between 40 and 50 K before I knew what I was doing.
in the beginning i thought i knew what i was doing, had no fear and easily made 500 to 1500 regularly on a trade, and surprisingly was able to guard the majority of my capital. but one year into it as my "knowledge" of trading grew and i took on different strategies, i started bleeding money. of course, these were the dumbest newbie strategies that everyone discovers i'm sure. before i knew it, i couldn't pull the trigger, i wanted to make everything back in a few trades, had panic attacks and blew out twice.
after taking a break for over a year, i came back much wiser learning its all about probabilities and money management. Mark Douglas' two books were a huge help.
for most newbies its not possible to make any money, if you are just starting out, trade small, protect your capital, learn the skill and eventually you'll make money. if you try and hit a home run right from the beginning as i did, you'll soon blow out and you'll have nothing to trade with.