We have collated answers to some common questions regarding sports spread betting. The information below explains how sports spread betting works in the UK and is important to note this differs from ‘betting against the spread’ or ‘line betting’ in the US.
Read on to find out more below.
The ‘spread’ in sports betting in the UK is essentially a prediction on the outcome of an aspect of a match or event. The top of the spread is the level at which you can ‘buy’ and the bottom of the spread is the level at which you can ‘sell’.
E.g. if a football match has a Total Goals spread of 2.9 - 3.1, this means that the bookmaker thinks there will be three goals scored in the game (the mid-point of the spread in this example).
If you thought there would be four or more goals you would buy at 3.1. But if you felt there would be two or fewer goals, you would sell at 2.9. The level you win or lose from your bet is determined by how far away the ‘make up’ or final result is from your buy or sell price, multiplied by your stake.
Call the bet correctly and you can win many multiples of your stake. However, get the bet wrong and it is possible to lose more than your initial stake or deposit.
Find out more on sports spread betting with Spreadex Sports here.
What is the +/- spread in sports betting?
The +/- spread in sports betting in the UK is used to show who the favourite is in a sports match or event. Typically this is known as a ‘Supremacy’ spread bet.
For example, in a football match, the Goal Supremacy +/- spread my be represented as Team A/Team B 0.9 – 1.1. This means the bookmaker thinks Team A is a goal stronger than Team B (the mid-point of the spread in this example).
The settlement or ‘make up’ of this type of spread bet can have a negative end result.
E.g, in the example above, if the underdog Team B ended up winning the game by one goal, the settlement would be -1 based on Team A/Team B. So a ‘buy’ at 1.1 would lose 2.1 times your stake (-1 - 1.1) but a sell at 0.9 (i.e. backing the underdog) would win 1.9 times your stake ((0.9 + 1).
Find out more on Supremacy spread betting with Spreadex Sports here.
What is the +1.5 spread in sports betting?
The +1.5 spread in sports spread betting in the UK relates to the margin a bookmaker believes a favourite will win a match or event or by which a horse may beat another horse in a horse race, in lengths.
For example, in a football match the Goal Supremacy of Team A/Team B could be 1.4 – 1.6. The mid-point of the spread here is 1.5, representing the bookmakers’ view of how much stronger the favourite is over the underdog.
Or in the example of a horse racing spread bet Match Bet, the spread may be Horse A/Horse B 0.5 – 1.5. If you felt Horse A would beat Horse B by more than 1.5 lengths you would buy on the spread.
But if you felt that Horse A would win by less than 0.5 lengths, or that Horse B would actually beat Horse A, then you would sell on the spread.
Find out more on horse racing spread betting Match Bets here.
What does a +7 spread mean?
For sports spread betting in the UK, a +7 spread means the predicted level the bookmaker thinks a particular sporting outcome in a match, race or event will finish at.
This could be the number of corners in a football match, number of points a rugby team or NFL side will beat another by, the number of lengths a horse may win a race by or the number of runs to be scored by a tailend batsman.
The spread is shown by displaying the ‘buy’ and ‘sell’ points. So a spread on the number of points a rugby team may beat another (known as Points Supremacy) by could be Team A/Team B 6 – 8. This would indicate the mid-point of the spread as +7.
Here you would ‘buy’ at 8 if you felt Team A would win by 9 points or more. Or you would ‘sell’ at 6 if you felt Team A would win by 5 points or fewer or would lose the game (or if the game ended in a tie).
Find out more on rugby spread betting here.
How do I win if I bet the spread?
For sports spread betting in the UK, how you win if betting on the spread is determined by the distance the market makes up from your ‘buy’ or ‘sell’ bet, multiplied by your stake.
For example, if you were placing a spread bet on Total Goals in a football match, the spread on offer may be 2.8 – 3.
If you bought £10 a goal at 3 and there were 6 goals in the game, then you would win £30 ((6 – 3) x £10).
