Golf offers a huge range of spread betting possibilities on all tournaments which take place on the American and European tours. Bets can be placed on a player's finishing position in the tournament, match bets where you bet on one player against the other, numbers of birdies or bogies on certain holes, and many more. The majors often bring out all kinds of interesting specials, which are always worth a look for their entertainment value.
A prediction on where a golfer will finish at the end of a tournament. This market differs from many others, as you need to Go High (Buy) if you want your selection to do badly, and Go Low (Sell) if you expect him to do well.
For example, Vijay Singh's finishing position may be quoted at 8-11, which means the world expects him to finish 9th or 10th. If you expected him to do better than this, then you would sell his finishing position at 8. If you thought that he might struggle, then you would buy at 11.
A large number of 18 hole match bets are offered on every day of most tournaments. The spread firm picks two players from the whole field and you predict which golfer will win over 18 holes. A player is awarded 10 points for winning plus 3 points for each shot he wins by (to a maximum of 55). A 72 Hole Match Bet is similar, although in this bet you predict who will finish higher of the two at the end of the tournament.
In this market, the spoorts spread betting firm predicts how a golfer will perform in relation to a selected number of their competitors (usually 10). It is important to note that only these 10 players count for the bet, as a result your player does not necessarily need to win the tournament for your bet to win. 50 points are awarded to the top player in the group, 30 points for the 2nd, 20 for 3rd and 10 for 4th. All other players receive 0.
Similar to the Tournament Index, except that every player in the competition counts. The players within the Leaderboard Index correspond with those leading the tournament, so other players may be added to the quotes as the tournament progresses. Points are typically awarded as follows:
When you spread bet in golf, the first rule to learn is that picking out a player you think will win the event is not necessarily your best route to profit. Prices can reflect the chances of a player winning, but some players perform consistently well week to week without ever taking home the trophy. Players such as Scott Verplank, Jay Haas, David Howell and even Darren Clarke have a win record that is poor considering their standing in the game. However, they deservedly have good reputations because they are in contention week in, week out. That's where you can really find value from spread betting.
Take Nick O'Hern, for example. There are punters out there who will religiously back O'Hern every time he enters a tournament - and rightly so. His stats are superb in almost every department, and he regularly contends for victory. Yet how many trophies has he won? None that matter. By Sunday evening O'Hern usually comes up short, which in a win bet is all or nothing. In a spread bet on a 72-hole match bet or finishing position, it's a different story.
O'Hern will regularly get priced up around 27-30 on finishing positions. The figure will fluctuate based on the strength of the event or O'Hern's current form. But 27-30 is a fair average. Now let's step away from his dismal win rate and consider what he does in his events. On the European Tour in the last three years, Nick has stepped up to the first tee 46 times. He has a 33% strike rate on top-ten finishing position, his top-25 record is 61%, and he misses only one in five cuts. Spread punters backing him at an average 27 week in, week out, win over six in ten times.
This is where spread betting can be so profitable. For every punter backing him to win, letting the bet run and losing every single time, there are spread punters out there who know that one in every three times they back O'Hern on finishing positions they will bank an average of nearly 20 times their stake, and only lose that amount one in five. You don't need to be a mathematician to see why O'Hern is a popular choice for those who spread bet.
Another angle that you can use to win on the spreads at golf is to not follow the masses. Some golfers become extremely popular at certain events because of what they have done in the past and the expectation that the well-known tipsters out there will have them in their list of three or four players to back. Examples that can be given are Woods at Bay Hill, where he has won so many times in the last few years, Ernie Els in the Heineken Classic in Melbourne and Phil Mickelson at Augusta - he finally won the US Masters in 2004 having been so close virtually every year.
The sports spread betting firms know that no matter what price they put up, people will want to back that player. So why would they offer 16-19 on finishing positions when experience tells them that if they offer 13-16 it will still be taken? For every ten punters that take the 13 to support, there will probably be only one that will take the 16 to oppose. It is hardly in the spread firms' best interests for those ten punters to win more often than the guy who dared to be different.
So how do you become the one solitary punter rather than the ten who have all backed the same outcome? It's not as straightforward as always opposing popular players. Instead, look for situations where everyone seems to be backing the same player and swim against the tide. Take a note of prices when they are first issued. If a firm starts to change a price through weight of money in one direction then ask yourself a question - was the spread firm wrong to start with or is the money wrong? If you decide the original price was right and now you can get on in the opposite direction at lower, do it.
Another thing you can do is to specialise on a few players. Find out what events they like, if they have a website or injuries - glean any info that might give you the edge on a forthcoming event. The firms must price up over 30 players; you can specialise on one. If you do that, you have always got a chance of making money.
