shortline

Hey all, I've just joined the forums here - I'm actually a former online poker player who is graduating from college and now looking to make it in the world of trading. I used to play shorthanded cash on 8-12 tables as well as multi-table tournaments. I have noticed a vast amount of similarities in both the technical skills and psychological skills required as I've tried to make the switch. There are basic profitable systems in poker that are of course subject to the user's discretion when implementing. Good players commit to such a system - they only play certain hands before the flop, and only from certain positions, and a certain percentage of the time they will raise, and a certain percentage just call. From a game theory standpoint their approaches are rarely exploitable, and they often succeed in the short run. But great players have to understand so much more than this. You have to understand the dynamics of a table - how many players are seeing the flop, how many raises are being made. You have to understand how often you are raising and how other players might see your actions. You can't just look at your cards and figure out if it's the best hand. You might have a great hand, but poker is a game of relativity. As I've transitioned into trading, I've found that I'm far better prepared psychologically than the books tell me to expect. They expect me to be shocked when my trades don't work over 50% of the time. They expect me to be shocked that most traders blow their accounts early. Well, I'm used to giving up on hands when I miss the flop and the setup I was hoping for no longer holds. And most online poker players (including myself) bust quite a few initial deposits before gaining an understanding of the game. There are numerous software programs available for poker players who want to gain an edge on their opponents. You can see the stats of your opponents in real time - you have access to as many numbers as you can conceivably handle. Transitioning to trading, I was surprised by how few indicators I actually tend to check up on compared to when I make my decisions in a hand of poker. It might just be that I'm not sophisticated enough yet, but it's certainly not overwhelming. The difference of course is that in poker, you are dealing with a very small number of opponents who you can profile very well, but you can never see their cards. In trading, you see the same market and the same numbers, but you're not sitting at a table with the whole market, watching their perceptions change, having a solid feel for how they see the trends, etc. Anyway, I've found the transition fascinating and I'm definitely looking to learn a LOT more about trading as I pursue it as a career. If anyone has any suggestions for how to start out as a trader, or if anyone wants to talk about how poker relates to trading and markets, please let me know. Glad to be here.