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Using demo only for platform practice, never for cost estimates

Posted: Sat Sep 19, 2026 9:33 pm
by LondonScalper
Demo for platform practice — never for cost estimates

Demo fills are polite. Live costs are not. I use demo to rehearse hotkeys, workspace layouts, and flatten paths under fake stress. I do not use demo expectancy to decide whether a scalp edge survives raw commission and slippage on a real book.

Desk split I insist on:
  • Demo: execution hygiene, layout, news-flatten drill, muscle memory.
  • Live tiny size: cost logging and emotional reality — including the urge to overtrade.
  • Only after a live cost sample do I discuss whether the setup is viable at normal size.
If your backtest or demo says the edge is obvious and live R-cost says otherwise, believe live. Polite fills are not a broker review; they are a different product.

How long do you run tiny live cost sampling before you trust a setup out of demo?

Demo can still be useful for rehearsing news flatten under a timer. Just never confuse rehearsal fills with a broker scorecard. Different physics, same buttons.