Casino's may not offer margin but they definitely do offer credit. I've seen this story many times on Elite Trader. I day trade only when I have the time and am not working, and I have set aside some capital I can afford to lose for day trading. These types of stories really give me a kick in the ass whenever I think about replenishing my trading account. It's good to hear these types of stories to bring you back down to reality and know that day trading is not the be all end all because if it were I would be able to quit my full time job and be very wealthy off just day trading.
Absolutely! Bad months happen, but that's all trading is about: profit, dd, profit, dd, etc. With just reasonable MM and risk control it is very hard to be out of the game after 1,2 even 3 bad months. But without SL and with betting huge amounts - yes, account can get very badly damaged in much shorter period. I'm new here on ET, just reading some very interesting threads that are not found on any other forums. I don't think I'm outsmarting other traders, I dislike gambling, and I don't day-trade, but because I put so much time to develop my own strategy/systems, risk management, trade management, I'm still in the game. Not as long as others here, but still. Maybe for me a big wake-up call was when I've realized that it will be maybe 20% a year for now, and not "made-in-china" 375% return in a month or two. There are many misconceptions that almost every wanna-be-trader falls for. Others told me I'll be out in a year or 2 with forex. It's been over 6 now. I still chicken out, still have these days when I just want to take a break, I simply hate ending trade in full SL, even more hate taking profits early, but what I've learnt (the hard way) is that these 2 things merge: TESTED STRATEGY (which hence becomes our presonal trusted strategy/system)+DECENT R/R+CAREFUL MM+DISCIPLINE+CONSISTENCY=SUCCESS. It can be slow, but it's almost certain. When I think of how far I've come from knowing nothing about system or moving average to where I am, I simply enjoy every day researching different possibilities on my charts and preparing for next week on Sundays. But at least there's a happy ending to his story, he makes more $$$. And that is very important: you can be a looser in trading but not a looser in life.