In spread betting, the more you are right, the more you win and the more you are wrong, the more you lose.When spread betting you should always have a clear understanding of the risks of this type of gambling, otherwise, it might just be wiser to take a wad of £5 notes and burn them in the street.
Why is it called "Spread" betting?
The concept of spread betting is that there is a range of possible outcomes for a given event. Sports spread betting actually challenges your skill and judgement (and possibly knowledge) of sport. The spread betting bookie predicts various aspects of sporting (or topical) events and you have to decide whether the prediction is too high or too low.
These predictions are presented in the form of two prices and the gap between the two prices is the spread. Given this information, you have a choice of betting low (called a "Sell") at the first named price or betting high (called a "Buy") at the second price.
You don't really sell or buy anything - you are betting that either the lower value of the quote will not be reached or that the higher value of the quote would actually be exceeded.
What about the risks?
Unlike the more usual fixed-odds betting, you could lose more than your original stake. If you went to your local bookies and bet £10 bet you could only ever lose that £10. However with spread betting a £10 bet could quite quickly end up costing you hundreds of pounds!
What about the rewards?
When compared to normal fixed odds betting, there is more flexibility in spread betting. Not only can you bet before the start of an event, but with spread betting you can also bet during play (called 'in-running'). You may also choose to settle (or 'close') a bet before the end of play, to take an early win or restrict a loss if things go badly.
You can back teams or individuals to perform well or badly and you may oppose favourites without actually nominating who will beat them. One of the more entertaining sides to spread betting is the fact that you don't just have to bet on something to win - You could choose the other side of the spread and bet for it to lose.
Also, when placing a normal bet you are stuck with it until the event is done at which point you've either won or lost. By it's very nature, spread betting means that neither your winnings nor your losses are set. Spread betting can be very rewarding and produce large returns on small stakes on a good day. This means that the more right you are the more you will win. It also means that the more wrong you are the more you will lose.
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