Poker has rendered me with a 5 year “real” job gap in my resume that has rendered me essentially unemployable. Moving out of the country to play online poker is not an option for me and to be honest, I’m ready to move on from poker. This blog will be about my quest to make it in the trading world, and it starts with me entering TopStepTrader’s Trading Combine.

The trading combine is a 10 day simulated trading challenge where my objective is to make $3,500 while also meeting other requirements (2k max drawdown/certain ratio of winners to losers,etc). If I succeed, TopStepTrader will give me a funded trading account where I receive a split of the profit. I traded futures for 2 years before I started playing poker full time, so I have prior experience as well as a trading system I’m confident works. The system doesn’t generate many trades, but it captures larges moves when it does.

Day 1 of the combine

My max limit of contracts I can have on at once is 5. I decided to start with 1 contract and try to build a cushion since it would be very easy to reach my 1k drawdown limit trading bigger size. Crude(CL) futures started selling off early and found a good entry point from a risk/reward standpoint. I was going for a big move and didn't exit when it was 30 ticks in my favor. At this point I should have moved my stop to breakeven and let it ride, but irrationally exited the trade after it backed off. Either I have to exit after the initial surge, or go for a bigger move and expect it to retrace some.

Soon after I exited, CL futures went higher and put in a reliable buy signal so I got long again. I didn’t take much heat on this trade and exited for a 25 tick winner.

The plan was to short SP futures if it rallied off the open, but it slowly went straight down with not much movement. I missed some trades in hindsight as there was a low risk opportunity to go long near 18080.25, a prior low made on 7/31.

I’ll mostly be trading Crude/Gold/SP futures. Since I don’t have much margin for error, I’m going to be very selective with my trades, but need to be willing to up my size for the best setups.

Overall up $315 for the day, but I felt like I left a lot of money on the table. It’s a similar feeling to MTT's where anything besides first place feels like a failure.

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“We can’t run from who we are. Our destiny chooses us.” – Mike McDermott.

What's the system to give a signal entry?

I can't give out the exact method but it has to do with how price reacts to key levels. In ways it's comparable to the Elliot Wave Method but I find it more precise. In future entries, I'll post what levels to watch out for before the trading day starts.

Have you read the rules to get your "deposit" back? The rules seem like an excellent way to make money off fish who deposit then can't make the rather difficult rules. It seems like a suboptimal way to learn trading and a good way to burn valuable cash. I mean, check out the terms (emphasis mine):

and this is the worst of all:
So basically, in plain English this means that if their software ****s up, even to the tune of 1 penny, they can keep your money, even if you meet all the other rules and are profitable. Sounds like a good deal for the company.

What do you think your EV is on these numbers? Why choose this over a free training platform or Notepad/Excel?

I don`t know the site, but I have no idea why anybody would give you money after a samplesize of 10 days.


Even if they give you money, I think you have no Idea how trading works. What do you think you`ll make when they give you 15k/50k or even 100k? You won`t have 100% yearly ROIs, you will have maybe 10%(Which would be really really good).

Don´t even try to make it in the tradingworld when you don`t have the money ready. Do something else as long as you can.

Just my 2 cents.

It shouldn't be that hard to meet 2 of those bolded requirements truthsayer. The part about the software glitch doesn't make sense to me. Maybe it means if a trader doesn't make support aware of the glitch, then he isn't eligible?

If I pass this combine, I get a 50k trading account but I still have a 2K max drawdown. If I hit that, then I lose my account so they are limiting their risk and casting a wide net to find top trading talent. There are good traders out their who have may have talent, but for one reason or another, lack the capital necessary to bankroll themselves. It's much easier to blow up a trading account than it is a poker account.

In regards to trading ROI's, I don't think you have a clue. This isn't passively investing in stocks where good managers make 10+% ROI's. This path is obviously a long shot for me to succeed at since a couple bad days can wipe you out, but this isn't the first time I've had my back against the wall.

