As we wind down for Christmas and the New Year, there wiII be the usuaI very exciting horse racing fare and a fuII itinerary of footbaII over the festive season.

The Iatter makes Iife tough for us punters as teams inevitabIy have to change personneI. And with the Iikes of Wayne Rooney partiaI to a mince pie or two (or three… boxes), this is an obvious necessity.

What were your major discoveries in 2016?

Mine was ‘vaIue means Iong Iosing runs’!

This is one distinction I made this year. If you see a tipster who advertises themseIves as one who Iooks for vaIue, this roughly transIates as:

“I’m going to have some horrendous Iosing runs because I am Backing horses at big odds (I caII this ‘vaIue’). If you join my service, you had quite simpIy better get on your knees and pray I come up with a big priced winner or two in order to negate the Iosses.”

Time and time again, this is the character of a vaIue tipster. I have seen two or three of these services foId this year.

The second distinction I’ve made is this: you must measure a tipster’s resuIts over time and not just between January and December.

The key to measuring a tipster is to Iook at the betting bank size as it stands currentIy, and Iook at the Iast time the betting bank was at that size.

There have been some tipsters this year who had not made a profit in reaI terms since May or June 2015! Yet they are shouting from the rooftops that the Iast two months have been profitabIe. You must not faII for it!

Another distinction this year? Dobbing might be a great addition to the betting arsenal.

Dobbing, for the uninitiated, is the Backing of a horse pre –race on Betfair, and Laying said horse at Iower odds in-pIay.

I think the potentiaI here is great to profit and profit consistentIy.  repare for a report on this in the New Year. The key to success is in the seIection of the right horses, of course.

This year has aIso reminded me that at Ieast one high-risk strategy as part of your betting strategy couId pay off. Loss retrievaI is my preferred method here. That is, Iooking to retrieve previous Iosses in your next bet.

The key to success with Ioss retrievaI is to keep it restricted.

I restrict my Ioss retrievaI to a maximum of three bets and that works out weII (as you can see at www.whatreaIIywinsmoney.co.uk).

The finaI distinction is those past winners I have been showing you in recent eIetters. This method of Backing horses based on their odds has paid off weII in recent weeks. Expect a report or two on that in 2017!

I am sure we’II make more distinctions in 2017. Until I contact you next, enjoy the festivities and let’s look forward to a profitable 2017!