Sports Spread Betting

Spread betting is by no means a new phenomenon. It has been an integral part of American sports betting for at least a century. Indeed, it is probably its association with the first betting sports scandal involving baseball almost 90 years ago that gave it something of a disreputable aura for many years on this side of the Atlantic.

In sports spread betting a punter can bet on the difference in the scores of two teams playing against each other and whether this will be less or greater than the value specified by the bookmaker.

The value set by the bookmaker is known as 'the spread'. In sports gambling, a bookie might predict that Ireland will beat Argentina in the forthcoming rugby World Cup by 10 points. A punter who bets on Argentina is said to 'take the points' and will win their bet if the South American team's score, plus the 10 point spread, is greater than Ireland's score.

And their winnings increase with every additional point. The patriot who gambles on Ireland is said to 'give the points' and wins if Ireland's score minus 10 points is greater than the Argentinian's total. Of course, the reverse holds true as well, and losses clock up for every point in the other direction that the final score adds up to. The principles are very much the same as in financial spread betting, except that in financial spread betting there is no bookie setting the odds or the spread. In effect, the markets dictate this. The market sets the price and the spread betting firm sets the spread around this.

 Sports spread betting is predominantly for punters who are passionate about sport and can back their judgement against bookmakers. Adrenaline and entertainment combine with live sport and 45% of our business takes place during the event. We are the emotional bet. - Richard Glynn, Spreadfair 

Differences with Financial Betting

The difference between financial spreadbetting and sports betting (for example fixed odds) is that with sports betting you are taking a punt on a specific event with a specific duration. As a rule once the bet is placed you can't change it. Whereas with financial spreadbetting you have the same basic indefinite period as you would have with a normal investment. You can choose when to end the bet. This is a simplification, because even fixed odds bets can be hedged in-running under certain circumstances, and most spread bets have some sort of underlying duration, but it gives the general idea.

Whether or not this sort of day trading is fundamentally any more or less risky than betting on horses depends on the expertise of the person doing it, and isn't a question of whether it's done using real trading or spreadbetting: it is certainly possible to make a very good living betting on sports if you know what you're doing better than the bookies. Horses for courses, possibly?

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What Is Sports Spread Betting?

It is another way to bet on the outcome of things. How many things can you think of that you could have a bet on? What time will it rain tomorrow?

Spread betting companies select something to bet on ---- football, cricket, a horserace etc., and they weigh up each event themselves. They try to judge the outcome, not only on the result of an event, but other things that might happen during the event. After much studying, the company will decide what they think is the likely outcome and take this as their position in the event, and then offer bets either side of this position.

Obviously it isn't an exact science, so they give themselves some leeway. This leeway in their position is called the Spread. You could say, it is the middle ground, but it doesn't necessarily have to be in the middle.

The idea was based on how stocks and shares fluctuate in the stock market. Some broker might have said -- 'I bet that 'particular' stock will go down in price in the next hour'. Another said it will go up and yet another might have said that the price won't change. So they probably had a bet on it between themselves. This idea was then expanded upon and developed into what is now called Spread betting.

You can bet that something will do well, or you can bet on it doing badly --- the choice is offered to you in spread betting.

The companies offer a huge choice of bets, even on a single event. One of the first sports they became interested in was cricket because of the wide range of possibilities in a cricket match.

How many runs will a team score? How many wickets will a bowler take in the match? What will be the total runs in an opening partnership?----- Most spread bets are based on totals. Also they take bets on the winning margin in events where the result is obvious. You can bet on a match between two players in a competition, disregarding all the other players. Bet in-running on live events, where you can stop a bet and take your winnings(profit), or cut your losses at that time if your original bet is not doing well. You don't have to lose all your money waiting for the final result, you can get out early with a loss. You can even open a new bet while the event is in progress.

The list of bets, especially in sports, is growing all the time. Before I show you examples of spread betting, I will give you information on some of the types of bet available in different sports.

Spread Firm Trading Hours

Trading Hours are generally 10.00AM - 10.00PM, Monday to Saturday, and 12.00PM - 6.00PM on Sunday, though it's obviously best to check, especially if you want to place a bet as soon as the market opens. If you ring up the trading desk when it is closed, there will generally be a message telling you at what time it will be opening. Often it can be difficult to get through at the exact time the market opens, because a lot of people will be trying to get on at prices they consider gives them an edge, but it is worth persevering.

If there is a major event happening overseas out of hours to the Ashes cricket tests in Australia are the classic example, then the firms will generally stay open, but specifically for taking trades on that event.

Sporting Index and Sports Spread Betting

Sporting Index is the main site for anyone interested in sports spread betting. It’s come a long way in its 16 years of existence too:

‘In 1992 Sporting Index was founded with just 5 members of staff and 50 clients. The company now caters for well over 40,000 spread bettors with an expanded team of over 100 staff, half of which are based on the trading desk.’

But it took another eight years before the world saw the kind of sports spread betting that everyone wants to see:

‘In 2000 Sporting Index launched the first truly interactive sports spread betting website, and now take 70% of all bets online’.

Four years later they also launched the first spread betting games online. They even had a Play For Fun option, which has become the best imaginable way to learn how to spread bet - without losing (or winning) any money.