My opening sentence of the March review went like this:
“Without a doubt the last couple of months have proven to be tricky ones for the racing tipsters in the portfolio.”
Well, April was not so much “tricky” for the racing services, as “blooming disastrous”. Of the six racing tipsters, only one was profitable – Racing Service A. Mind you, this month was also a barren one for the two sports services too and Racing Service A was in fact the only service in the entire portfolio to turn a profit.
April has simply been one of those months that we get from time to time. Just as we occasionally get the joyous bumper months, we have to accept we’re going to get the odd crappy one too. We have just to man-up and deal with them when they hit. The overall ROC downside for the month is perfectly manageable and although there is certainly room for considerable improvement in terms of 2017 form from the racing tipsters in particular, there is no need to worry just yet.
April’s Figures
The total figures for April’s betting are: ROI -8.15%, ROC -4.53%.
Let’s start on the positive – Racing Service A rounded off their 2016/17 season with a good Aintree. Although not a part of the service’s official figures, I always include the results from the Aintree Festival in mine. I see no reason why not to.
Tipster A experimented with a new staking system over the three days’ racing, designed to provide more flexibility in the way he can recommend his tips. I know too that he has been disappointed in the season’s balance sheet as a whole, and is looking at ways he can improve again next year. A tweaked staking system is one of these ways. ROI 81.25%, ROC 6.5%.
And rather more quickly than I would prefer, on to the losing services!…
To be fair to Football Service 1, it was essentially a break even month. I know some football bettors prefer to take it very easy during April and May, either decreasing the size of their stakes or not placing any bets at all in the belief that with motivation for some teams being questionable in the latter stages of the season, the form can’t be relied upon. Personally, I have always continued betting as normal, and it has been no different this season. ROI -0.5%, ROC -0.16%.
There was a wonderful Monday for Racing Service B back on the 24th, with three winners advised from three bets at 7s (x2) and 4s. This rather rescued what had been threatening to be a pretty poor month. It was a shame that Tipster B couldn’t kick on from that and into profit over the course of the week in April that remained. ROI -5.95%, ROC -2.97%.
The theme of looking straight into the eyes of a disastrous month before pulling things around and ending with at least an air of respectability was also in evidence when we turn to look at Northern Monkey’s month. A series of good winners spread over the last week or so meant that what had looked like a mountain of losses ended up as not being too serious at all. We’re about to enter the period of the year – late-spring/midsummer – when Wayne has been traditionally at his best, so here’s hoping May will be a good’un. ROI -5.12%, ROC -5.85%.
I had an enquiry from a Jason James follower recently, concerned at the service’s current losing run. I think that with a relatively high turnover service such as this one, the losing runs can feel worse than if enduring a drawdown from a low action tipster. It’s all psychological of course, but the nature of this particular type of beast means that when a losing run hits, it feels like you’re losing money at a rapid rate. When we look at JJ’s April figures, they don’t make for great reading, but they are hardly disastrous. We need to remember too that although it might feel as if we’re losing money at a rapid rate when we lose with a service like Jason James, we also win money quickly when the winners kick back in. ROI -12.32%, ROC -7.24%.
Pinpoint Golf is currently doing a thorough examination of their figures – Liam, the tipster, is disappointed that the official numbers do not accurately reflect how the model he utilizes has been performing in general. Reluctant to sit down and examine the data before he has a sizeable sample to analyze (sensible fellow), Liam is now comfortable to be more forensic about his figures and has been sending out some fascinating emails outlining his findings. Fingers crossed he gets the official figures somewhere near where he wants them to be in the year ahead. ROI -10.25%, ROC 7.25%.
It’s not been a great month for Morning Value LITE but not a lot needs to be said. It will continue chugging away and I’m sure the results will follow. ROI -10.64%, ROC -7.66%.
And finally Chasemaster, which has found the going riding soft, heavy in places recently. They don’t seem to be getting much luck at present, and let’s hope the boys turn it around soon. They don’t appear to be panicking, and nor am I. ROI -36.98%, ROC -11.65%.
So there we have it. It’s not rained for a while it seems, which means the ground will be drying out and hopefully the form will settle down too. If so, May I’m sure, will be a lot better than April has been.