Day 2

The day started good as I picked a solid entry for going short CL off the open. I struggled though again with where to exit as I have an idea of what I should be able to get from the trade if I hold it, but then second guess myself as I watch the action and put in a trailing stop to esnure a profit. I made the same mistake yesterday but the market plays tricks with your mind and makes you act impulsively. This cost me 40 ticks as my initial target would have been hit had I held.

The biggest regret of the day goes towards missing the huge Gold rally. The system put in one of the mor reliable signals but it sometimes feel counterintuitive to buy at new highs and trying to get a better price often means missing the boat. No excuses for this and I'm not going to pass the combine if I miss trades like this.

Index futures were hard to read today. Usually when the system gives conflicting signals, it's best to stay away. I did go long near the bottom and sell near the top, but got chopped up a little in the process and netted a small gain.

Net result= +$595

I dont have a clue about trading but i realy wish you achieve all of your goals just cause og the great guy you are. Iam sure if you could be only half good as you are in poker you are going to be the BOSS.

I took Friday off. Trade of the day will be to short CL if it makes a new low and buy gold if it goes to around 1336.

You can't even quote Rounders right? It was Petrovsky not McD.

Day 3 of the combine

The above post sums up today's trading in one word, failure. It's obviously Petrovsky and after watching the movies 100 of times, I still get it in wrong. Just like in trading where I know where the market is going the majority of time, I still get manage to screw it up.

Mistake 1, I decided I was just going to focus on CL since the more products I trade, the more requirements I need to meet. As of this morning, I failed to meet the criteria in SP and gold. I got a buy signal in gold so went long and exited for small profit. It would have been a nice winner had I held.

Crude was about to put in a major sell signal. I was looking to short it at higher prices but it never reached my target entry. When this happens, it usually indicates weakness and a breakdown imminent. I set myself to go short before it made new lows. It went my way so I sold another one in anticipation of a big move($1.00 to the downside) I don't think this is a good strategy to add on to winners.

It went 20 ticks my way and usually it whipsaws around for a bit before going lower so I gave myself some room for the trade to work out. CL didn't follow through like I expected and ended up having to take a $500 loss. Generally when this happens, it makes a new temporary high and then will sell off the next day. My plan would be short CL overnight and look for it go back down to $104 area in the next couple days. I'd put my stop at 106.40.

I expected SP to reach 1675 area and went short around 1683. This trade really was only worth having a 1 pt stop, as there was a conflicting signal, but gave myself a little more room and took a loss near the highs as I was close to reaching daily loss limit.

Net daily loss - 997

It's going to be hard to rebound from this, but I'm not out yet.

Day 4

Another poor day of trading. I felt the pressure after my big loss on day 3 and felt I needed to hit a big trade. I traded CL(oil) in the afterhours and was anticipating a big move downward. I feared it would sell off overnight and then it would be difficult to get a good entry without getting whipsawed. From a risk reward stand point, I think my trades were good, but when the signals my system produces weren't following through, I should have been cautious.

I was down around $700 before the market opened on the floor so didn't have much room to work with. CL started to break down and put in a sell signal. Once again I struggled with managing the trade as it went 20 cents (ticks) in my direction, and then I moved my stop to breakeven. Sure enough, the market comes back hits my stop, and directly proceeds to sell off 50 cents. It brought back memories of throwing my keyboard when I got 2 outed. I have quite a ways to go when it comes to mental game for trading.

I had reason to believe SP futures would rally today, but I was a little early in my entry and got stopped out. Since I was down 900 for the day, I couldn't risk hitting my daily loss limit and had to hang it up early.

I am $650 away from hitting my max drawdown in which case my combine will be over. I have to be very selective about what my trades tomorrow, and at the same time, being aggressive since I have quite a deficit to make up.

8/14 trade outlook

Expecting a big rally in gold. 1348 is my target over next couple days. I would be long it now, but I can't trade it till 1am according to combine rules. This could be the trade that gets me back to even if I can nail the entry. I can't afford to take much heat so will be in a bind if gold rallies overnight.

