Betting Guide » Spread Betting
Spread Betting Guide
Introduction to Spread Betting
Spread Betting is a popular and exciting betting method that can deliver high rewards to punters. It is an exciting betting method because if you place a bet, your bet is open for every second of the match and if your bet is successful, the rewards can be spectacular.
Spread betting allows you to back your own judgement and your pick doesn’t have to win for you to win on the bet. The bookmaker will offer you a quote on a sport, then punters will either choose to 'Buy' or 'Sell’ on that quote. The more accurate your prediction is, the more money you will win. Although it can work both ways.
What is Spread Betting
Spread betting is an unfixed bet type that enables punters to predict the outcome of match or event and back their own judgement against the Spread quotes by a bookmaker. The 'Spread’ is a scoring range on a particular match or event created by the bookmaker.
If punters believe the spread is too high then they will 'Buy’. If they believe the spread is too low, then they will 'Sell’. The definitions of Buying and Selling are listed below:
- Buying: If you believe the spread is too low then you will buy, meaning that for every point over the spread the result is, you’ll win. For every point under the spread, you’ll lose. The result is calculated by multiplying your stake by the difference between the top of the spread and the result.
- Selling: If you believe the spread is too high then you will sell, meaning that for every point under the spread the result is, you’ll win. For every point over the spread, you’ll lose. The result is calculated by multiplying your stake by the difference between the top of the spread and the result.
Spread Betting Bet Types
Bookmakers that offer spread betting will always have several different betting types for punters. Some of the more popular bet types offered by bookies are as follows:
- Totals: Back the spread on a variety of match and series totals such as points scored, corners awarded and games won.
- Supremacy: Supremacy betting pits the superiority of one team, person or horse over another in categories including margins and possessions.
- Performance Bets: An artificial points scale designed to measure the outcome of an event or contest. Most bookmakers will offer a range of performance bets including finishing positions, 100 Indices and Jockey Performance.
Sports that Spread Betting can apply to
There are many different sports where Spread Betting applies to. Some of those sports include:
- Australian Rules
- Soccer
- Cricket
- Rugby League
- Rugby Union
- Golf
- Tennis
- American Football
- Motor Racing
- Thoroughbred Racing
Some Examples of Spread Betting
To help you understand spread betting a little bit better, we here at Free Bet Info will provide you with a few examples which will help you understand the concept a little better:
Cricket
If Australia were playing England in a cricket match and the bookmaker offered a spread of 300-350 on Australia’s first innings total, then the following will happen:
- Buy at 350: If you think Australia will have a good first innings and score over 350 runs in their first innings, you would Buy. You would then select how much you wanted to stake.
- Sell at 300: If you think Australia will struggle to score 300 runs then you would take the sell option. You would then select how much you wanted to stake.
Outcome of Bet:
If Australia scored 450 runs and you used the Buy option with a stake of $10, then you would of won $1000 from your bet. For example, Australia scored 100 runs over the spread of 350 and your stakes was $10 per each run over ($10 x 100 = $1,000). However, if you bought and Australia scored 250 runs, then you would of made a loss of $1,000 ($10 x -100 = -$1000)
If Australia scored 200 runs and you used the Sell option with a stake of $20, then you would of won a total of $3,000 because Australia would of scored 100 under the spread. ($20 x 100 = $2,000). However if Australia scored 350 runs then you would of lost $1,000 because Australia would of scored 50 runs over the spread ($20 x -50 = $2,000)
AFL
If Carlton were playing Collingwood and your bookmaker was offering 180-185 for the total points scored in the match, then you would have the following options:
- Buy at 185: If you think the game will be high scoring then you would use the Buy option.
- Sell at 180: If you think the game will be low scoring then you would stake on the Sell option.
Outcome of Bet:
If the total score of the match was 217 points and you used the Buy option with a stake of $15, then you would make a return of $480 ($15 x 32 = $480). However if the total score was 165 you would of made a loss of $300 ($15 x -20 = -$300)
If you used the Sell option with a stake of $20 and the total score was 155 points, then you would of made a win of $300 ($20 x 15 = $300). However if the total was 187 then you would of made a loss of $140 ($20 x -7 = -$140)
Reasons why you would use Spread Betting
There are many reasons why punters use the spread betting method. The main reason is because you can magnify your returns if you have strong knowledge on particular sports. Rather than betting at fixed odds, with spread betting you will be rewarded for how accurate your pick is. That means that because the bet is not decided until the match is fully complete, the more accurate you are with your pick then the higher the dividend will be.
Another reason why spread betting is so popular is because it keeps punters involved for the whole game. Often, with bets such as head to head betting or the likes, if the match is one sided your bet could end up losing early on. However in spread betting, every single point scored matters and its an exciting prospect. Even in one sided matches, every single point will still matter.
Conclusion
Now you should now understand how Spread Betting works and why its such a popular method of betting. The returns you can make on spread betting can be very large and if your very knowledgeable with a particular sport, then spread betting may be for you!
Spread Betting in Australia
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