The importance of research.
Research does and will play a pivotal role in any type of trading. You do not, under any circumstances want to even consider getting involved in a sports market without first, at the very least performing some very basic research. (although i would highly recommend research of a more thorough nature)
Research will provide you with the tools required to make an informed decision on a potential trade or entry point. Would you expect to see an artist go to work without a brush? No, of course you wouldn't and you must have this same approach to trading. As the old cliche goes.."fail to prepare then prepare to fail" and this has never rung truer than when applied to the sports markets.
Entry and exit points we will discuss in much more detail a little further on as they deserve their own post although in saying this they will be loosely covered here as they tie in nicely with the importance of research.
Example - You may decide to trade a cricket match and your research into this game shows you that one of the teams have never lost a match when their price falls below 1.36(eg) you could then decide that you would back this team if/when their prices reaches 1.35 - throw in a stop loss at 1.6 (unless you are comfortable managing your position) and voila, a perfect example of good solid research pre determining your entry point for this particular trade.
