Profits Turn Negative

The title of the latest post over at the 500 to 5000 blog sums up for me the nature of some gamblers who see their betting in a less than realistic way. This isn't meant to pick on Mr 500, but it does illustrate the, shall we say 'favourable'?, way in which many people see their betting activities.

The post title read:

Profits are down...slightly....a short break needed.

a statement that implies to me that while profits continue to be made, they are at a reduced level from earlier periods. For example in January you make profits of £500, in February profits of £250. You can legitimately describe this state of affairs as "profits are down", but for 500 to 5000, the details turn out to be a little different. Admittedly, he is not producing a financial report for a publicly traded compmpany, but when he writes:

Due to a few mistakes on my part, namely straying from rules I'm meant to follow religously, I am down slightly for the month. I got involved in the 'To Qualify' markets and made some silly mistakes in them. My confidence with the trading has taken a bit of a knock, so I m going to give it a break for 10 days or so. I'm gearing up to continue my studies in the next month or so, so it'll give me time to prepare for that.

I think that is a little misleading, and perhaps shows how the mind of a gambler somehow distorts reality. There is a reason why P&L is so named, rather than P&P - Ls do happen. For 500, there are no profits this month, there are losses. It happens to all of us, strike that, it happens to MOST of us - Mark Iverson has managed to avoid the dreaded losing month since he pulled on his first pair of long trousers many years ago - but it's important to accept the fact that you have losses. Now, quite possibly, 500 to 5000 is referring to the fact that he is still in profit for say 2012, but just not by as much as he was at the end of February, but if this is the case, I wouldn't imagine that a 10 day break would be needed. A break of this length due to being 'down slightly' makes no sense. I'm doing a lot of reading between the lines here, but that's how I see things here.

I might also offer the advice that completing his studies might be a better area to focus on for the next few months anyway. Never mind the next 10 days. It's hard enough to concentrate on investing at the best of times, let alone when you have other things going on in your life such as upcoming exams. Life is about priorities. Betting has been around for many years, and will be available for many years to come. The window of opportunity for acquiring life-changing qualifications is narrow.