Can I get into trading?

Hello everyone, I just registered because I'm very curious about trading. I have a big decision to make and it will influence how I will spend my time in the next few years. Time is the most valuable resource there is and we all have limited amount of time.

Right now I'm learning to play poker and I know I can make lot of money if I keep playing and learn from my mistakes. At same time I'm thinking, what if I invest my time into something else? Something could give me a bigger return? Trading and Poker have lot of similarities I heard.

I don't know anything about trading unfortunately and I don't have much money to play with. So I would really appreciate if someone can tell me how much money I would need in order to start trading?

What is the lowest amount I can trade? Is it possible to trade in micro scales like I can do in Poker? like £1 or £5 trades?

You can start forex trading with as minimum as $1. Some brokers offer bonus with each new trading account so in these condition, you can start trading without any investment as well.

Hello Amazin,

Some spread betting brokers will allow you to bet from 0.50 p in increments of 0.10 p if you want....

as Patricia is telling you, some of them have bonus for new accounts, so you could virtually start with a very small amount and/or with nothing at all...

About trading itself, you will want to learn very well the very basics first, and then moving on into your own preferred style/method that suit you the better, and practice a lot before you get into this world.... as you said, poker and trading have some similarities like odds, money management, etc... but, of course, each one has its nuances....

First, you don't know you can make money from poker, or trading. Noone knows til they do start making money. Its a lot harder than what you said - playing a lot and learning from mistakes - you may not make any mistakes doing either and still be sh*t.

Second, I wld avoid comparisons of trading to poker, they are not v similar at all - money management, psychology and strategies are all completely different. When wld the probabilities be in your favour to go all in trading? Or even bet 50pc of your bank? And how about bluffing the market? ha. Plus you can beat an opponent with a crap hand if you're good, but v unlikely to beat the mkt with a crap strategy, or poor mm. Ever read harringtons books on poker? Well there's so many variables from table position, cash in pot, style of players sitting to left/right, players/your stake, stake vs the raise, cards which have been shown, probability of improving your cards,what happened on recent hands etc etc which can shape how your gonna play, and these change on each street! Nowhere near that many variables affecting your trading decisions - if there is then you have a way overcomplicated strategy.

The similarities? Keeping cool after a loss I guess (i.e. Not tilting), taking calculated risks (odds in your favour = having an edge), knowing when not to play, progression - using demo acct, can be a lonely existence. Also doing loadsa quality practice / training etc but these are inherent in many activities, sports etc.

Read the FAQ on these forums for newbies.

Good luck.

to actually start trading you will need a minimum deposit and its some where between 1-50 dollars

but it is very time consuming, its not a one way highway to becoming a millionaire, it takes time to learn and play with demo accounts or practice accounts, learn the charts, study the market, but if you ask me its way better that poker, you can actually make a living out of trading forex, but for your first year you should keep it safe and small. you can combine both since practicing forex won't need any money to it, you can read online at babypips or forex factory, you can even ask the folks here about it. and best of luck

Thanks for the information everyone. For some strange reason I'm was under the impression that I need to have £1000s in order to invest or trade. I'm so new that I don't know anything, lol
Something tells me that I need to read tons of information.

Like I said, I'm not sure if I have enough time for both poker and trading. My instinct will tell me which is the one for me.

Are you aware that many pro poker players are multi-millionaires?

So how is it fair for me to assume that 95% of people in trading are losing money just like in Poker?

I feel very relieved to know that I can take things step by step like in Poker.

You find an edge on demo, and then trade circa 1pc of your acct to build it up. Some SBs allow 10p per tick/pip which means for 20 pip SL = £2, and £200 bank. In other words start from the bottom, £200 is more than enough to get going.

Something tells you? You are brilliant at stating the obvious.

F/all to do with instict. Maybe read mystic meg?

Stating the obvious again.

Its so not fair....first dont assume, second it has no relevance to your aim.

Relieved? What was the alternative? All in one leap? Ha.

@rsh01: It is not obvious that many professional poker players are multi millionaires especailly if that person doesn't play Poker.

Anways, I hope you don't find any of my posts annoying. I don't want to get into conflict with anyone just yet. I going to go away and do some learning.