jerkstore - thanks for the very interesting posts. i think trading easier than poker to make a good living, if only because of scalability. i also prefer that in trading, if i'm on a great trade, i can take some off to lock it in. if i'm in a great position on the flop or turn, unless you can make a deal, i *can't* lock some of it in, meaning there's greater swings. but the basics for both are very similar.
Forgive me for not reading this entire thread before posting (I may not read it at all). Firstly, I used to play poker professionally for years. And when I say "pro", I'm not talking about grinding 50-100k a year... that's peanuts. I've played huge events around the world, cash games, etc. So I am a source of authority on the matter. 1) I agree with what you stated... to an extent. The thing about trading and the markets, however, is that you can also ALWAYS get a game against idiots. In it's most macro form the market is just that... the market. However, scrutinizing further, the market is composed of many players, most of which are idiots. Technically you're playing against a ton of different people where many have no clue what they're doing. 2) I nearly 100% disagree with this. Firstly, in poker you do win in the long run if you play the odds, can read your opponents well, etc. However, you can also do everything "right" and still lose. There is an element in poker that does NOT exist in trading. The traders that get lucky more so than not are the ones that inevitably blow up, just like in poker. The ones that get lucky once in awhile (you put on a trade you know you shouldn't have or take too much risk trying to dig out of a hole and are successful) but realize they got lucky and realize that it was an outlier in their habits are the ones that stick around and win in long-term. That being said, if a trader does everything right he/she would always win in theory. However (and this is from more of a psychological perspective), the only "right" thing to do in trading is follow your own rules and play your edge. Along with doing that comes the inevitable losses that are bound to occur when the probabilities don't work out. This is extremely similar to poker (perhaps exactly the same). When you have a trade setup that works say 80% of the time you KNOW 100% that it will also not work 20% of the time. In poker you can easily calculate odds of your hand not holding up to the river and it should be no surprise when it doesn't. It's our cost of doing business. So really, to me the only difference between poker and trading is what you've already mentioned... the scalability. I left poker for two reasons: the draining lifestyle and lack of scalability. As far as lifestyle, trading has a huge advantage (if you aren't a day trader in my opinion). I trade FX and focus on a handful of trades a week. I don't need to be in front of the monitors. I can come and go as I please. As a poker players I had to be at the tables to make money. Sure I could stake other players and have my little minions turning small amounts of profit for me, but it really isn't worth it. That's just my two cents. If you wish to discuss further, feel free to PM me. I mean no offense by this, but my guess is that you lacked success with your trading and found the transition to poker to be easy and rewarding quite quickly. Trading is much more difficult on a psychological level and it takes time to calibrate ourselves to it. On the other hand, poker is much friendlier to our perceptions of the world and what we already know or believe we know. It comes to us quicker and seems less ambiguous, especially to those that are willing to admit their own mistakes and be accountable for their actions. Best of luck and may your aces never be cracked Cambist EDIT: Ok, I can now say I've wasted my time reading the responses here. It's clear that you received many comments that have no clue about online poker or poker in general and probably shouldn't have polluted the thread with their responses. Anyway, again feel free to fire me any questions you have. Trading is a much better lifestyle
I was a pro poker player for 5 years and now have been a trader for the past 2 and trading is a hell of a lot less stressful on a day to day basis. For my style, trading has smaller draw-downs. In poker, I had like 60% winning days vs. trading about 80% winning days.
I would agree on a constant that maybe trading is less stressful, but if you look at it variably it isn't....remember that you can take time to think about a decision (especially live) in poker, in trading those critical seconds can wipe you out.
Yes and in that 20% of a potential blowout...some intangible will happen that you never thought possible...for my style of trading you can't apply a distribution to setups like you can in poker, such as, 'well that was the trade of the year' and when something like that happens who knows if and when something like that will come around again. For hand distribution you could say, well x% i'll have that hand dealt to me under these circumstances.
Honestly I think the opposite is true with maybe a dozen occasions the other way around. I played 9-12 tables at once of midstakes nl 6 max games and had a max of 20 seconds to make a decision. Having 3-4 decision I make a second vs. looking for trading opportunities doesn't even compared. Now I guess a true comparison would be trading 6-8 markets at once, but I just don't have enough skill to do all that yet. Half of my trades are grax boxes I developed so I already feel like I don't do too much during the trading day.