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If you’re new to options trading, you are probably curious as to how many winning trades you need to be successful. If you do a search online, you’ll get advice that’s all over the place and even misleading. Sure, you could get an 80% win rate, but you’ll be so stressed trying to meet that very high standard that you’ll burn out.

Successful options traders have a lot in common with successful baseball players.

Hall of famers do not hit home runs every time they are up to bat. They hit mostly singles and doubles. Grand slams and home runs are few and far between. The baseball players who earn tens of millions of dollars each year only reach first base three out of ten times.

Shohei Ohtani is widely considered one of the best – and his batting average is .283 right now! Flip that around, and Ohtani does not hit seven balls out of ten.

That hardly seems right but it is. The best baseball players in the world hit .300 for the season. Few players can sustain that level for a month, let alone an entire season. Being consistent and hitting one out of every three or four at bats is all it takes to be considered the best.

The same holds true in options trading.

How many winning trades does it take to be successful?

Not as many as you think! And in fact, you do not need to make huge profits on every win to be successful.

What’s more important is consistency. Huge wins (grand slams) will happen, but not often. Instead, take profits when you have them. Those smaller wins (the singles and doubles) will help you grow your portfolio over the long-term and turn you into a successful trader.

Just as a baseball player walks away from three strikes, shakes it off, and looks ahead to the next opportunity, you need to do this for losing trades. Sell them quickly to contain your losses. And don’t dwell on it. The next trade is always around the corner.

I follow a few other rules to be successful:

1. Stick to your trading strategy as long as it’s working
2. Don’t let emotions take over, especially volatile times
3. Keep high levels of cash (only trade 2-3% of your cash at any one time)
4. Buy index puts to help reduce portfolio volatsility

Getting rich overnight trading options is a fantasy. Small wins over time are all it takes to be a successful options trader.

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