Practice before real money: simulation, replay and starting small
Practicing costs nothing, and it's where you learn the mechanics and find out whether your plan works before it's expensive.
Simulated trading
Most platforms offer a simulated (paper) account that trades live prices with fake money. Use it to learn the platform and order types (lesson 4), follow your plan in real time, and build a record of at least 50 to 100 trades you can review.
Market replay
Some platforms can replay past sessions tick by tick, so you can practice a specific setup many times in an evening instead of waiting for it to appear live. It's the fastest way to get repetitions.
What simulation can't teach you
- Fills: simulators often fill you more generously than a real market, especially on limit orders.
- Emotions: losing fake money doesn't feel like losing real money. Many traders who follow their plan perfectly in sim break it with real money on the line.
Stepping up
When your simulated results are consistent and you're following your plan, move to the smallest real size available, such as one micro contract, and keep it there until real-money results match your practice. Increase size slowly, and only when the numbers justify it. A prop firm evaluation is another way to trade with real consequences but limited risk (lesson 10).