Prop firm rules, one at a time

These guides take the rules that end most futures evaluations and explain each one with real numbers: how the trailing drawdown moves, why end-of-day and intraday accounts behave differently, what a daily loss limit stops, how consistency rules move your target and what payouts require.

New to prop firms? Read them in order. Already trading an eval? Jump to the rule that keeps catching you. Every guide ends with a way to practice the rule in the simulator, because reading about drawdown and watching it move on your own trades are two very different things.

• What a futures prop firm is, and what you're actually paying for

  How futures prop firms work: pay for a simulated evaluation, pass the rules, then trade a funded account for payouts. What the fees buy and what they don't.

• Trailing drawdown, explained with numbers you'll actually see

  What a trailing drawdown is, how it moves on end-of-day and intraday accounts, where it locks, and the three mistakes that blow most futures evaluations.

• End-of-day vs intraday trailing drawdown

  End-of-day and intraday trailing drawdown side by side: which balance moves the floor, what happens to open profit you give back, and which style suits which trader.

• The daily loss limit: what it stops, and what it doesn't

  How the daily loss limit works in futures prop evals: soft limits that pause you, open trades, the reset, and why it still drains your trailing drawdown.

• Consistency rules: the math behind the best-day percentage

  How prop firm consistency rules work: the best-day percentage, why a big day raises your target instead of failing you, and the numbers firm by firm.

• The profit target: plan it backwards from the drawdown

  What the profit target in a futures prop eval really asks for, how to split it into days you can survive, and why the drawdown should set your pace.

• Evaluation vs funded account: the rules that change after you pass

  What changes when an eval becomes a funded account: starting balance, drawdown locks, payout buffers, payout rules and the fees in between.

• Payout rules: what you need before the first withdrawal

  How futures prop firm payouts work: qualifying days, minimum and maximum per request, profit splits, buffers and what a payout does to your drawdown.