Demo vs. live

Demo would be a good place to test our strategies, but many a times the trader who are dealing with Demo takes it very lightly and trades blindly, which endangers their future of live trading. Hence it is needed to have seriousness in the same.

Yes it’s a place where we can see our strategies how it works. But practically when trading in live we can’t focus as like demo, the main problem is here. I tried lots of time but didn’t get the result in real account as like demo. I need solution.

In order to me, you didn’t trade demo with more carefully, that’s why you didn’t get nothing in real account when using same trading strategy. Keep focus and practice in demo and don’t trade at random.

I have done with more carefully. May be its my luck , I passed much time with BB strategy and was successfully in demo but when starting real account didn’t get minimum result as like demo account. Sometimes I feel demo trading is just wasting of time and energy.

Demo accounts usually have tighter spread and faster execution time. So in real account, you might experience your order get rejected or wider spreads.

Yes, it is the psychological aspects that makes the difference between demo and real account. In real account, your own money is invested. That’s why you are emotionally involved. According to human psychology, people tend to take impulsive decision when they are emotionally attached to anything. Hope it helps you.

Sorry, if you trade a “demo” without being “emotionlly attached…” What is the point ?

I get exactly the same feelings in “Demo” as I do at £5 per pip - don’t understand why you wouldn’t ?

@Jamesfx9 i totally agree with @Falstaff
the point of a demo is to SIMULATE your live environment and to test things in that simulation so that when you go live there won’t be any suprises. or little if any.

Now, we can argue there are differences in price and that on demo your trade is not affecting the market, and that’s a valid argument,
but THE THING YOU CAN CONTROL 100% IS …
to Treat your Demo like a Live account
100% Like a Live account, Bullshit to yourself and convince yourself that it’s a live account.
mate, i used to do this all the time, i remember one time (i have a bird, a rainbow lorikeet) he jumped on the keyboard one time (years ago) and opened and closed a trade, he lost me (i think it was either $20k or $53k i can’t remember, it was years ago) but it was a lot

i didn’t look at it like “oh it doesn’t matter it’s only demo” i was like “Holy shit, what just happened” hehe
it actually took me around 15mins or so to realize that it actually wasn’t a live account , it occured to me when my wife said to me is this real money. and i was like “oh… that’s right, it’s not”

You have to tell yourself that it’s real
otherwise, like Falstaff said… WHAT’S THE POINT
if you don’t do that, you are just PLAYING a video game
it’s like when you die in Mario bros, and you say… it’s just a game
but what if you (like in the movie Tron) you were Quantized and transported in the game and if you died in the game, you died for real… DIFFERENT STORY HUH

You’re right it is the psychological aspect and TAKE IT SERIOUSLY and treat a demo like a live account
tell yourself IT’S MY MONEY, I WORKED FOR IT, IF I LOSE IT I WON’T BE ABLE TO PAY THIS BILL OR THAT BILL
treat it as if it’s real

as for this

You’re right so… GET EMOTIONALLY INVOLVED (at least while in demo) and tell yourself it’s your money

now…understand this as well
You are supposed to disconnect yourself emotionally so you don’t TAKE IMPULSIVE DECISIONS.
but i understand what you are saying as well
so in demo. trick yourself that it’s your money
after a while you will learn to control your emotions

falstaff is correct
WHAT’S THE POINT if you are not taking it as real

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It’s a common problem, there is huge different between demo and real account , even though so many experts always emphasis on demo experience , I am not. Experience from demo will not work practically in live. Because, when we trade in demo we get free from everything. But we kick off real account we can’t avoid emotions and others. This is the fact.

My argument is that if you trade “demo” like that - you are wasting a huge resource - I never had the opportunity to “Trade demo” as a newbie and I value the resource greatly. I was trading Dow Futures by phone (You had to ring them up) and was £150 Up, £150 down on most trades - my only live resource was the ticker at the bottom of the screen on Bloomberg TV. All other "information was around 15 minutes delayed !

BUT I was brought up at a time when “Success” was to win the match, Come first in the exam, catch the most fish. Praise was heaped on “winners” and losers were not really considered to need “support” - they just “lost”.

There was no “consensus” science - Just “Right and wrong answers” or Unproven Hypotheses. That was all and something had to be proved to be accepted.

Much has changed and in many ways I’m glad I’m old, but my view remains - If you don’t care whether you’re right or wrong, in demo then you’re right, you are in for a huge shock when “They” start taking real money off you :laughing: :laughing:

I DO CARE what happens in demo - because in demo, just like the real thing - the numbers aren’t important - They’re just a way of keeping score - If you don’t care what the score is - then why are you here ?

@Chris_Lynn
Chris, i agree 100% with @Falstaff last comment, i am also of the old ways.

Chris, based on your answers that you keep repeating, CAN I GIVE YOU SOME FRIENDLY ADVICE.

Let me tell you a summarized story if i may
RE THIS…

this is not up for debate… THIS IS A FACT… YOU ARE 100% DEAD WRONG… end of story.

