Prop‑Firm Daily Drawdown: A Practical Way to Set Risk per Trade (Free Tool)

Most eval failures come from sizing too big early in the day. Here’s a practical way to set risk per trade so a short losing streak doesn’t blow the session — plus a free planner you can use in 60 seconds.

What daily drawdown really means

Daily drawdown (DD) is the max loss you can take in a session. Some firms use a static limit (e.g., €2,500 every day on a €50k account). Others use trailing/floating limits that move with realized/unrealized equity. Read your firm’s definitions: balance vs. equity, and whether it resets.

Fast method to pick risk per trade

1. Find the firm’s DD (example: €2,500).
   


2. Choose risk/trade around 0.25–0.50% of balance during eval. On €50k, 0.5% ≈ €250.
   


3. Compute max losing trades before violation: DD / RiskPerTrade → 2,500 / 250 = 10.
   


4. 
   Daily stop: stop at −DD or after about half the max losing streak (≈5 in this example).

Worked example

Account: €50,000 • DD: €2,500 • Risk/trade: €250

• Max losing trades before violation: 10
  


• Stop after 5 consecutive losses or when P&L ≤ −€2,500
  


• Add size only after daily P&L is ~ €1,000 (≈40% of DD)

EV sanity check

If your win rate is win and reward‑to‑risk is RR, EV/trade = (win × RR − (1 − win)) × R.


With win = 0.40, RR = 2, R = €250 → EV ≈ €50/trade. Positive EV ≠ no variance — it just means your rules are worth following over a sequence.

Common mistakes this avoids

• Oversizing early


• Adding size too soon


• Averaging into losers

Use the planner (free)

Open the calculator, enter your numbers, and export a PDF rule sheet:

➡ https://toolfleet.pages.dev/tools/prop-dd/

If you want the written logic and a checklist, here’s a short guide:

➡ https://toolfleet.pages.dev/guides/prop-drawdown/

Educational only. Not financial advice.