What Are Those 11 Secret Lessons You Can Learn About Share Market From Playing Ludo?

Who wouldn’t get a nostalgic feeling of childhood with memories associated with Ludo? They were golden days when we used to gather together to play a game of Ludo under the shade of that Mango Tree behind that paraal ko maach (systematically organized heap of straw) most of summer times after completing school homework.

Having a Ludo Board was a luxury then. As only four people could play at a time, another group of friends would greedily wait their turns to play. When a die of Ludo was rolled on by a player, more than 8 pair of eyes used to remain sharply open in excitement of what one would get. Six or other number? Most probably our hearts used to stop at the time of die rolling for a billionth of a second!

Some friend would even fight to get a place of their favorite color gotti (pieces). Some would consider red color lucky for them while for some friends used to consider blue as fortunate color. We used to have our own childish mechanism to consider turns for playing game: it was the privilege of Ludo Board Owner to consider who would play first. At times, the Ludo-board-Owner was gifted with orange flavoured chocolates of that time by us so that the owner would let us play. What an innocent time it used to be!

But gone are those best days of childhood. No adult can imagine again the gathering of friends to play Ludo Board game under shade of Mango Tree. School homeworks given by teachers were heavy and hard at that time to do but still we managed to complete them on time only to spare time for Ludo game. But this complex Life-Works of business, jobs and markets never cease to end; which keep our Ludo khelne saathi haru busy in their own matters. Although this city is full of people and hustling road filled by furious vehicles, it feels so painful at least on one silent day of a year not to have that bunch of friends to play Ludo again! What a Pity! None with you to Play a game of Ludo now.

So you got caught in nostalgia of childhood and Ludo at this time,right? (sad reaction)

But special thanks to technology. With technological developments, now we can enjoy a game of Ludo anywhere, anytime and with anyone. The games like Ludo King or Ludo Club are embedded on social networking sites. Frequent invites from relatives and friends to join a game is fun initially but they can be frustrating afterwards. You shouldn’t feel shy to admit this fact: you have muted notifications of various chat groups in fear of invitations to play Ludo! It is a universally acknowledged fact that excessive invitations to join a Ludo game encourage you to leave that chat group.

It may sound quite odd but please don’t get flown away in ’vaawana’, I mean: don’t be overwhelmed by feelings! You should have been alert from beginning, for not to get diverted by ‘air like words’ of this stupid writer. You are supposed to be here to learn about stock markets. So why am I wasting your time recalling Ludo and Childhood? Aren’t you wondering? (lol)

I guess this is enough!

By now you must have started humming your favorite” scolding words” to me. Right? (wink)

Now let’s come to the main point!

You can understand quite a number of lessons regarding stock market through a game of Ludo. If you are a stock market investor, playing Ludo will provide you valuable insights of share market.

To help you understand things easier, i will say here what you call “gotti” of Ludo as “Piece” or “Token”.

These are secret ideas I have discovered while playing Ludo with random people all over the Earth in order to pass time during recent boring (amazing?) days of my life and I expect it will be interesting for investors to note them too. Please get your mind in most relaxed state before checking them as these ideas are going to be very important and inseparable part of your mysterious wisdom of share market!

1. It does not matter: at what time you get a six while rolling a die, the thing that matters is your patience to keep on rolling until you get a six. You should not rush and lose your temper in case you don’t get a six in few beginning rolls. New investors in secondary market expect like earning lakhs rupees in few days of initial investment. In starting days, they possess high level of optimism and energy; but as soon as they understand that they should wait and endure patience to make money, they feel distressed. So just like playing Ludo requires patience and hardwork, same is required in share market too. Starting late is not a problem. Investing is not about speed. Here, slow and steady wins the race. 

2. Do not concentrate only on a piece (you have got four tokens). Use the sum you get from rolling a dice to diversify all your pieces. It teaches you about the importance of portfolio diversification. You should not concentrate your investment in a only stock. Can you lead a game of Ludo by playing with only a piece at a time or is it advantageous to have your pieces in various strategic locations? Just like that, having your investment in a number of stocks of different sectors with strategic purpose will help you to go ahead in stock market.

3. Putting your pieces on “Star” increases your strength. You need not to worry about your piece being eliminated from game no matter what happens. Stars are those special places in Ludo board where you can stay as much as you want without any possibility of being killed by opponents. Stars in stock market can be considered as blue-chip stocks which are financially strong, reputed and good-dividend-paying companies. Investing in such companies will reduce your risk of loss. Just like you can think of better game alternatives and plans once you have your piece on Star, you need not to worry much about your investment after acquiring “Star like stocks.” 

4. Expect the unexpected: Just like life, Ludo is unpredictable and complex. So is share market. Anything can happen. Who had ever thought of having the world to stay inside home by a Pandemic? No Nepalese investors had ever thought even in dreams of market being closed for more than 70 days. No one can predict ups and downs of share market just like you cannot be certain on what you will get after rolling a die. You know: as the outcome of Ludo is uncertain, that’s why we have fun. Similarly, the beauty of stock market lies in its uncertainty.

5. Never ever miss an opportunity to go “Home” or a good o ption of “killing” pieces of opponents. This incident suggests that you should book your profit in time. Limit yourself in stock market by pre-declaring your required return. Don’t wait another day to book profit if you have enough gains. I repeat this: Don’t miss a good opportunity to book your profit.

6. Understand the steps of other players, their gaming zeal and sentiments. Don’t you try to decode opponent’s moves while playing Ludo? Just like that, try to understand market psychology. What is the intention of other players? What can be their alternative plans? In what direction will the wind of market move? Always be cautious on examining market sentiments before taking any considerable investment decisions.

7. Play with a strategy: offensive or aggressive? It is up to your risk bearing capacity. Make your own strategies of entry and exit from market. Are you a risk seeker or a risk-averse investor? What can be your highest risk taking position? Just like you calculate risk associated while placing pieces in a Ludo game, you should take calculated risk while making investment. What is the your aim of investment? Long term returns or trading income? Make a stock market strategy. 

8. Never leave a game in middle. I have encountered few people who leave an online Ludo game with an excuse of slow internet in middle if they feel like losing it. They don’t have energy to complete the game. Don’t be an investor like such people. No soldier is provided Medal for leaving a fort in midst of war. At times you may feel like losing your investment and consider leaving stock market for forever, but it is just a pessimistic thought. Just like in Ludo, if you lose a game, you consider playing in format of “best of three”, enjoy share market in the same way. Only then you can make money.

9. Remember, you are not only a Ludo Player! You are not only a investor. Playing Ludo is not the only thing you can do. You have different hobbies and passions. Find and nurture them, please. Excessive playing of Ludo is worrisome habit. You have your own family and you have responsibilities towards them. Similar to this, You should not forget in any case: share market is not everything to you. Always have a backup financial plan in case of emergencies. Do not rely only on income from share market to your living.

10. You have a long journey to reach Home. You need to pass all your pieces through pieces of opponents and successfully drive them to your own Home to win a Ludo game. You have adequate experience in this, right? Just like you need to go through difficult paths to win a Ludo game, you may have to pass through many up and down cycles of stock market to reach your financial goal and it will be a difficult and uncomfortable journey. Don’t get unfocused. You have a life time to catch your goal.

11. Keep on rolling your die: Always try to invest in stocks with potential of better return in future. The highest payoff you get in rolling a die is Six and the smallest outcome you may get is One. So, keep investing with long term horizon for amazing financial future; and keep on rolling your die because you won’t get any “Zero” from it. 

SANJAY GELAL

 (Note: This article is based on various ideas found in Internet.)