“I finally got you,” I thought as my whole cards came up A/J of diamonds. The player across from me had been pushing me around for a while. When you are on the short stack, big-stack players seek you out and try to get you to commit in frustration. Every time I limped in or had the big blind, this guy bet big pushing me out of the hand because I was card dead. Finally, though, I caught two cards that I could commit to, and I did. I bet the minimum. He raised me, just as he had been doing. I called. The flop came up King of Diamonds, Queen of Spades, and Four of Diamonds. My outs included a flush, a straight, and a paired Ace or Jack. I bet the minimum again, and he went all in. I called. The turn produced a Nine of Diamonds, and I had him with an ace-high flush. He had queen /four in the hole, giving him two pair. The insignificant river card came, we flipped our cards, and with his money, the blinds, and the early bets of the other players, I more than doubled up, giving me more chips then the bully.
The other day, I advised to “let the market come to you.” Playing the hand described above in a tournament brought me back to that advice. Thinking about it, I thought that perhaps the advice needed some clarification because it is one very important piece of successful trading.
Like cards in poker, a trader can do nothing to change the market. It is what it is, and it will be what it will be, and no amount of fretting, wishing, or hoping will make a bit of difference. Again, as it is in poker, when the flow is not in your favor, you cannot make “bets” in a frustrated state. You have to be patient, quiet in the head and heart, and, above all, watchful for the moment when you can strike. You see, like that guy above, the markets will push you around when you try to “limp” in. So don’t. Get your setup prepared and wait.
“I finally got you,” I thought as the price of GE broke through $15. I had been watching GE. The price had ranged between $14.20 and $14.90, give or take. It could not break the technical barrier of $15, but, based on my understanding of both the stock and the market, I knew it would. So I waited, and waited. It pushed and pushed, and, finally the low-ball buyers and short sellers ran out of steam, and the price jumped. To make sure it was real, I waited until it began ranging in the $15.20 to $15.40 zone, and then I bought in. I got in at $15.34 and over the next few days, the price climbed into the upper-mid $16 range and stalled. After hours, I put in a sell 1% higher than the closing price and it went. I took a nice eight-plus percent profit from the trade.
The point here is that patience, understanding of the market and markets, preparation, and lack of frustration all play a part in a successful trade. If you practice trading this way, you will be waiting for the market to come to you, and no matter how much you get pushed around, there is not one thing you can do to change that, unless and until you start “getting some cards” or the market breaks in your favor. And when you do “get the cards,” if you are mentally and strategically prepared, strike and strike hard. In the end, the goal is to either get all the chips, or get as much money from a trade as you can.
Trade in the day; invest in your life …
