Table of Contents
In this Desire To Trade podcast episode, Adam Scarr shares how he went from years of trial-and-error to becoming a consistently funded trader. He talks candidly about false starts with EAs and signal services, the moment he hit rock bottom, and why structured education, journaling, and community support finally moved the needle. Adam’s now trading prop capital and mentoring others, and his story is a clean, relatable blueprint for beginners who want to trade with a process—not hype.
In this piece, you’ll learn Adam Scarr’s practical strategy stack: how he combines smart money concepts with strict risk management, ties win rate to risk-to-reward, and uses backtesting (think 100+ trades) to earn real confidence. We’ll walk through his prop-firm playbook—why he chose no time-limit challenges, how he scaled position sizes, and what changed when overnight swaps started to bite (and how he adapted by tightening timeframes). You’ll also see the underrated edge: accountability partners, steady process discipline, and the mindset that stops strategy-hopping so you can finally execute one strategy well.
Adam Scarr Playbook & Strategy: How He Actually Trades
Core Beliefs and Market Lens
Before entries and exits, Adam Scarr frames the market in terms of liquidity, structure, and who’s trapped. This lens keeps him focused on asymmetric moments instead of every wiggle. Use this to filter noise and only act when the price has a reason to move.
- Trade in the direction of the most recent higher-timeframe break of structure (H1/H4) unless a clear liquidity sweep signals a reversal.
- Mark external liquidity (obvious highs/lows) and internal liquidity (equal highs/lows, clean trendline touches); expect price to run one before moving to the other.
- If the session opens inside a tight range, wait for a stop-run beyond the range before hunting entries back through the range.
Markets, Sessions, and Timeframes
He keeps a small watchlist and respects session character. This narrows decision fatigue and lines up entries when volatility is most predictable. Pick one or two markets and learn their rhythm.
- Focus on 1–3 liquid markets (e.g., a major FX pair or a top index) that move cleanly during your chosen session.
- Build bias from H4 → H1; execute on M15/M5; refine on M1 only at the point of interest (POI).
- Trade the first 2–3 hours of London or New York; avoid low-energy midday chop and red-flag news spikes unless pre-planned.
Bias and Points of Interest (POIs)
Bias sets your compass; POIs tell you where to wait. This is how you stop chasing and let trades come to you.
- Bullish bias: most recent H1/H4 structure break is up, and the last decent pullback held; bearish is the opposite.
- Map 1–2 POIs where displacement began (order blocks, fair value gaps, breakers) that align with bias and equal liquidity resting nearby.
- Invalidate your bias if price cleanly violates your key structure level and rebalances the impulse leg.
Entry Triggers (SMC Mechanics, Simplified)
Confluence is great, but your trigger must be binary. The idea is to force commitment only when trapped flows are likely to unwind.
- Wait for liquidity sweep INTO your POI (e.g., a stop-run through prior high in a bearish plan), then immediate rejection (engulf/displacement).
- Enter on the first pullback into the new fair value gap or the origin candle of the displacement; no fill, no trade.
- If the impulse leg is weak (small bodies, overlapping wicks), skip; strength now beats “it might go later.”
Risk, Sizing, and Hard Limits
Consistency comes from small, repeatable risks and strict daily/weekly breaks. These rules protect funding and your headspace.
- Risk 0.25%–0.50% per trade; never increase risk to “make back” losses.
- Hard daily stop: −1.0R to −1.5R; hard weekly stop: −3R to −4R; stop trading once hit—no exceptions.
- Max two attempts per idea per session; if both fail, the read is off—stand down.
Stop Placement and Targeting
Stops go where your idea is invalid, not where they “feel safe.” Targets are staged to pay you as the trade works.
- Place stops beyond the opposite side of the swept liquidity or beyond the structure that birthed your entry displacement.
- First take-profit at 1R to reduce risk (partial at 25%–50%); move stop to break-even only after market structure shifts in your favor on the execution timeframe.
- Second take-profit at opposing liquidity (prior high/low or session range edge); final runner to higher-timeframe objective or the next clean imbalance.
Trade Management and Exits
The management plan is written before you click. That way, “hope” never rewrites the rules mid-trade.
- If price returns to your POI and stalls without fresh displacement, trim or exit—your edge passed.
