Rule 53

As I mentioned I picked up The Tao of Poker by Larry W. Phillips and so far I've been finding lots of great information and being able to relate it to trading is quite easy.

Rule 53 in particular jumped off the page at me today.

Fine-tuning your game; it's in the details.
It's relatively easy for any intelligent person, in any area of life, using broad general principles to make decisions that are fairly close to optimum. Any improvements that take place after this point, however---any subsequent fine-tuning that occurs--- must come in individual decisions, rather than generalities. In other words, to move up to the next level, each individual decision has to be looked at and considered on a case-by-case basis. This is generally the case as we move up the ladder of expertise in any field, and it is also true in poker. It means breaking the game down into individual hands and looking at them. A well-informed overview is no longer enough.

This sums up my current attitude towards trading perfectly. I know all the general principles I could ever need to know about trading. If I'm going to take my game to the next level... otherwise known as consistent profitability then its about time I pay attention to the details every day.

• No hesitation
• Adding to winners when it's time to do so
• Prudently trailing my stops
• Staying focused throughout the entire trading session