How do I know when I have a Successful Strategy?

How do I know when I have a Successful Strategy?

Now this may seem like a stupid question, but it's one we hear fairly often.

The obvious answer is a strategy that consistently make a positive ROI - making a profit.

Well that's true for many, but what does that mean for you?

To answer this question, you need to think about your own attitude and circumstance to betting. There's lots of things which make you a unique bettor:

• Patience
• Ability to understand the data
• Bank Balance
• Your ability to test, define and refine your strategies
• Time

Let's look at each of those:

Patience:

We all know that betting on the horses and following strategies is a long term game. There's no short cuts, and there's no guarantees.

For us here at Form Ratings, we analyse all the races over the past 25+ years, and return a score for the horses based on over 130 form factors. We know that form plays a very important role in strategies, but are also aware there are other factors involved too.

So we know there will be times when the ratings or strategies using them will not always lead to the winners. Sometimes, like when you consider external factors, such as poor weather, or poor ground conditions, that form is less important, so the ratings will not perform so well.

Check out our how to prove before you lose article can help you with this and you will also find that being impatient is one of the biggest newbie mistakes too.

Ability to Understand the Data:

Being able to understand and interpret the data enables you to make better decisions when including them in potential strategies. Realising how they are constituted and importantly what affects them, will help you use them better.

Bank Balance:

It's not all about how much you have, but also how you use it, and remaining disciplined in your strategy. Once you have thoroughly tested (and paper traded) the strategy, you may be keen to try it with real money, to ensure success you need to factor in the losing times as well as the winning, so don't bet your bank the first time you try it out!

Testing, Defining and Refining:

Betting on the horses is never a set and forget system. Constant reviewing, revising and adding (or taking away) from your strategies is an important part of finding a successful strategy.

Time:

You need to give it time, the longer you test the strategy, the more confidence you can have in it's success or failure. The longer you paper trade it, the more you flatten any external factors which affect the ratings, and your strategy. Check out our articla on How Long Should it Be Tested to find out more about time.

So in summary, success is a profitable system, but to make a profitable system for you, there may be a few factors to consider.

Form Ratings, for example, works for many members - but for some, it doesn't - go figure!