However, if there were no goals scored in the game then you would lose £30 ((0 – 3) x £10) as with spread betting, you can lose more than your stake and deposit should the bet go against you.
Click the following link to find out more about how sports spread betting works.
Is spread betting better?
Here at Spreadex Sports, we are often asked ‘is spread betting better than fixed odds (sportsbook) betting?’ But the answer is that it is simply different!
With sports spread betting in the UK you get the choice of many alternative betting markets offering different ways to bet on your favourite sport.
However, it is vitally important to understand how spread betting works – in essence, you elect to go higher or lower than the bookmakers’ prediction, or ‘spread’.
Get the bet right by buying or selling either side of the spread and you can win many multiples of your stake. However, get the bet wrong and you can lose more than your stake and/or deposit.
Find out more about how spread betting differs from traditional fixed odds (sportsbook) betting here.
What does a minus spread mean?
For sports spread betting in the UK, a minus spread means the level a team, individual, horse or dog is predicted to be beaten in a match, event or race.
However, the spread is very rarely shown in a minus format but instead with the favourite listed with their ‘Supremacy’ price quoted over the underdog.
For example, in a tennis match Player A/Player B may have a Match Supremacy price of 9 – 12. This market is based on 10 points being awarded to the winner, plus a further five points per set won by.
Here the market could have a negative result or ‘make-up’ if they underdog were to win. E.g. in the case above, if the underdog won by a set, then the make-up of Player A/Player B would be -15. If the favourite were to win by a set, then the make-up of Player A/Player B would be 15.
Click the following link to find out more about spread betting on tennis.
How do you read a spread?
How to read a spread when participating in sports spread betting in the UK, is to treat it as a bookmakers’ prediction on the outcome of a certain aspect of a sports event.
For example, a bookmaker may predict a named batsman to get between 45 and 50 runs during an innings. The spread here could be written as Player Name Runs 45 - 50.
The way you would read the spread is, you would ‘buy’ at 50 if you felt the player would score 51 runs or more. Or you would ‘sell’ at 45 if you felt the player would score 44 runs or fewer.
Remember, that with spread betting you can lose more than your initial stake or deposit should you read the bet incorrectly so it’s always important to fully understand how the market works before placing a spread bet.
Click the following link to see our ‘how to’ explainer video on sports spread betting.
What does a minus 1.5 spread mean in football?
For football spread betting in the UK, a minus 1.5 spread in football can be used to indicate the bookmakers’ predicted difference, in goals, between two sides in a match.
However, this is more commonly presented with the favourite’s positive ‘Goal Supremacy’ spread over the underdog, rather than the other way around.
E.g. for football spread betting, the Goal Supremacy market may read as Team A/Team B 1.4 – 1.6. This means the bookmaker thinks Team A is 1.5 goals stronger than Team B (the mid-point of the spread in this case).
If you felt Team A would beat Team B by two goals or more, you would ‘buy’ on the spread at 1.5.
However, if you felt Team A would win by only one goal or if the match was going to be a draw or that Team B would win, then you would sell on the spread at 1.4.
Find out more about how this form of betting works by visiting our Training On How To Place a Football Spread Bet page.
How do beginners spread bet?
The best way for beginners to spread bet is to place a ‘paper trade’. This is to simply write down a potential bet and then work out what the winnings or losses would have been from the final make up.
With spread betting in the UK, you win by correctly predicting whether the spread will make up higher or lower than the prediction.
The amount you win is determined by the distance the market settles or ‘makes up’ away from your initial buy or sell price, multiplied by your stake.
However, remember that with spread betting, unlike fixed odds (sportsbook) betting, you can lose more than your initial stake or deposit should the bet go against you.
Click the following link to see our beginner’s guide to spread betting.
Can you lose a spread bet?
Yes, you can lose a spread bet and it’s very important to be aware that when participating in sports spread betting in the UK, your losses can exceed your initial stake or deposit.
With spread betting, the ‘more right you are’ then the more you can win. But the opposite is true if you call a bet wrong, and you can end up losing multiples of your initial stake.
