January Review – a good, solid start to 2017

Flippin’ ‘eck!  How quickly does time go by?  It only seems a minute ago since it was Christmas!

So the first month of our betting year is complete, and a very nice, profitable month it has been too.  Of the eight services in the portfolio, only one made a loss, and when this happens progress is always going to be fairly smooth.  That’s how January has felt – smooth.  There were no massive dips in performance, no big drawdowns.  Just an easy path to profit, and I love it when it’s like this.  It makes the game feel easy.

But of course the game is anything but easy.  There will be testing times to come.  It’s not a matter of if, but when.  No point in losing any sleep though.  Let’s just enjoy a good run whilst it lasts.

January’s Figures

The total figures for January’s betting are: ROI 17.61%, ROC 7.42%.

The outstanding performer of the month was undoubtedly Northern Monkey.  Puzzlingly, when I look at the service’s official results, I seem to have staked an extra half a point. Goodness knows where that was!  My return of +22.66 points is 1.57 points greater than Wayne’s record, highlighting again the fair price settlement policy that he employs.  ROI 41.45%, ROC 28.33%.

Jason James‘ year got off to a flying start.  After the first week/ten days, things slowed a little for him, but nevertheless a strong profit was made through the month as a whole.  Without giving away too much, his February has got off to a similarly explosive start, so let’s hope for more of the same through the next few weeks.  Notably introduced a subtly different odds recording policy and any move to make a service more follower friendly is to be admired.  It was this service too, that I benefited most from having new bookmaker accounts to use, with BOG concession included.  My figures of +25.41 points profit are on a different level to Jason’s non-BOG applied official result of +13.64 points, and 1.22 points more than Jason’s figures with BOG applied.  This pleases me immensely!  ROI 18.28%, ROC 12.57%.

The Morning Value (Lite) service is one that can make a profit in what I would describe as a ‘stealthy’ fashion.  Backing at the front end of the market and to level stakes means that there are never any spectacular wins.  So when profit accumulates, it’s done quietly.  There’s a lot to be said for this – it’s easy on the old ticker!  ROI 20.61%, ROC 7.63%.  

January tends to be a relatively quiet month for Racing Service A, lying as it does between the frenzy of Christmas racing in December and the Cheltenham Festival in March.  It is when winter is at it’s darkest and deepest too, with desperate ground conditions often the norm.  Exacerbating the issue is the tipster finding the midweek markets too weak to tip into, which I feel is a constant source of frustration to him.  In an effort to counter a lack of betting turnover a little, he is looking to issue more ‘Top Picks’, ie. horses at shorter prices that he doesn’t feel he can issue as an official tip because of the price, but which he feels have a darned good chance of winning.  I will add these to my official figures moving forwards from this point – their record is outstanding.  Despite the small number of bets, it was a successful month.  ROI 51.79%, ROC 7.25%.

It was a similarly quiet month for the Football Service 1.  Just 11 bets issued, turnover no doubt effected by the third and fourth rounds of the FA Cup reducing the number of league games played.  Still, a good profit returned.  ROI 32.63%, ROC 7.18%.

Back to horse racing and it has been a solid enough start to the year for Racing Service B.  It’s still not reaching the spectacular heights of the past, but a definite return to form this month.  If he can maintain this gathering momentum through February, then I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see a massive month posted in the near future.  Who knows, it could even be this month.  ROI 11.61%, ROC 5.81.

A more or less break even month for Chasemaster.  ROI 4.03%, ROC 1.63%.

And finally, the only bum note for January – Pinpoint Golf.  Not a disastrous month by any means and with the Tours getting into full swing now, there’s a lot of betting action to look forward to.  I am giving serious consideration to incorporating the Top 10 and Top 20 bets that are issued but which don’t go down on the ‘official’ slate.  I can see their value in that they should theoretically cut down the losing runs that are an inevitable part of golf betting, and their historical performance is strong.  It would necessitate a change in bank/staking, so some thought necessary before taking the plunge.  ROI -15.37%, ROC -7.43%.

Until next time.

Rowan Day