Staking revisited

Bankroll: $ 387,42

Last time I talked about my staking strategy I was still seeing if the theory I came up with would work for me in practice too. Having more experience under my belt I've come up with a system that fits me well. And although I believe that correct staking is very much based on ones personality and how you deal with risk vs reward vs loss I think the way I do it is a good start for everyone new to this.

First of, I'm in no rush to make lots of money. For me this is a hobby and I'm running a marathon not a sprint. Of course this hobby is all about making money so I am naturally trying to make as much as possible but I don't think raising the stakes out of my comfort level is the way to go. For me it's very important to not go bust so I try to keep my ROR (Risk of Ruin) as small as possible.

So I have never more then 10% of my bankroll on either back or lay. That's the simple base of my whole staking plan and by only doing this you should be fine when starting up. So if you're bankroll is $ 150,- you never have more then $ 15,- on back or lay. Easypeasy! I do work with milestones. So I'd for instance say that if my bank goes over $ 200,- then I'll move up from $ 15,- to $ 20,-. If I go under $ 125,- I go back to $ 10,-.

So what's the big deal? Well because I keep going up or down in stakes in direct relation to my bankroll I would have to have a huge losing streak to go bust. I'd even dare to say that if I go bust I'll quit it all together. Very important is though is that you are a pure trader and never bet. You always close a trade before it goes into play, red or green.

Seeing as I'm still very much a learning trader I split my bets up in 1/3s. So with my bankroll being over $ 300,- my max stake is $ 30,- but I have $ 10,- units set in my software. Depending on how sure I am about what's going to happen yet I click once, twice or three times to get my amounts in. So if I don't get any big signs I'm straining to get my money in I'll only put in $ 10,-. Same when I'm not sure if the counter bet will get matched easily. This happens a lot when I'm trading US horses. I trade on a horse where I'm completely confident that the odds won't go against me, but I am afraid that I won't get matched on the other side. Then I just put in a single unit. If it gets matched a new one goes in instantly.

When I see patterns I know I can exploit I mostly put in 2 units and if it starts going the right direction I'll quickly pop in the 3d one. I'm a swing trader, not a scalper. I seldomly go for one tick only.

If I see a big wave coming up and I want to be on it as soon as possible I just ram in the 3 units and try to not fall of :-)

When I do the counter bet I pretty much do the same. I try to get the most out of the situation whilst at the same time not bringing myself into anymore risk then necessary. If I put in 1 unit it's easy, I just put the counter in as far up/down as I think it will go within a reasonable time. If I put in 2 units and there is a gap I just put it just under/over the closest bet on the other side. If however back and lay are closed and there is a string of amounts I'll put one down midway I think the odds are going soon and the other one where I think it will end.

Main thing of this system is that if I'm not sure and put in only one unit and it goes against me I'll only use 1/3 of what I would've lost if I put in everything. If I'm really sure I stick in everything and don't lose any value and maximise on the situation. So I try to achieve through this that I limit the amount of learning money I pay when things go bad yet growing my bankroll as quickly as my stakes allow.

Hope this makes sense! If not ask! And if you think I'm not going about this in a smart way, have some suggestions or think I should do it completely different I'd love to hear.

I can't overemphasize the importance of discipline concerning your staking and how you deal with profits and losses. I'm certainly not saying that you should follow mine, try to suss out what works for you but do come up with a plan and stick to it. This should help you not chasing losses by suddenly thinking the Martingale system is a good idea. (and we all have an inclination to quickly make up for a loss by upping the stakes) Also the other way around, thinking you've got it nailed and suffer from invulnarabiltiy complex and suddenly use much bigger stakes. It's just a worry less when you alway know what you should be betting and leaves more room in your head to concentrate on the market.

Couple of days ago I got the fright of my life though. I was trading an US race and suddenly the race suspended. I had the starting time wrong (which you should ALWAYS check here: https://www.ebetusa.com/racing/ and not trust the Betfair time) and I had a liability out there of - $157,-!! as I layed first. What I could win was marginal as it was the outsider. If he would've come in that would've devestated my bankroll and would have forced me to go severely down in stakes. So what I'm planning to do is when I hit $ 1000,- to first take out everything over that and get my better half that dishwasher. Then I'm going to get another $ 1000,- and keep that in my Neteller account just as a insurance against something stupid happening. So if I through some sort of cockup, internet failure, Betfair breakdown or whatever else could happen I lose a big chunk of my bankroll I can just replenish it and keep going as I was.

Hopefully I'll pass the $ 400,- mark tomorrow. I'm hoping to end April over $ 600,-.