21. Week 1 +$1175. Defence, A Strip Out & A Comeback ✅

Week 1 is officially in the books, and despite a rollercoaster of emotions, we’re moving in the right direction. We banked a total profit of $1,175, bringing the BabyFund grand total to $2,695 for the fortnight.

I traded 33 markets across 24 matches. Out of those, 3 were "junk trades"—a random SA20 gamble in the early hours and two illiquid WNCL games I played purely out of boredom. Those cost me $190. It’s a small leak, but a leak nonetheless, especially considering the volume of quality cricket on, at prime time slots.

The "Boring" Frustration:

Last week I talked about the movie White MEn Can’t Jump, and the difference between Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes in that movie. A story of winning boring vs flair and losing.

Monday through Wednesday, I was at my boring Woody Harrelson clinical best. I was patient, defensive, and collected $100 here or there without risking much. By Wednesday, I was up over $1,500. But internally, I was getting frustrated.

I told the missus I was annoyed, and she couldn't wrap her head around it: "You’re up heaps, why are you mad?". The truth was, I felt I was leaving money on the table. My journal for the week is littered with notes like: "Be Brave," "Act faster on hunches," and "Stop protecting $100 profit." I let the commentary box get in my head, too. I’d see a "road," they’d call it a "tricky chase," and I’d sit on my hands while the team I wanted to back went ballistic in the power play, and hence watched what would have been profit go by me.

The Distraction

Thursday was a turning point. I lost in 7 markets but walked away unscathed, down only $450. In years past, that would have been a disaster, but I closed multiple losses out at an average of just $90. Defensive win.

However, the bad habits started creeping in. I began trading while eating dinner, one eye on the cricket, one eye on my partner. I failed at both. It was low-intensity, high-distraction trading. I’m old enough to know you don't blur the line: It’s either family time, or it's trading time. Never both.

The Friday Strip-Out

Friday was the "reversion to the mean." After wanting the Scorchers all day, I hesitated on my Scorchers entry, missed the price, and ended up on the Adelaide Strikers. Then the collapse happened: 4 wickets for 1 run. Total strip out.

A "strip-out" happens to me about 7% of the time, it’s part of the game. But I let the frustration lead to a bigger loss than necessary, adding to my position as the wickets fell and ending up 1.5x overstaked. I wiped out the entire week’s profit in 15 minutes.

FU#%

The Weekend Resurrection

I spent Saturday morning writing notes: Do not try to get it all back in one hit, though in all honesty, that’s all I felt like doing.

When it came to game time, this time I had almost the polar opposite issue I had early in the week. Now I felt trigger happy rather than gun shy. To counter that, I wrote that my first entry would only be 0.25 stakes, no matter how well I was seeing it.

I ended up seeing the BBL double-header perfectly, kept my staking limits, and walked away $750 up. A massive sigh of relief. It was controlled aggression, and how I wanted to have traded earlier in the week.

On Sunday, I still felt like I was in a little bit of a hole, but I stayed the course telling myself not to erase Saturdays hard work. I executed well in the Super Smash, and ending the day $630 up. By Sunday night, fatigue was setting in for the Scorchers v Strikers game. Instead of chasing the flair bet, I made a reasonable decision: I downstaked massively, made one simple trade, turned the TV off, and went to bed, not regretting leaving money on the table.

The Week 1 Takeaway

• Be Brave: When you have a hunch, dive in. Don't let the commentary box talk you out of your edge.

• The "Switch" Rule: If I'm in the presence of others, the exchange is off. No blurred lines.

• Consistency: We are back to nil all for Week 2. Start again, be defensive.

The goal for next week is back to fundamentals. In some ways you failed this week by overtaking, in some ways you passed by not chasing hard, and playing defense for most of the week. All in all, it’s a step in the right direction.

Total Baby Fund: $2,695 / $10,000