GUIDE TO SPORTS SPREAD BETTING

With sports spread betting, rather than betting on a simple win-or-lose outcome, you bet on a variety of potential eventualities, which are almost endless. For example:

• The number of goals scored in a football match
• The distance in lengths the favourite will win by in a horse race
• The number of runs a named batsman will score in a cricket match
• The time of the first try in a rugby match
• The total number of points to be contested in a tennis match

It works by you betting against a ‘spread’ which covers an outcome and consists of two prices, a ‘buy’ price and a ‘sell’ price. An example may be a predicted spread of 10 - 11 corners in a Premier League match.

Using your knowledge and nous, you would judge what you think the final outcome will actually be and then bet accordingly - ‘buying’ if you think the prediction is too low, ‘selling’ if you think it’s too high.

IS IT BENEFICIAL?

Put simply, the more right you are, the more you win. Sports spread betting can be very lucrative if you get it right – but can be painful if the bet goes against you.

For many markets, spread firms use a points system. For example, each yellow card awarded in a football match is worth 10 points and each red card is worth 25 points (with a maximum of 35 points awarded for one player).

If the spread suggests that Bookings in the big derby match will be between 58 and 62 it would suggest the bookmaker thinks there will be six yellow cards in the game. If you think tempers will flare and there will be more yellow cards and possibly even a couple of reds, you would ‘buy’. If you think the ref will keep a strict handle on proceedings and maintain order, you’d ‘sell’. The amount you win – or lose – depends on the stake you choose.

Let’s say, for the sake of argument you elect to buy £1 a point at 62. If all hell breaks loose and the bookings points ends at 105, you’d win £43 ((105-62) x £1). However, if the game is a relatively tame affair and bookings points end at 20, you’d lose £42 from your original £10 bet ((20-62) x £1).

See more sports spread betting examples here.

WHAT RISKS DO I NEED TO KNOW ABOUT?

While you can win many multiples of your stake from sports spread betting, you can also lose more than your original stake, as the above example shows. Depending on how much you bet, this could be quite a lot.

It’s important to think carefully before betting, weighing up the potential benefits and pitfalls.

By its very nature, spread betting can be risky because it is so niche. When you are betting on the Total Goal Minutes of Everton against Southampton (the minute each goal in the game is scored, aggregated), you could it get it very right – and you could get it very wrong.

It makes sense to work out your worst potential downside and determine your stake size accordingly. For example, buying Total Goal Minutes, as per above, for £1 on a spread of 130 – 140 would result in a loss of £140 if the game ended goalless ((0-140) x £1).

However, if you staked 10p on this same bet, your worst case scenario would be a £14 loss if the game ended 0-0, but could still result in a decent return if there were a clutch of second-half goals and Total Goal Minutes ended at 400, which would mean a £26 profit ((400-140) x £1).

You can improve your chances of succeeding at sports spread betting by learning effective spread betting skills and strategies. Naturally, the more you play, the more you’ll learn. To help you stay on top of your game, sign up to our Weekly Sports Update.