Riding Winners

In 1988, a young New Yorker named Erik Seidel achieved notoriety when he finished runner up to Johnny Chan in the $10,000 No-Limit Hold’em World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. Seidel was a former professional Backgammon player, but more notably a former stock trader.



In 2011, Seidel travelled to the Bahamas in the Caribbean to play at the PCA. He finished fourth in the High Roller event and decided to travel to Australia to play in the Aussie Millions.



During the next few weeks, Seidel won more than $3 million playing poker in Oz and it was at this time that his trading experience kicked in.



Ask any top trader what the keys to success are and they will vary with the exception of a few key principles. Know when to cut your losses and when to ride your winners. Seidel could feel it in his bones.



The PCA and Aussie Millions successes were telling him to ride his winners. Seidel normally plans a very scant annual schedule, but in 2011 he decided to ride the wave as long as he could. In the next 11-months, he would win a staggering $6.5 million.



The Seidel example, mentioned in the tips to play poker on Betfair, is a macro example of riding your winners, but the micro level is critical too. If you feel that you are playing well and winning, then carry on.



Your mind will be trying to tell you to quit while you are ahead, to go and hide your nuts like a good little squirrel. But this is counter intuitive. Instead, you should follow Seidel’s lead and just go for it. You never know when it may happen again.



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