December 2016 review

It looks like I've managed to celebrate the 10th birthday of Skeeve Picks after all - by taking a one-month break from blogging. I'm not going anywhere though, so I can already announce the next couple of posts I plan to finish and publish in the next five or six days, the first of which will be the 2016 review and the second of which will be an article on the increasingly popular topic of kick-off/closing odds. I've been recording and comparing the pre-mail odds (those available before I send the pick to my clients), the recorded odds (those recorded with a fair delay, when they're usually at their worst) and the kick-off (or, if you want, closing) odds since the beginning of the 2010/2011 season, which means I now have quite a lot of data to analyze, so I'm looking forward to finishing and publishing that article.

As far as December is concerned, there were only three official picks which produced a modest +0.26 point profit at a 5.7% ROI.

OFFICIAL PICKS:

3/12 NL: (-0.5) TRANMERE - York  (1.38 @SBO) 2 points  FT 1:0 (+0.76)
17/12 NL: (0) YORK - Torquay  (1.40 @Pinnacle) 2 points  FT 0:0 (+/-0)
17/12 NL: Lincoln - TRANMERE  (2.96 @Pinnacle) 0.5 point  FT 2:1 (-0.5)

3 picks
4.5 points staked
1-1-1
+0.26 point profit
5.7% ROI
0.4% ROC
(advised bank: 60 points)

December definitely wasn't the busiest month, but it was still the seventh profitable month out of eight "active" months in 2016 - more on that in the upcoming 2016 review. Also, I've now switched back to the usual (or, if you want, full) stakes for the second half of the season (January-May), so four-point asian handicap bets, one-point bets on outsiders and one-point unofficial last-minute bets.


UNOFFICIAL LAST-MINUTE PICKS:

3/12 NL: (-0.25) BROMLEY - Maidstone  (1.77 @Pinnacle) 0.5 point  FT 2:0 (+0.38)
17/12 NL: Southport - (0) EASTLEIGH  (1.49 @Pinnacle) 0.5 point  FT 4:3 (-0.5)

2 picks
1 point staked
1-0-1
-0.12 point loss
-12.0% ROI

A small loss with the unofficial last-minute picks in December, but as you can see, there was only a couple of bets.