When i was a kid back in the 80’s i was really stressed and life hard to deal with.
as @Falstaff said, the rules were easy…
ADAPT or … GET LEFT BEHIND
it may seem harsh, but IT FORCED YOU TO LEARN, you see, let’s say in maths class if you didn’t learn say , your fractions, everyone else called you an idiot, Actually , they called you Dumb Runt (Replace R with C). simple as that
if you had a job and you made a stupid mistake, you were humiliated for it, so you never made that mistake again… .AND WE LEARNED
if you were a smart arse in school, you’d get bashed after school (say what you will, but WE LEARNED) and this sort of upbrining taught RESPECT
then time went on and people started abolishing corporal punishment and people starting going on about “Bullies” (instead of giving the bullies a kick in the head ) the people of the world became a bunch of bloody Fairies.

Anyway, i digress
point is… Life was Stressful and hard

NOW ONE DAY FOR ME PERSONALLY. i got to a point when it was so hard that i couldn’t handle it
this is where something interesting happens to your brain, THAT I HONESTLY DIDN’T KNOW, at that time.
YOU ARE FORCED TO ADAPT
what i did was this
I asked myself

  • What does stress actually do for the body, is there any positive function
    the answer is NO
    Next Question
  • Is it necessary for us to feel Stress THE ANSWER IS NO (that’s a fact)

but, THERE’S A CATCH
it’s like this
it depends how you define STRESS (now, i’m not avoiding here or making excuses, just listen ok)

We all have a central Nervous system, and because of it, WE MUST FEEL - that’s a fact

The things that we feel. get sent to our brain for INTERPRETATION - That’s a fact

Now. we have to FEEL the input factors that our nervous system gives our brain, that’s not a choice.
HOWEVER, WE DO GET TO CHOOSE HOW WE RESPOND
THIS IS A FACT

if someone cuts your arm off - YOU GET TO CHOOSE WHETHER TO SCREAM OR NOT
if someone kills you family - YOU GET TO CHOOSE whether to cry or hunt the bastard down quietly and exact revenge. or… you can choose to do nothing

if someone pushes you in school, YOU CHOOSE how you respond, do you walk away, or do you push him back or do you kick him in the head

if your boss yells at you YOU GENERALLY CHOOSE TO SHUT UP or you can tell him to F… OFF

RIGHT
EVERYTHING IS A CHOICE MATE

Now emotion’s come into trading BECAUSE
WHEN YOU PUT REAL MONEY DOWN - YOU ARE ASSOCIATING THE HARDSHIP OF HOW YOU EARNED IT
Example, a Guy who throws garbage for a living or a bricklayer who throws bricks up a two storey building for 8 hours a day or a concreter with appreciate their wage (Even though it might be small) to a greater degree than say an office worker that is unsupervised and the only job they have is something simple and cushy.

so WE CAN SAY THIS
THE AMOUNT OF EFFORT YOU PUT INTO YOUR JOB IS DIRECTLY PROPORTIONAL TO HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT YOUR WAGE
AND
IF YOU HAVE A LOWER WAGE, then How you feel will be Amplified
so we could narrow this down mathematically to some formula that establishes

HOW YOU FEEL PER DOLLAR EARNED BASED ON HOW MUCH EFFORT YOU PUT IN FOR THAT DOLLAR
you understand me

Now. when you trade
These emotions return
and
WHEN YOU LOSE, (and because you were expecting a reward for your hard work) You feel worse.

does that make sense
so up to this point, you will probably still confirm that “Yes martin, that’s what i’ve been saying, that a demo is not like a Live”

NO… BUT WAIT
When you trade LIVE, you bring emotion in with your money

WHY CAN YOU NOT DO THIS

Why can’t you tell yourself “This is my demo account I CHOOSE TO BLOODY TAKE IT SERIOUSLY, because i iknow that what i do here will DIRECTLY AFFECT WHAT HAPPENS ON LIVE, and A Demo is playing with Live money because if i stuff up on demo and don’t treat it as real, I AM INTENTIONALLY THROWING AWAY MY LIVE MONEY, because i am not training myself to develop good trading habits”

Why can’t you do that ?

Like Falstaff said, You are just pissing away a very very useful resource

Mate, do you know why DEMO IS GIVEN TO YOU FOR FREE ?
ANSWER : it’s because the brokers know MOST PEOPLE ARE EMOTIONALLY WEAK AND WILL GET ADDICTED
they know that most people will fall slave to their emotions
If you do this… You will lose at trading

CONTROL IS THE KEY

Understand YOU HAVE A CHOICE, YOU CHOOSE HOW YOU FEEL
If you can’t take control of your emotions, you should not be trading
if you can… then do it

and when you make a wrong decision, learn from it
and when you make a right decision, Reward Yourself for it

BUT HERE’S THE THING
You Believe with all your heart (like so many others) that you can’t avoid it, that stress cannot be avoided, that you can’t make yourself believe that something is something else.