- Trail behind fresh structure only after the second take-profit prints; avoid hyper-trailing that chokes winners.
- If major news is imminent and you’re not at partials yet, flatten; if you are, consider trimming to runner size.
Backtesting and Forward Proving
Confidence is earned with reps. The goal isn’t perfection—it’s statistical clarity you can trust under pressure.
- Backtest at least 100 historical trades on a single market and session with fixed rules; record date, session, setup type, R result, and notes.
- Forward test live-sim for 20 sessions; only scale size after the forward curve resembles the backtest (similar win rate and average R).
- Lock the rule set for a minimum of one full quarter; tweak only one variable at a time between cohorts of 30–50 trades.
Prop-Firm Adjustments
Funded accounts demand a “drawdown-aware” playbook. Trade the rules that protect the account first; profits follow.
- Align your daily stop to the prop’s daily drawdown—set your platform risk guardrails at login so you physically can’t breach.
- Prefer no time-limit evaluations or add buffer weeks for forward testing before scaling risk.
- If swaps or commissions dent expectancy on swing holds, compress to intraday targets or switch to instruments with friendlier costs.
News, Calendars, and Gaps
Volatility is an edge when planned and a danger when not. Build a repeatable protocol around event risk.
- Pre-mark high-impact events; if your setup triggers within 15–30 minutes of the release, pass unless your plan explicitly allows it.
- Avoid holding full risk through weekend gaps on funded accounts; if you must, reduce size to runner only.
- If news spikes through your target, bank, and stand aside—don’t chase post-event whipsaws.
Playbook Setups (Two You Can Trade Tomorrow)
Name your patterns and make the checklist binary. This is how you scale consistency.Set up A: Liquidity Sweep → Displacement → FVG Entry
- Bias from H1/H4; mark POI aligned with bias and nearby liquidity.
- Wait for a weak against your bias into the POI, then an impulsive engulf in your biased direction.
- Enter first pullback into the new FVG; stop beyond the sweep extreme; target opposing liquidity; partial at 1R, manage per rules.
Setup B: Breaker Block Rejection at Session Open
- After a strong prior day impulse, mark the breaker (failed high/low that flips) on H1.
- On session open, if price tags the breaker and rejects with displacement, enter on premium/discount retrace to the origin.
- Place stop beyond the breaker; scale out at session range midline and opposing extreme.
Daily Routine and Journaling
Rituals keep decision quality steady. You want to enter each session warmed up, not figuring things out on the fly.
- Pre-session (15–20 min): mark bias, POIs, session range, and news; write one sentence for “what would prove me wrong.”
- During session: take a screenshot at entry, at first partial, and at exit; tag the setup type.
- Post-session (10 min): log R result, note whether rules were followed (Y/N), and write one improvement for tomorrow.
Psychology You Can Actually Use
Mindset isn’t quotes—it’s protocols that protect you when emotions spike. Tie your feelings to actions you can execute.
- If you feel FOMO (fast breath, clicking hotkey), activate the “two-minute rule”: step away, reread the bias note, and only return if the POI is still valid.
- After two consecutive losses, auto-reduce risk by 50% for the next trade; restore only after a green close.
- Celebrate rule-following, not P&L: log a ✔️ for process adherence even on red days to reinforce the right behavior.
Size Risk First: Fixed R, Hard Daily and Weekly Stops
Adam Scarr starts by deciding risk before he even looks for entries, and he keeps it fixed per trade. A constant R makes results comparable and stops him from sneaking size when emotions rise. He ties that R to account rules—especially if it’s a funded account—so a single loss is just a routine cost, not a crisis. This structure lets him judge performance by execution quality, not the dollar swings that can knock a trader off plan.
He also runs hard brakes: a daily max draw and a weekly max draw that shut him down automatically when hit. Adam Scarr treats these like circuit breakers; once triggered, the session or week is done, no debate, no revenge clicks. With that guardrail in place, he’s free to let individual trades play out without fear of blowing the account on a bad day. The result is a smoother equity curve built from repeatable 1R decisions, not sporadic heroics.