It’s vital to understand how any spread betting market works before you submit your bet, and to work out your potential downside or ‘worst case scenario’ should the bet go against you.
Click here to see our guide on how to manage your risk when sports spread betting.
How do you make money on the spread?
When sports spread betting in the UK, how you make money on the spread is determined by whether you correctly go above or below the bookmakers’ prediction on the outcome of a sports event.
The amount of money you win is determined by the difference between the level you ‘bought’ or ‘sold’ at and the final market settlement or ‘make-up’, multiplied by your stake.
For example, in a basketball match the Total Points spread may be 227 – 230. If you bought £2 per point at 230 and the final outcome was 250 then you would win £40 ((250 – 230) x £2).
However it’s important to remember that you can lose more than your initial stake or deposit with spread betting should you get the bet wrong. In the above example, if the final outcome of total points in the game was 210 then you would lose £40 from your £2 bet ((210 – 230) x £2).
Find out more about spread betting on different sports here.
How much do you win if you bet the spread?
For sports spread betting in the UK, how much you win if you bet on the spread is calculated by the distance between your ‘buy’ or ‘sell’ bet, multiplied by your stake.
So while you can win many multiples of your bet if you get it right, the same is true if you get it wrong and you can lose more than your initial stake or deposit.
This may sound confusing to understand, so why not try our Interactive Sports Spread Betting Calculator widget?
Here you can visually see how much you would win or lose by selecting either a ‘buy’ or ‘sell’ spread bet on five different theoretical football spread bets and setting the final market outcome or ‘make-up’ at different levels. This is a great way to better understand how sports spread betting works.
What happens if you match the spread?
With sports spread betting in the UK, what happens if you match the spread is that your bet will result in a small loss, as it has settled within the bookmakers’ predicted range.
To make money from spread betting, you would need the outcome to finish either above or below the range of the spread rather than to match the spread.
For example, the spread on the number of goals a star striker will score in the coming season, may be pitched at 28 – 30. If the striker ends up scoring 29 goals, your bet has ‘matched the spread’ meaning there would have been no profit to make by either buying at 30 or selling at 28.
If the striker ended up scoring 35 goals, you could have made money buying at 30 (5 times your stake size). However, if you had sold at 28 then you would have lost 7 times your stake size if the striker ended up with 35 goals.
At Spreadex Sports we do offer selected markets where you can bet at the mid-point of the spread to prevent this situation occurring.
Find out more on how to qualify for spread-free bets on certain markets here.
Is spread betting risky?
Sports spread betting can be risky – that is why it’s important to fully understand how this form of betting works before placing your first bet.
The difference between sports spread betting in the UK and traditional fixed odds (sportsbook) betting is that you can lose more than your initial stake or deposit with spread betting, unlike fixed odds betting.
The best way to reduce your risk when spread betting is to work out your worst potential downside from a bet and set your stake size accordingly.
E.g. a striker’s Player Goal Minutes in a match may be priced at 7 – 10, so a buy at 10 could only lose 10 x your stake should the player not score. Therefore you would know that a £1 bet would be risking £10 in a worse case scenario, £5 bet £50, £10 bet £100 etc.
See more on how to manage your risk when spread betting via our spread betting Hints and Tips section.
Can you cash out on a spread?
Yes, you can cash out on a spread – in fact sports spread betting was the originator of cash out!
Sports spread betting originated in the UK in the 1990s by allowing gamblers the chance to either ‘buy’ or ‘sell’ on a spread or prediction of the outcome of an element of a match, event or race.
Due to the ever-updating nature of spread betting – e.g. a Batsman’s Runs spread in a cricket match constantly being updated during an innings – it meant that spread bettors were able to cash out in-play by either ‘selling’ or ‘buying’ back on their initial spread bet as the event took place.
Today there are more ways than ever of cashing out when spread betting on sports events.
At Spreadex Sports we offer Auto-Cash Out as well as One-Click and Partial Cash Out.
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