Steam move

Steam is a sharp, coordinated wave of money: 1.91 becomes 1.72 not at one bookmaker but at a whole group of them. The picture shows a steep slope. It is someone else's volume, or someone else's news that reached the market before it reached you. Trying to "get on the steam" with a broadcast delay and a delay in clicking means buying the tail end. The beginner's school does not chase steam. It teaches you to recognise it and not to confuse it with value.

Steam moves in plain words

A steam move looks like "the smart money has already bet". Sometimes it has. Sometimes it is the public piling onto the favourite in a derby, and you cannot tell the difference from a single tick. Limits often drop after steam, because the bookmaker does not want your money at the old price. If the max has become 5 and your unit is 1u = 100, you are no longer in that room.

How it works

Record the steam in your diary, not with the bookmaker. If you took your price *before* the steam, that is a CLV story. If you see steam and click *after* it, you are paying to board a carriage without a ticket. In-play steam is even harsher because of the TV delay.

1. Recognise the pattern: several bookmakers, within minutes.
2. Do not click on the tail.
3. Check the max stake.
4. Go back to your own p.

Example with numbers

Three bookmakers move from 1.91 to 1.74 within 8 minutes, and a forum is shouting "get on it". You open a fourth, where it is still 1.88 with a max of 10. Clicking 10 "to get in in time" is not a method; it is FOMO. The rule: if you did not get in before the move with your own p, it is not your tick.

Common mistakes

• Jumping on steam from your phone on the commute without a p.
• Confusing steam with slow movement over a day.
• Calling any 0.03 tick steam.
• Chasing the opposite side to "squeeze something out".

What to write in your diary

A steam tag if you saw it. A click after the tag is a broken rule.

Steam move, limits. Next: public money.