Thought of the Day...

“I learned how to play poker at a very young age. My father taught me the concept of playing the percentage hands. You don’t just play every hand and stay through every card, because if you do, you will have a much higher probability of losing. You should play the good hands, and drop out of the poor hands, forfeiting the ante. When more of the cards are on the table and you have a very strong hand — in other words, when you feel the percentages are skewed in your favor — you raise and play that hand to the hilt. If you apply the same principles of poker strategy to trading, it increases your odds of winning significantly. I have always tried to keep the concept of patience in mind by waiting for the right trade, just like you wait for the percentage hand in poker. If a trade doesn’t look right, you get out and take a small loss; it’s precisely equivalent to forfeiting the ante by dropping out of a poor hand in poker. On the other hand, when the percentages seem to be strongly in your favor, you should be aggressive and really try to leverage the trade similar to the way you raise on the good hands in poker.”

- Gary Bielfeldt
( http://50pipsfx.com/category/12-thought-of-the-day/ )

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Comment by 50Pips on August 1, 2012 at 11:34am: nice ;-)

Comment by Peter jcp on August 1, 2012 at 8:24pm: I think it might be worth pointing out that if you were paying "poker" against the Forex " marketmakers" you might think you have cracked it with a "royal flush" - top 5 ranking cards - and think great I am going to win - when suddenly the market produces it's hand - 5 Aces ( yes we know there is only 4) ;-)

I think there are similarities - but mastering the Forex Market is just another " ballgame" compared to poker - and even to chess - another high skill / brain game

Comment by 50Pips on August 1, 2012 at 8:35pm: Indeed.... agreed. It's just food for thought ;-)

Comment by fxKnight.com on August 1, 2012 at 8:38pm: Yes, but proper money management and staying conscious of risk:reward ratios CAN help give you an edge (the difference between trading and gambling is not one of chance, but of probability).

Comment by 50Pips on August 1, 2012 at 8:39pm: all about managing risk and understanding odds....

Comment by Keith Shaw on August 2, 2012 at 7:31am: Some fine observations Peter, trust a brummie scalper to be playing poker with 5 aces in the deck :0))

Trading , Poker & Chess are all ‘GAMES’ of skill with some common traits such as the ability to act rationally under pressure , the need for a strategy or ‘GAME’ plan, analytical skills, and as metioned trading and poker share the money management aspect and a little bit of LaDy LuCk never did anyone any harm.

Has Anyone Tried To BLUFF the markets of late or indeed at anytime in their trading career, I would love to hear that story :0))

Regards

Keith