SP futures should go back up to around 1700, and then I will look to get short if it sets up right.

Day 5

Opportunity lost...Gold was set up perfectly for a long, but I only managed to get long 2 contracts at 1322. This was on of the best trades to take and definitely deserved a max play of 5 contracts, but I was forced to play it safe due to being near my max drawdown. Gold(GC) rallied $10 in less than hour, and I was up a quick $2,000. Unfortunately I botched my exit and didn't take the profit when it hit my first target. I'm confident GC will reach 1345, but should have expected a long period of chop after the big move up. I got out when it retraced $4 and started the day up $1,500.

Crude oil is where I gave most of it back though. My signals haven't been working in crude so I wasn't confident in the 1st one and took a small profit instead of giving it some time to work out. The result was a missed opportunity for 100 tick winner($1,000 per contract). Crude kept selling off and put in another sell signal, so I attempted to go short again at a much lower price. This sell signal hasn't been working in crude the past couple days, but I thought this could be the time it really breaks. I was wrong and took a big hit.

S&P futures didn't hit my expected target so I didn't get short early on. It became clear that we weren't making new highs, so I got short at 1686.00 and made 4 points on 2 contracts. I'm expecting a much bigger move down tomorrow to around 1665. Ideally S&P futures will really to 1686 and I'll get short there, but my gut says we go straight down from here.

With 5 days left and net down 650, I'm going to have to press and start trading 3+ contracts and also improve my winning% in crude. The opportunity is there to make 5k+days, so I still have a shot at this.

No idea what any of these words mean but so far it's an entertaining sweat. GL!

Day 6

A must win day for me and I dropped the ball yet again. SP futures sold off overnight as I predicted yesterday but I was hesitant to trade in the overnight session. This was my homerun trade that would have netted 4K and got me back in the ball game.

I had some opportunities in Crude when I was long 2 contracts and was going for 80 cent move($800 per contract). It moved 20 cents in my favor and then I moved my stop to breakeven. Turned out to be a horrible decision as once again it went back down to my exact stop, and then moved higher. I managed to get long 1 contract at higher price, but I really needed to load up on that move up.

All week I've been trying to sell crude oil and the major sell signals haven't been working so I thought crude would make new highs. I ended up not taking one of my signals as I've gotten burned so many times on it, but the trade would have been good for $1.00 move downward.

At this point, I had missed 2 big trades, and crude put in another sell signal. The problem is it whips around when it's already sold off a bunch and it's hard to tell where to get out. This was too high a risk of an entry to take, but I took it anyways since at this point, I needed to make a big trade.

I was down $900 for the day, and I'm $400 away from hitting my max drawdown. I have 3 days to make $5,100, and I must have 3 winning days, and have a winning record in each product I've traded. Basically, I'm drawing dead...

good luck dude, rooting for you to make it.

Day 7

I took a couple days off in order to wait for a good setup. Based on my analysis, crude oil was setting up for a good short and I shorted 2 contracts at 106.20. My entry was solid as it broke right away was a $800 winner in 10 minutes. I set my step to breakeven and expected an even bigger move downwards. I thought I had a comfortable margin, but futures slowly came back, hit my stop exactly, and then broke 70 ticks.

One the morning session started, I thought I had a good read on where it was going next and had another good entry where I shorted at 105.80 and I had a nice unrealized profit shortly after. It went all thew way down to 105.21 and thought for sure it was going to put in another sell signal so I held it. The smart thing would've been to book some profit, or even go long with plan to short again if it broke further. I was so close to exiting, but as I deliberated, futures shot up. If I exited there, then I would have a tough time getting back in my short if it broke.

End result, futures come all the way back near my stop. I then added to my short since if it didn't hit a certain number, the short was still good. It did though, and then made a $1.00 move up. My system tells me to go long there, but I was so frustrated at my botched trade, that I missed it. Yet another 100 point move missed.

