Spread Betting - High Risk With Potential For Large Gains Or Losses

In this section i am going to talk about spread betting. This is not a form of betting that i use but in compiling my website (successful-sports-betting.com) i feel that it is an important topic which needs an explanation. The principles of spread betting work not only for sports events but in financial markets too,such as stocks & shares and foreign exchange currencies.

When you walk into a high street bookmaker, place a bet on the phone or log onto the internet to have a bet, chances are that you will bet in singles, doubles, trebles or accumulators. Whatever you stake you will know the exact amount you may lose and if you take prices at the time you bet you will know what your potential winnings will be. Even if you take starting prices you will have a rough guide from the board displays and tissue prices what you may win.

When we bet we all have an opinion about an event that compels us to wager our hard earned cash to win more money. A spread bet is designed to reward or punish you in proportion to how right or wrong you were about the outcome of that event. As with normal betting there are different types of spread bets:

The Numbers Spread:
This is where the final outcome of an event is determined by the number of goals, runs, points etc that are scored during the said event.
Imagine the world 20/20 cricket, which is about to start as i write this. The first match is England v The Netherlands. A spread betting company may quote England to score between 180-190 runs. If you think that England will score more than this you would buy the spread at 190 for (say) £10 a point. If England then score 200 runs you would win £100 (10 x £10 as the score was ten runs above the quoted 190 spread). On the other hand if England performed badly and only scored 170 you would lose £200 (20 x £10 as the score was 20 runs below the 190 spread price).
On the other hand if you did not think that England would score 180 runs then you would sell 180 and for each run below 180 you would win £10 and for each run above 180 you would lose £10. the two quotes (buy and sell 190 - 180) exist as the bookmaker profit and go to pay for his profit/expences.
When the event goes 'in running' (ie starts) then the bookmaker will change his quoted spread giving the bettor a chance to act and perhaps close his bet if events are going against him.

The Supremacy Spread:
The betting company may quote a spread that reflects the winning margin of an event. The bettor then buys or sells that margin.

The Match Bet:
similar to the supremacy spread but in this instance the bookmaker puts two competitors against each other in a match and quotes a spread on that individual match up. For example, two horse might be matched such as Kauto Star and Denman witha spread of 2.0 - 3.0 This means that the bookie thinks that Kauto Star beats Denman by between 2-3 lengths. if you fancy Kauto then you Buy at 3 and if you think that Kauto Star will lose or win by less than 2 lengths then you sell the spreaqd at 2.0

Performance Bet:
This is a bet on the final outcome of an event or tournament. If we come back to the world 20/20 cricket then the spread firm may initiate a points system on the competing teams for instance; winner 100 points, second 75 points, losing semi finalist 50 points, losing quarter finalist 25 points.
They then allocate a spread for each team ie England 51 - 55 points. If you think England will get to the final then you would buy the spread at 55 and if you think they will not get that far then you would sell the spread at 51.

This is a sophisticated and risky form of betting where rewards are potentially high and loses can be equally high. Not for the faint hearted and i suggest that if you wish to bet this way then you employ a stop loss (a point where you get out if it looks like things are going against you). I know people who have lost their flats/houses through financial spread betting or trading the markets when a crash or violent swing occurs such as the recent credit crunch!

In Spread Betting 2 I will discuss strategies further.

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If you dream of making an income from your expert knowledge in sports then Successful Sports Betting is the website for you. We aim to help you beat the bookmakers with sound expert advise and ideas so that you can make better choices when you are gambling. Whether you like betting football or another sports bet we will help you to improve your choices. From a football bet to any sportsbook odds betting, even spread betting, we will help, explain and advise. We discuss bookmaker incentives like free bets and for the novice there are details on how to sign up to online bookmakers. Click on any bookmaker advert on this website to access that bookmakers website. Happy successful sports betting and good luck !