Is paper trading gold useless?

No, but its only honest job is testing whether your rules are clear enough to follow. Any expectancy number produced on paper should be treated as an upper bound, not a result.

Can I skip demo and go straight to small live?

Only if you already trade the same broker and instrument daily. Otherwise the demo stage is where you discover the symbol variant, contract size and rollover behaviour, and that discovery is cheaper without money on it.

How do I paper trade gold realistically?

Add a fixed cost to every trade — say 0.40 dollars per ounce for spread plus a slippage allowance — and record entries only at prices that actually printed after your signal, never at the signal candle low.

PAPER TRADING GOLD VS DEMO

Paper trading gold tests rule clarity and pattern recognition, while a demo account tests spread, slippage and order handling on XAUUSD.

Expectancy figures produced from paper trading should be treated as an upper bound because fills and stops are assumed perfect.