decisions, which in turn will make you a successful sports trader. Good luck with your sports trading and here is a little quote from the great J.P. McManus:
“Racing is a great leveler. The day you think you have mastered the game; you will be made to pay for it the following day. What you must do is build up a bank of experience that allows you to reduce and eliminate as far as possible the factors that make for foolish betting. In a word, you act to strict ground rules always and you endeavor to become an investor rather than a pure addictive gambler…”]]>