Get it Quietly

During the 1990s, whilst playing poker in the now defunct cardroom at London's Regency casino, you would often hear someone calling out, "Get it quietly!" This was always after someone had joyously announced to the room that they had just won a big pot.

Who were these people telling the room of their good fortune? Beginners, that's who, amazed at winning a large pot of chips and imagining that it was only a matter of time before loose cars and fast women would be at their fingertips.

Of course, the majority of these beginners would soon lose their chips to the more experienced players in the room. And so too in sports trading. The web is a vast room where people can boast about their success. Get it quietly!

In general, those who boast about their winnings do so because it is a new experience for them. Those who are accustomed to good fortune tend not to boast about it. The reason being that seasoned winners have worked hard to get where they are and winning is not a novel experience.

Also, winners don't want to draw attention to themselves. In a cardroom, pointing out that you have just won a large pot says two things to the experienced card players. First, you have money to lose. Second, you are obviously a beginner and eventually you are going to lose that money.

In sports trading, there is a population of other traders out there and if you start boasting about your winnings then they will want to know how you did it. If boasting comes easily then you will probably boast about your system, which can then be quickly tested by others. If it is a valid system then you have just arbitraged out its value.

Those that tell you how much they win, generally don't. Usually they are beginners and are fortunate to be on an early winning streak which will be short-lived and will soon mean revert. Such winners won't be around long enough to tell you how they lost it all.

Be wary of those boasting about their lifestyle, often accompanied by photographs of beaches and other exotic locations. We can all think of at least one well-known trader who boasts in that manner. The wealth they boast of actually comes from marketing a perceived lifestyle and not from trading.

There is a lot to be said for being modest in life, quietly accepting all that your hard work yields to you. In finance, investors such as Warren Buffet have relatively modest lifestyles compared to the superstars of Hollywood and sport. Sports trading has many successful but modest people too; Tony Bloom and William Benter, for example. You'd be wise to emulate them rather than the Jordan Belfort's of this world.

See also