You are here: Betting Guide » Other Sports Betting » A Beginner’s Guide to Spread Betting

A Beginner’s Guide to Spread Betting

A BEGINNER’S GUIDE TO SPREAD BETTING

What is Spread Betting?

Spread betting is an exciting, fast-growing and stimulating form of betting, which offers the client a huge selection of different options to those offered in the fixed odds markets. Contrary to the opinions of many novice punters, spread betting is not complicated. Although numerous spread betting opportunities exist regarding financial markets (UK 100 index etc.), these are not particularly popular with the average punter, so this piece focuses on sports spread betting for the sake of simplicity. There is a huge variety of betting opportunities, but they all rely on one fundamental principle. Once the simple concept is understood, spread betting becomes immediately comprehensible.
Many punters have found that spread betting greatly enhances their watching of sports events, adding an entirely new dimension.

How does Spread Betting work?

A Spread Betting Firm, Betfair being one of the best known, makes a prediction on the result or a specific aspect of a sporting event. This may range from the number of points a team will score in a Premiership season to the number of goals scored in a football match, the number of runs scored by a team in a cricket innings, or the total starting prices at a race meeting.

The punter obviously will have an opinion as to the accuracy of such a prediction. If the prediction is considered too low, a “buy” is in order. Similarly, if the prediction is considered too high, a “sell” bet is appropriate. Obviously, if the prediction is considered “spot-on”, then betting either way is throwing money away. Select a stake and you win / lose the difference between your prediction and the bookmaker’s multiplied by your stake. (See examples below). One of the joys of spread betting is the amount won or lost depends on how right or wrong you are.

Spread Betting Explained

Football Example
Say, in an FA Cup match between Chelsea and Barnsley, Betfair are of the opinion that 3 goals will be scored. A punter who thinks that Chelsea will win, say, 5-0, chooses to buy at 3, for £10 per goal. If there are 5 goals in the game, regardless of the result, he wins:

(5-3) x stake (£10) = 2 x £10 = £20.

However, say Chelsea win 1-0. In this case, a loss is incurred, of

(3-1) x stake (£10) = 2 x £10 = £20.

This is of course a very simple example. Other football spread betting includes Time of First Goal, Time of First Booking, Total Goals, Superiority, Total Bookings, Total Shirt Numbers, Total Corners, Performance Rating, and many others.

Cricket Example
Predict the total number of runs a team will score in an innings.

Example:
England innings runs 260 - 275

This quote says that England’s total runs in an innings will be between 260 and 275.
If you think it will be more than 275, you would go higher (buy), say, for £10 per run.
If you think it will be less than 260, you go lower (sell), say, for £10 per run.
England’s total runs for the innings is 225.
Sellers at 260 would win (260 - 225) x £10 = 35 x £10 = £350.
Buyers at 275, you would lose (275 - 225) = 50 x £10 = £500.

Horseracing Example
Predict the combined total of starting prices of winners at a meeting. Prices that make fractions are rounded up (i.e., 9/4, which is 2.25, would be worth 2.3). The maximum for one winner is 100 (i.e., any winner with a starting price greater than 100/1 will only be worth 100).

Example:
Ascot Starting Prices 50 - 57

This quote says that the combined starting prices total of the winners at the meeting will be between 50 and 57.
If you think it will be more than 57, you go higher (buy), again for £10 per point
If you think it will be less than 50, you go lower (sell), for £10 per point.
The combined starting prices total for the meeting was 49.
If you had sold at 50, you win (50-49) = 1 x £10 = £10
If you had bought at 57, you lose (57-49) = 8 x £10 = £80.

Risks Associated with Spread Betting

Spread betting carries a high level of risk to capital and can result in losses far in excess of the initial deposit/stake. It is not suitable for everyone, so it is vital to have a full understanding of the risks involved. NEVER become involved in any form of spread betting where the total potential loss is not understood. Volatility varies greatly dependent on the market in question. For example, using the above examples, a £10 per goal football bet carries far less potential liability than a £10 per run cricket bet. If uncomfortable about any aspect of spread betting, there a several excellent tutorials and beginners’ guides to spread betting dispersed about the Internet. However, rather than venturing into unknown territory a “portfolio” of online betting accounts with the major online bookmakers can serve a similar purpose. The better online layers such as Victor Chandler, Paddy Power, Blue Square etc. offer the equivalent of the above-mentioned types of spread bets as “under / over” fixed odds bets. These layers, along with the likes of Bet365 and skybet also offer “in-running” prices on most sporting events, so (perhaps surprisingly) many of the benefits of spread betting can actually be obtained without ever having a spread bet.

All odds correct at time of writing. Please click here for the latest odds