I then figured since crude didn't quite hit my sell signal, that we would be in for new highs and I would go long if there was a retracement, crude does the unexpected, and sells off $2.00(200 ticks). My longs got quickly stopped out and I hit my 2k max draw down thus ending my combine.

By far my biggest weakness was figuring out when to take profits, as I routinely caught big moves only to end up getting stopped out trying for an even bigger one. I see the potential that my system has, so I need to make some adjustments and possibly do another combine or else trade for myself. This is not the end.

Day 8

I decided to finish out my last 3 days even though I'm not eligible to pass the combine. I haven't been happy with my trading, so having 3 good trading days would be of some consolation. Unfortunately, I botched my first trade and never recovered.

I've seen a very similar setup before in the indexes when they started to sell off on Wednesday, made a quick rally only to sell off again. After a day like that, it can be hard to convince yourself to go long, but that's the right play and I expected futures to rally overnight and pass yesterdays highs.

I got long 4 ES(SP futures) at 1634.50 and placed my stop at 1632.00. ES futures made a low of 1631.50, 2 ticks behind my stop, and then rallied overnight and straight up from at the market open. It's easy to say in hindsight where I should have put my stop, but with how many points I was going after, I should have been comfortable risking 5 pts if my target is 20 pts. It's not often the market is set up to where I feel it's possible to go for a big trade, but this was one of them.

I start the day down $600 instead of plus +2k, and I attempt to hit a big short in crude. My entry is solid as the trade goes my way immediately. Once again though, I don't take a profit on a 40 cent move down, and end up breaking even. I should just try 20 cent targets and scalping it back and forth.

Gold is setting up possibly for a major short(+$30 move down). I missed my entry though, and waited for it to rally once more to short. This didn't happen and when it put in a sell signal, I took it but it didn't follow through and I got stopped out for the day as I reached my 1k limit. Looking back, this entry is too dangerous to take for day trading, and I need to be more patient and wait for another entry.

2 days left, but I still believe I can surpass my profit goal of +3,500.

Day 9

This entry is from 8/23 as I had to leave town unexpectedly. I went into the day knowing I needed to hit a large trade. I previously mentioned just going for smaller winners, but at this point, I figure I might as well try to see if my system can capture some large moves.

Gold was set up to where if went lower, it would put in a major sell signal. The predicament is whether to wait for it to go lower to put in the signal and then get short, or try and anticipate the move. It may seem counter-intuitive to wait for price to go lower before shorting. Gold has been on a major uptrend the last couple weeks, so shorting it near the highs often has more whipsaw action than it does when it puts in the sell signal after it goes down by X amount.

I went short 3 contracts and ended up taking an $800 loser. The lesson here is either I need to get short very close to the recent high, or I'd be better off going long and putting my stop and reversing my position near my sell signal.

I didn't fare any better in crude oil with a loss of $400. That's been a very hard market to read. After breaking new highs recently, I would have expected it to follow through. It's set up now though to put in a major short and am currently short 3 contracts at an avg price of 106.74. My stop is 30 cents above and will be going for $2.00 move down.

Index futures need to go higher before setting up for a short. Probably a slow move up(+200 dow points) over the next week with some fake selloffs and then just when you think it's a fake out, it's going to sell off huge.

Day 10

My overnight crude oil trade got stopped out and that was all she wrote. Looking back on it, I see that it was a bad entry. My system relies on previous high/lows and crude made a huge spike down after hours on 9/1/13 and immediately bounced back. I'm still confident that crude is a good short at these levels for a long term trade, but I was too early in my entry.

Overall, I'm extremely unsatisfied with my approach to the combine. I should never have traded a product I wasn't used to(CL). I had some initial success in it and it appeared my system was working with it, but then whenever I tried to get aggressive, the signals didn't follow through and I ended up taking big winners for a loss.

My results would indicate failure, but I learned quite a bit. Patience, trade management, and mental game are what I need to focus on going forward.

Market leans for tomorrow- looking for rally to 1663 area and then sell of sharply into the employment numbers tomorrow morning, and make new lows.