I was a winning poker player (At least for live games) before switching to trading. I think you will adjust to it well, there are alot of similarities and I think the best aspect is controlling emotions from years of playing poker, or not being tilted in poker talk. In fact, I think the learning curve in poker is higher than trading. That has been my experience, but surprisingly playing the markets is even more volatile than playing poker. In poker, you would lose at most $1k in a $5/$10 game if you only bought in for 1k and that is if you all in. Most likely as a fulltime pro you would have at least $100k bankroll to buyin 1k. In the markets, you can easily lose 5-10% in a short time. Essentially means losing 5-10k if you put in a 100k. Also, most of the time in poker you have more "control" over the outcome by playing in certain ways. In the markets, the swings are more unpredictable and you have less "control", its more about risk management and going with the trend. Do pm me if you want to know more.
My goodness this is profound and so true. It's so easy to lose money in the E-mini futures...there are gads of stories of 10k-20k accounts blowing up in a month or two. Risk management and bet-sizing are the key here....and of course going with the trend....IF one exists.
this is an awesome playlist on game theory from Yale (24 lectures). http://pokerbooks.lt/books/en/The_Mathematics_of_Poker.pdf this book gives you a direct edge. Crush 2/5 live no problem after reading this a few times without skipping steps (obviously coupled with some practice so you can implement in real time). Does anyone personally know Bill? Apparently he currently works on the street. http://www.gamblingsystem.biz/books/Owen_Gaines_Poker_math_that_matters.pdf If you are not math savy, this book is the best for lower stakes poker 1/2 - 2/5.
The markets will require an increase in your level of discernment. It’s a bit like an inverse onion. Similar to an onion in that there are layers of logical truths. Inverse in that as one penetrates the mystery from the outside toward the center and as each layer is transcended it encompasses and encapsulates the prior layer. Continuous dual auction markets operate via a sequence of events. A fundamental archetypal pattern expresses itself both long and short. Volume leads price provided sufficient liquidity exists. To truly ‘see’ a market one must interpret what the majority regards as noise and through a deductive process by observing the market’s basic granularity of information; transform that noise into signal. As one’s discernment grows, it’s easy to see which layer other participants are operating within - what their beliefs are and how those beliefs shape their perceptions and what they experience as possible and not possible. As for players one is trading with, it’s easier to reduce them to types which there are roughly 30ish. Each have different motivations and goals with their market participation. The most formidable is the one staring back at you in the mirror. The velocity of capital growth is truly awe-inspiring, scales in a way that is incomparable to a game like poker. It is mesmerizing, visually stunning and can sound like an exquisite orchestra - or it can be quite the opposite. Through your own self-determination, self-discovery and growth, you get to choose. Good luck with your journey, may participating in the markets give you what you are looking for.
You are light years ahead of most who are posting advise above. That’s my advise to you. Some differences are that in poker you can win with a worse hand than your opponent/s while in trading they would ram that shitty hand up ye arse. Buy in limits at the table/market, opponent chip size, Table position etc......in the market that info a poker player relys on is non existent, changing, morphing, moving, ducking, bobbing and weaving. One target is somewhat still (poker) the other target is all over the place (market). Good luck.
Similarities: Ability to assess probabilities. Ability to find patterns. Difference: Trading requires ability to think independently,to find what the market doesn't know.That means you need to do what all the other 99.99% people can't do. This is because in poker we share the knowledge, but in trading we hide knowledge from each other, as any importent knowledge become public, it will become useless.So in poker most of theoretical problems have been sovled. But in trading most of theoretical problems have not been sovled. Anyone who find holy grail in trading, the first thing to do is to hide secret from others, because if public know how the holy grail works, it will be no more a holy grail.So everyone has to find holy grail by himself. Reading will be of little help to the goal of becoming a consistent winning trader.
I doubt it. I’d put my money on a teenage video game junkie before OP. Not trying to dissuade him. People grossly underestimate the differences. They’re not subtle.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure everyone has given you their best advice on this thread. If you want to be a gambler the market is there for you to lose all your money. If you want to be a skilled trader that doesn't mind making a small percentage, then the market is there for you too.