So what is spread betting? Spread Betting as the name suggests is betting on more than one outcome in a sporting event in order to maximise your chances of winning.
Spread betting has always had a kind of stigma surrounding it as of course it carries higher risk and involves risking more money if it goes wrong but it can have its rewards too.
Spreads can offer a different angle on betting on certain sporting markets such as football where for example bookmakers may offer a spread on how many points a team will finish the season with.
An Example Of A Spread Bet
The bookies are offering a spread on how many points certain teams will finish the English Premier League season with…
Picking through the 2021/22 Premier League points spread betting you may find Tottenham – who finished the previous season with 62 points – quoted with a points spread of 62 – 63.5.
That means the house thinks Spurs’ final tally for the season will be between 62 and 63.5 points. If you fancy them to do better than that, then you can buy over 63.5. If you think they will struggle this season and end with less than 62 points, then it would be wise to sell.
If you’re right and Tottenham achieves a final amount of 76 points in the table, it’s time to collect your profit, which is calculated as follows using a £10 stake: 76 points – 63.5 points x £10 stake = £125 prize.
That’s the good bit and it’s also the easy bit but, in spread betting, there’s the possibility of a player losing much more than their original stake. Here’s a quick example of how using the above example but in the opposite result.
Spurs only managed to get 50 points this season 63.5-50 x £10 stake = -£115 loss to you as for each point you are wrong under the spread you have to cover £10.
Be Careful And Understand The Risks
As the earlier example shows whilst you can make a lot of money in spread betting you can lose a lot too, don’t rush into it and learn everything you can first before trying it.
Make sure you have the bankroll to cover it and also try to put some safeguards on your money.
Safeguarding against the risks of spread betting
There are a few ways you can do this the main one would be to not get into spread betting over short-term markets such as a horse race and focus on a longer-term outcome like the example earlier.
This will allow you to keep track of your risk and get out before it gets too risky for you.
Another way to limit your risk is to use bookmakers like Spreadex that have a 10% margin call on their spread bets, this means that if any losses reach 10% punters are prompted to pay more to keep the bet alive or to close the bet and limit the risk.
Stop Losses
Something you should always use is a stop loss if it’s available, this is somewhat like an automatic cash out you can set when you want your bet to close if the loss is reaching your designated amount, or to close and sell when the profit reaches your assigned amount.
This gives you more control over your losses and also gives you chance to do something else other than keep checking your spreads.
Research
Make sure you put the time and effort into researching a spread before you put one on, it’s pointless betting blind with such markets as you can quickly end up in the red especially if you are using short-term markets like horse racing.
Conclusion
Spread betting is for the more advanced punter, you must understand all the basics of betting before trying this type of bet, the risks are far higher if you do it wrong but it does have advantages done right.
If you are completely new to this we suggest reading our betting guides in order to familiarise yourself with the basics first, knowledge is power, and the more you learn the more you will profit in betting.
Don’t forget you can check out our Tipster Reviews we have reviews of Football tipsters, horse racing tipsters, and all other sports too.