Actually you can and it can be proven scientifically.

Mate, it is a Scientific fact that certain people use certain keywords that TO THEM Means different different things and triggers different things

let me point out yours
i’ll retype what you said and highlight the keywords

“it’s a common problem, there is a huge difference between demo and real account, even though so many experts always emphasise on demo experience, i am not. experience from demo will not work practically in live. because, when we trade in demo we get free from everything. But we kick off real account we can’t avoid emotions and others this is a fact”

Let me explain it
"Huge difference" is a way for your brain to tell yourself that problem is overwhelming.
the fact is, it’s not, and it is only what you make it out to be.

“Experience from demo” etc etc is a way to confirm to yourself that IT WON’T WORK.
it’s actually not true, Many people do it… I personally do it, and it works

You have then given yourself an excuase, as follows

then you confirm to yourself WE CAN’T AVOID EMOTIONS
well… No We can’t
but WE CAN CONTROL THEM

and when you say EMOTIONS it means something different to what EMOTIONS actually are… see the difference.

Mate, Long story short, YOU ARE TELLING YOURSELF IT’S IMPOSSIBLE, when it really isn’t
and in doing so, you are crippling your trading career and wasting a huge resource

HERE ARE SOME FACTS
You can’t say Experience on demo will not work practically because literally thousands of people have done it and prove it can work. so THAT’S BUSTED
the only difference is… YOU CHOOSE TO BELIEVE IT WON’T WORK

You need to tell yourself that everything you do on demo will be reflected on live.
you need to forget that demo money is FAKE.
You need to tell yourself that EACH TIME YOU LOSE, YOU WILL POTENTIALLY LOSE REAL MONEY

you need to tell yourself that a demo account is RISK MANAGEMENT and YOU ARE BEING SMART BY DOING THIS

Demo Account is a tool
So is Live Account
so is a Hammer
So is a Screw Driver
now, you use a Screwdriver for a certain purpose
you use a hammer for another purpose,
but BOTH HELP YOU TO BUILD A HOUSE

You use a Demo to Test things while managing risk
You Use live as a Tool to host your trades
BUT BOTH CONTRIBUTE TO YOU MAKING MONEY IN THE LONG TERM
and BOTH ARE NOT A GAME, they just serve different purposes

try to see it this way ok
Take Care mate
Hope you get it

Demo account is for the newbies as well as the experienced traders. You need to understand that Demo is the best way to ensure knowledge in Forex Market. Live Account to gain the success in the Forex Market to ensure success in the Forex Trading.

A demo and a real account are both very much needed things, but their functions are very different.

I don’t think there is any trick from the brokers! Problem is, maximum new traders judge their trading system too early; like if they get 4-5 trade’s consistent profit then they start their real trading!

Good point LCK - I just started looking at a new system based on new things and from 5 bets based on a maximum possible loss for each bet of of 8% of account value ($40 each). The bets were concurrent. This traded positive over the couple of weeks it ran, up until Xmas Eve, taking my notional $500 paper account from $500 to $599 ! There was one loser of -$4.70. So does that mean I am ready to go live ?

Not at all ! What it means is that there May be some possibilities of making a positive return and that it looks as though it could be worth continuing the trial.

That is all !

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In my opinion, a strategy needs to be tested at least over the course of several months before one tries to use it on a live accounts. Five consecutive trades don’t provide very trustworthy results, I think.

@mlawson71
i agree. 5 Trades doesn’t prove anything,
Anyone can win 5 consecutive trades at some point

Relevant example as well! Thank you very much for your contribution.

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Thank you LCK - When I am ready to trade again, I shall do another couple of cycles and if I like what I am seeing, I shall open a dedicated demo account. At the moment the figures are just numbers on a spreadsheet. My next round will maintain my risk at 8% each so maximum possible loss on each trade will increase to $48. If those cycles show promise, I shall open a demo to test it “in the market” as it were.

I shall also need to look closely at market conditions for the instruments I used, to try to understand Why it has traded so positive and more especially, if I can identify the prevailing conditions which have proved so favourable.

With results like this one has to suspect that it is just a fluke, but the parameters chosen, were not just “random”. They were chosen to limit as far as possible the main reasons why, in my opinion people lose money.

I try a lot of “systems” over the years and it is amazing how things like “Moving average crossovers” which Look as though they should be profitable, consistently fail to make money.

I do not even bother to trade them on “Demo” unless I develope a certain level of confidence which makes me feel there is some propect of eventually “going live”.

As for actually trying them out - even on “Micro account” - Why would I want to give my money away ?

Hope that helps some of the “Trade it live” people to understand the thought processes of some of those who are trading against them ! :relaxed:

I will not pull the trigger - until I have you firmly in my sights ! :wink:

Yes, by means of 4-5 trades it is not possible to judge strategies result. We need to pass a long time in demo to test our strategies, and then we use it when real account. Otherwise it could be a great trouble.