Apocalypse Soon

There was a suggestion left here that:

The Sultan's last couple of blog posts look like a sales pitch to try and get someone to invest in him,and I cant see anybody foolish enough as he has never even proved he is a long time winner.

The simple fact is if he was a winner he had all last season to compound some of his tennis winnings ready for this etc. etc.

The guy needs a reality check and he's already on the downward spiral by blaming the Odwyer syndrome.

A little harsh to compare the Sultan with Odwyer perhaps, and I'm sure the Sultan is smart enough to understand that outside funding is not the answer.

He is well aware of the additional stress that trading for others brings, writing:

I had been trading relatively stress-free for 9 months, yet that was changed instantly as soon as the pressure was turned up a notch. It wasn't that I was worried about losing the money because the deal was that I was not liable for any losses. In theory, that should've made trading easier and more relaxed (and that was indeed the case once I'd got a few wins on the board) but it was the strain of knowing that if I failed to make enough profit to impress the syndicate, I would be dropped and lose out on a fantastic opportunity, that was the real pressure.

And on the subject of performance anxiety back in February 2012, the Sultan wrote:

This 'performance anxiety' reached a peak at the time, exacerbated by the fact that I 'needed' the money but my bank size was tiny and money management poor. Today, I enjoy trading much more because I have a style of trading that suits me better and this twinned with much better bank management, no complete reliance on the income source and a risk-averse strategy, mean that I am able to trade without anxiety.

I guess somewhere between then and now came the 'complete reliance' on the income and thus the withdrawing of all the profits. To me, it seems that it is at that point that the problems began. Either expenses increased or wins decreased. As several, including myself, have said, the answer is simple - stop withdrawing all the profits, and let the bank build. 

Harry Haller wrote:

As other guy said, I really think you should try to leave a small amount of your earnings in the bank each week/month. Even a seemingly small amount like 100 will do I think, as compounding really is a powerful beast!

As someone who has made just the one deposit of £100 and didn't make his first withdrawal until over two years later when the bank was larger than would ever be needed in five figures, I can attest to the merits of leaving your bank alone.

No one in their right mind would hand over money to an unknown third-party to trade with. As others have said, the sports trading markets are not scalable for a start, and even if that extra capital could be used, some real evidence of likely profitability would be required. The plaintiff Odwyer cry of "I know I can do it" doesn't cut it when it comes to seeking investment, and while the Sultan doesn't do the P&L thing, one reason why his blog stands out, he did reveal that January's profit was "approximately £500".  Honesty, but hardly a sales pitch.

Speedwave, a name from the past, posted a rather bizarre comment over at the Sultan's blog:

You don't have the "devil" inside like Cassini and Mark Iverson have. You cannot make money by been honest and trying to find something logic in the market, every day you think you know what you have to do next time, but that day will never come. The only way to make money is to feed yourself with hate and attack, you have to be a snake in this, you have to wait for hours and do nothing, every day. It's a dark world, I admit it. There is no place for correct fair pattern here. Don't listen to anyone but yourself. Forget this world, forget all the ''friends'' you have here, forgot all the interviews you have made. They are humans. Did you get any real help from them but advices to keep trying ? What to try ? Your soul is pure, all those thoughts that keep coming over and over again are the ones you should follow. That day is close. May not be today but it's coming, the day when you shut down this blog and live a happy normal life you deserve it.

I'm not sure what most of that is about, to be honest, but apparently myself and Mark are possessed, filled with hate and poised to attack like snakes, while the Sultan's soul is pure. The end of the world is nigh. All very strange.

He's true that patience is key though, and if part of this refers to the unlikelihood that you can find an edge in such a well traded sport as tennis, well I tend to agree. But I'm not sure he actually said that.