Good morning, traders…
I can still feel the heat beating against my face from being in Las Vegas last week for Tim Sykes’ Inner Circle event.
As I was walking through the casinos, I thought about the difference between playing a Las Vegas table game and wagering money on stock options.
You’ve probably heard someone say, “Trading options is no different than gambling.”
But these skeptics miss some key differences. Plus, they’re mixing up “most traders fail” with “every trader fails.”
And I’m living proof that the second one is just plain wrong.
Not just me. Guys like Tim Sykes, Jack Kellogg, Matt Monaco, Bryce Tuohey (and the list goes on) have all made life-changing money trading the stock market.
These guys aren’t throwing money at any random setup.
They’re not gambling, they’re trading.
I want you to start doing the same.
Let’s Break Down The Difference Between Real Trading And Degenerate Gambling (So You Never Find Yourself Doing The Latter)…
Edge vs. Edgeless
When people tell you that you can’t make money trading, tell yourself the opposite: Yes, you absolutely can.
The market isn’t efficient. It’s our job to identify (and exploit) those inefficiencies.
The key is to flip the script on conventional wisdom. You’ve got to start believing you can do something most people can’t.
And the first step is to make informed bets.
Think about betting on horse races. If you have no clue about the horse’s condition or the jockey’s skill, anything can happen.
You’re basically playing “equine craps.”
Now, imagine you could sneak into the stables before the race and have a vet thoroughly examine every single horse.
If you find one horse that’s perfectly fit for the track and you bet on that pony, you’re not just gambling anymore.
You’re making an informed bet with a unique edge, based on proprietary data you’ve gathered.
And this is exactly how I want you to approach the options market. It’s about examining my scanners to find setups and using chart patterns for confirmation.
As traders, we can do even better than that pony speculator who gets an early peek at the stable — we can soak up every possible piece of data about the options we’re trading.
Sizing vs. Betting
If you’re still not seeing the difference between disciplined trading and straight-up gambling, let’s talk about the information you have before you place your bets.
Say you’re playing blackjack. In that game, you’re forced to bet before you have any information whatsoever.
Once the cards are dealt, you can’t add to or subtract from your initial position (except for a few specific situations, like splitting hands).
If you get dealt a 16 when the dealer is showing a face card, you’ll probably wish you could reduce your initial bet.
But you can’t.
This is a huge difference between trading and gambling: you can always adjust your position sizes in the market.
You can scale out to lock in profits on the way up, or get stopped out and reduce your losses on the way down.
Zero Information vs. Incomplete Information
Trading isn’t a game of zero information — it’s a game of incomplete information. In that sense, trading is more like poker than blackjack.
Over enough hands, skill trumps luck every single time at the poker table. This is why the same few guys often make the final table of major poker tournaments.
If the game were mostly about luck, that wouldn’t happen. (This is also why there aren’t professional blackjack tournaments.)
This is the same reason some traders consistently win, year after year. They have true skill (which naturally leads to edge).
Luck vs. Skill
Ever heard the saying, “It’s better to be lucky than good?” Well, that’s not true in the stock market.
You need to be good at trading — like, really good — if you want to win in the long term.
Sure, any random person can throw a dart at a stock option and get lucky once. On the contrary, even the most skilled trader can get blindsided by randomness (chance).
But over a long enough period, there’s no faking it. Their winning results are due to their skill.
This is how I’ve thrived throughout my 22 years as a trader: by sharpening my skills into an undeniable edge (and not listening to those who doubted me).
It wasn’t easy. It took me years to learn how to trade confidently and consistently.
But any skill worth mastering is difficult. If it wasn’t, everyone and their grandma would be a multi-millionaire options trader.
That said, it’s far from impossible. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.
Stick with me, and I’ll show you how to develop your skills (and find your undeniable edge).
Happy trading,
Ben Sturgill
P.S. We have a new trading challenge: the $5k Summer Blitz.
Our goal? To make a 400% return on a small account.
$1000 → $5,000 by October 14.
We already 3x’d a small account TWICE using my Earnings Edge system…*
And if we DON’T turn $1,000 into $5,000 by October 14th…
We’re giving everyone who joins our “$5K Blitz Challenge” an exclusive $5,000 value gift…
Completely FREE of charge.
5x or bust.
That’s how confident we are.
Join Aaron Hunziker TODAY at 4:00 p.m EST to see exactly how we’ll conquer the challenge.
*Past performance does not indicate future results