Trade Mechanics Over Prediction: Liquidity Sweeps, Displacement, Fair Value Gap Entries
Adam Scarr keeps forecasting to a minimum and lets mechanics do the heavy lifting. He watches for a liquidity sweep that runs obvious stops, then waits for decisive displacement to prove real intent. Only after that impulse does he consider the pullback, and even then, he wants it into a clean fair value gap. This sequencing turns chaos into a simple checklist: sweep, shove, retrace.
Execution for Adam Scarr is binary at the point of interest. If the return into the gap is labored or the impulse lacks body, he passes and preserves R for the next clean setup. Stops live beyond the swept extreme, and targets aim for the next pool of liquidity, with partials banked early to neutralize risk. The focus isn’t prediction; it’s repeating the same mechanical trigger until the stats carry the day.
Volatility-Based Allocation: Adjust Attempts, Targets, and Trail Only After Structure Shifts
Adam Scarr sizes his expectations to the tape, not the other way around. When volatility expands and momentum is clean, he allows two attempts per idea and widens first targets to let price breathe. In slow, choppy conditions, he cuts attempts to one and brings targets closer to the nearest liquidity pool. This keeps his realized R aligned with what the market is actually offering today.
He also times management to structure, not emotion. Adam Scarr won’t trail until a clear shift in market structure confirms the move; otherwise, he risks choking a winner in noise. If the structure hasn’t flipped, partials come at 1R and the stop stays put; once it flips, he locks break-even and lets the rest hunt the next liquidity pocket. By syncing attempts, targets, and trailing to volatility and structure, he preserves an edge on quiet days and fully participates when the market runs.
Diversify By Session, Instrument, and Setup Type With Process Discipline
Adam Scarr spreads his edge across a few clean instruments and two active sessions, so no single market dictates his day. If the London open is messy on his primary pair, he’ll shift attention to New York or a correlated index future rather than forcing trades. This kind of diversification is narrow on purpose—just enough variety to find opportunity, not so much that analysis becomes chaotic. Each instrument gets its own bias, POIs, and do-not-trade conditions, written before the bell.
He also diversifies by setup type without mixing rule sets mid-trade. Adam Scarr runs a small menu—like “Sweep→Displacement→FVG” and a breaker retest—and tags each trade by setup, session, and instrument in his journal. If one setup underperforms for a week, it’s benched while the others keep him engaged, preserving psychological momentum and account stability. Process discipline ties it all together: same pre-market checklist, same risk per idea, and the same shut-down rules regardless of which market or setup is in play.
Defined Versus Undefined Risk: Clear Invalidations, Two Tries Per Idea Max
Adam Scarr treats undefined risk as the silent account killer, so every trade begins with a precise invalidation level tied to structure. If price tags that level, the idea is wrong—no averaging down, no “just a few more ticks.” With a fixed stop and a fixed R, he can judge outcomes cleanly and avoid the slippery slope of discretionary wiggle room. This turns each attempt into a controlled experiment rather than a hope trade.
He also caps commitment with two tries per idea and then stands down. If both attempts fail, Adam Scarr assumes the read is off or the market is not ready and preserves capital for a cleaner look. The next trade must be a fresh setup, not a rehash fueled by emotion. Defined risk, clear invalidation, and a strict attempt limit keep his expectancy intact and his psychology steady.
Adam Scarr’s closing message is simple: earn your confidence through work, protect it with rules, and let the market come to you. He hammers the value of doing at least 100 backtests to truly believe in a strategy, because real conviction shows up only after you’ve logged the reps and seen the stats hold across dozens of trades. That work ethic becomes your edge when the heat’s on—confidence anchored to evidence, not hope.
From there, Adam Scarr ties results to math and structure: know your win rate, know your risk-to-reward, and understand how one solid winner can erase two losers if your R multiples are aligned. He shows what that looks like in the real world—passing no-time-limit prop evaluations by “chipping away,” taking roughly three months to clear a challenge, and steadily compounding to bigger milestones. The outcome: funded capital now and a trajectory toward larger allocations because the process scales.
Just as important, Adam Scarr admits the messy parts: more than a decade to get consistent, the cost of trying to figure it all out solo, and the turning point that came from humility and accountability. Asking for an accountability partner stopped the strategy-hopping and forced better decisions—because it’s hard to report the same mistakes every two weeks. He closes by urging traders to invest in themselves and not to quit; progress compounds when you commit to a single rule set, track it honestly, and keep showing up.
