In 1986, the publisher of Showtime Magazine invited me to lunch and I thought he was going to acknowledge me for an 11-2 Headline Play record in his publication. For nine years, beginning in 1983, I wrote a weekly feature for the publication that focussed on a single game and for years that selection had been highly successful.

Turns out, he wasn’t there to acknowledge my work at all, but rather grill me on why the picks on all the games as shown in the published Efficiency Form weren’t doing better?

“If you can pick one winner almost every week, why can’t you do better on all the games?” he asked after we ordered but before our food arrived.

I knew why.

Since I opened Qoxhi Picks in 1981, and even the work I had done in the four previous seasons under the name of Pro Club, my life was centered around finding that one pick each week that my data indicated was the best pick of the week. I knew what I was looking for in a top pick, and most games didn’t reach even the first level to be considered.

Once I isolated what I thought was the best pick I wrote the column for his publication and then clicked off the other picks for the Efficiency Form without thorough research given the deadline for my article and graph was Tuesday afternoon.

“You’ve got to do better on all the picks,” he said after taking a sip of his ice tea.

I am still monomaniacal about locating that one excellent Top Pick for Qoxhi clients. This year, they have finished the first twelve weeks of the season with a 9-3 point spread record and over more than 40 years have a lifetime record just shy of 70%. Each week, in addition to the Top Pick, clients get additional plays that are most often rated “4” for the money management strategies.

My obtainable goal each NFL season is to hit more than 70% on Top Picks and between 58% and 62% on other released games with money management numbers. In 2007, we published a feature called Bold Friday in a local newspaper which offered opening, current and projected closing lines on all NFL games. That year we won 61% of our selections while picking every game against the point spread.

Those two features, NFL Efficiency Form and Bold Friday, remain available on the current Qoxhi site. Three years ago, we added an account management strategy that dictated wagers on the first quarter, first half and final score. In the first season it was made available, the Triple Play method generated a 34% profit; last year, 39% profit.

This year, the Triple Play method has lost more than 30% through 12 weeks with the Basic Strategy down 10% while our four rated games have produced a point spread record of 13 and 19. The three strategies that emphasize the Qoxhi Top Pick are all doing well, with Top Pick Exclusive generating a profit margin of 77% in 2021.

But, if a client was to invite me to lunch this week, I wouldn’t expect it was to acknowledge me for our 75% winners on Top Picks, but more importantly his or her returns overall when employing the Basic Strategy.

The criticism would be deserved based on recent results. But my response would be the same as it has been for all the years I have been doing this work, “You get my best effort every week and I look forward to delivering you the next selection with expectations it will beat the point spread.”