General Archives | TradeShark Betfair Tennis Trading

Tennis Matches Can Last For Hours. Do I Have To Sit At The PC All Day?

One concern I often hear from people considering tennis trading is the amount of time they think they’ll need to spend in front of their computer.

A tennis match can easily last two or three hours. Some matches last considerably longer.

So does trading tennis mean sitting at your PC watching an entire match from the first serve until match point?

No.

One of the biggest misconceptions about tennis trading is that you need to trade the whole match.

You don’t.

You’re Trading An Opportunity, Not The Entire Match

When I enter a tennis trade, I’m looking for a particular situation to develop.

Once I’ve entered the trade, I have an idea of what I expect to happen and where I’m looking to exit.

That opportunity might only involve a small part of a match. I might even get in and out in the same game!

The match could continue for another two hours after I’ve closed my position, but that doesn’t matter. My trade is finished.

You’re not being paid according to how long you watch the match.

Know What You’re Waiting For

This is another reason why having a trading plan is so important.

If you simply open a match on Betfair and wait for something interesting to happen, you could spend a lot of time staring at your screen without achieving very much.

I prefer to know what I’m looking for beforehand.

My pre-match research helps me identify potential trading opportunities and the circumstances I’m looking for before entering the market.

If those circumstances don’t occur, I don’t have to trade.

You Don’t Need To Trade Every Match

This becomes particularly important on busy days.

There can be a dozen or more ATP and WTA matches taking place, especially during the early rounds of Grand Slam tournaments.

Trying to follow all of them would be exhausting.

More importantly, it isn’t necessary.

I would much rather concentrate on a small number of good opportunities than try to trade everything that’s available.

Being selective doesn’t just reduce the amount of time you spend at your computer. It can also improve the quality of your trading decisions.

A Three-Hour Match Doesn’t Mean A Three-Hour Trade

Let’s say you’ve identified a match that you believe offers a potential trading opportunity.

You might watch the start of the match and wait for the situation you’re looking for.

The opportunity appears.

You enter your trade.

The market moves as expected and you exit.

Your involvement in that match could be relatively short even though the players remain on court for several more hours.

There’s no reason to continue trading simply because the match hasn’t finished.

What If The Opportunity Takes A Long Time To Appear?

Sometimes it will.

Not every match develops as expected.

This is where discipline becomes important.

You don’t have to sit watching a match indefinitely just because it was on your shortlist before play started.

If the situation you’re looking for doesn’t develop, you can move on.

There will always be another opportunity.

Trading Can Fit Around Your Available Time

You also don’t have to make tennis trading an all-day activity.

Some people have jobs.

Others have family commitments.

Many simply don’t want to spend their entire day watching tennis.

That’s fine.

You can concentrate on matches taking place when you’re available and ignore the rest.

There are professional tennis tournaments taking place throughout most of the year, so you don’t need to feel that you have to take every opportunity that appears.

Preparation Can Save You Time

This is something that’s easily overlooked.

Good preparation doesn’t just help you find better trading opportunities.

It can also save you a lot of time.

If you’ve already narrowed the day’s matches down to those that interest you and you know what you’re looking for, you don’t need to spend hours jumping randomly between matches hoping to find a trade.

You can focus your attention where it’s most useful.

Final Thoughts

Tennis matches can be long, but your trades don’t have to be.

You aren’t committing yourself to watching an entire match every time you open a position.

You’re looking for a trading opportunity.

Once that opportunity has played out and you’ve closed your trade, there’s no reason you can’t switch off the match and get on with the rest of your day.

Preparation and being selective can dramatically reduce the amount of time you need to spend at your computer.

My TradeShark Tennis Trading Course teaches the strategies I use to identify specific trading opportunities rather than simply trading matches from beginning to end. My daily Trading Tips Email also highlight the matches and situations I’m interested in, saving members from having to research the entire day’s schedule themselves.

FAQ articles

Can beginners learn Tennis Trading?

Why tennis trading is lower risk than betting

Why Trading Isn’t The Same As Betting

How To Manage Risk When Trading Tennis

What Makes A Good Tennis Trading Opportunity?

How Do I Know When To Exit A Trade?

When There Are Lots Of Matches, How Do I Choose Which One To Trade?

I’m Not A Great Fan Of Tennis. Is That A Problem?

Tennis Matches Can Last For Hours. Do I Have To Sit At The PC All Day? 1

Tennis Matches Can Last For Hours. Do I Have To Sit At The PC All Day? Read More »

I’m Not A Great Fan Of Tennis. Is That A Problem?

TradeShark

If you’re thinking about learning tennis trading, you might have one concern before you’ve even placed your first trade.

“I don’t really follow tennis. Is that going to be a problem?”

The simple answer is no.

You don’t need to know who won Wimbledon ten years ago, memorise the ATP rankings or spend your spare evenings watching match after match. In fact, many successful traders came to tennis after trading other sports, such as football or horse racing.

What matters isn’t being a tennis fan. It’s understanding how the tennis markets are affected by what’s happening on court. Then we need to know the match situations that can offer us a trading opportunity.

Trading Isn’t The Same As Supporting A Player

Sports fans often watch a match hoping their favourite team or player wins.

A trader looks at the same match very differently.

Instead of asking, “Who do I want to win?”, a trader is asking:

Is the favourite priced correctly?
Could the underdog make this more competitive than the market expects?
If one player goes behind, how can we take advantage of the market reaction?

You’re analysing the market rather than cheering for a particular player.

In fact, having a favourite player can sometimes make trading harder because emotions can influence your decisions.

You Don’t Need To Know Every Player

One of the biggest misconceptions about tennis trading is that you need to recognise every player on the ATP and WTA Tours.

You don’t.

Of course, the more experience you gain, the more familiar you’ll become with different playing styles and personalities. That happens naturally over time.

What really matters is learning how to analyse the matches you intend to trade rather than trying to become a walking tennis encyclopedia.

Learn How Tennis Matches Behave

Tennis is one of the most interesting sports to trade because momentum can change very quickly.

A player can look completely in control before losing concentration for a few games.

An early break of serve rarely means the match is over. Far from it

One player may dominate in the early games but their level can then drop and allow their opponent to recover.

These are the exact types of situations that create frequent trading opportunities.

Once you understand how tennis matches typically develop, you’ll start to see why the markets move the way they do.

Experience Comes Naturally

When I first started trading tennis professionally, I certainly didn’t know everything about every player.

I still don’t! There are always new players coming through the lower tours.

Over the years, I’ve watched thousands of matches, analysed countless statistics and continually refined my approach.

The knowledge builds naturally through experience.

You don’t need to learn everything before you begin.

That’s One Reason I Produce Daily Trading Tips

Every day I analyse the day’s matches. I look at every ATP and WTA match in detail and give a trading plan for each one. They are graded with a confidence level so you can see which trades I am favouring.

That means members don’t have to spend hours researching every match themselves. They can also compare their own thinking with my analysis, helping them understand why certain matches are worth trading while others are best avoided.

Over time, that process helps build confidence and develops the skills needed to make your own trading decisions.

Final Thoughts

Don’t let a lack of tennis knowledge stop you from learning to trade.

You don’t need to be a lifelong tennis fan or know every player on the professional tours.

What you do need is a willingness to learn how tennis matches develop, how the betting markets react, and how to approach trading with patience and discipline.

Those are skills that can be learned, and they’re exactly what I focus on throughout the TradeShark Tennis Trading Course and my daily Trading Tips emails.