One of the first things you need to know about sports spread betting as a bettor is what type of spread betting you are referring to.
The phrase “spread bet” has become something of a catch-all phrase and it can refer to several different types of spread betting markets. These can be found within the traditional online betting industry and from a specialist spread betting company.
In this article, we are going to focus on providing a spread betting guide for the most common and easy to follow forms of spread betting in the UK. These spread markets are found alongside the more traditional fixed odds betting markets you find when betting in the UK.
What Is the Simplest Form of Sports Spread Betting?
The easiest to follow and most popular sports spread bet in the UK is the standard fixed odds spread bet you can find on a typical sporting event with your betting site.
While available on multiple sports, arguably the most popular form of spread bet is those you can place on the Winner market for American Football games. These markets can be found in the Game Lines section.
Bookmakers, like bet365 Sport for example, will decide on a handicap for each team in the fixture. In American Football, this handicap is expressed as positive (+) or negative (-) points.
This handicap is then applied to the teams’ total points scored in the game and the altered result is used as the basis as to whether your bet is a winner.
For example, the Arizona Cardinals have been given a +6.5-point handicap in the Spread market against the Steelers. This means if you bet on them at the stated odds of 10/11 then your bet would be a winner if the Cardinals win the game by any score, if it ends in a tie, or even if they were to lose to the Steelers by 6 points or fewer.
Contrastingly, with the Steelers having a -6.5-point handicap, this means that for this bet to be a winner, the Steelers not only must win the game, but must do so by 7 points or more in order for that bet to be a winner.
A successful bet on this market is known as covering the spread and it is one of the simplest ways sports bettors can enjoy a great betting opportunity to spread bet.
You will also find similar spread betting options on other popular sports including football, tennis, cricket, basketball, rugby and in fact across most team and individual sports offered by your standard online sports betting provider.
The Other Type Of Sports Spread Betting Site in the UK
While a standard online bookmaker is very likely to offer the type of spread bet we highlighted above, there are other types of betting sites that offer different types of sport spread bet.
These specialist spread betting platforms offer a different selection of spread markets based on the option to buy or sell at a stated price or range. A good example of just such a platform is Sporting Index.
At Sporting Index, you can place standard bets, including the more popular sports spread bet outlined above, but also a more complex type of spread bet where you bet a stake above or below a range and the amount you win, or lose, is dependent on how far the result is from the range stated.
Your wager is a unit stake, and the unit is dependent on the market for which you are betting. For total goals in football, for example, the unit would be goals scored. For points scored in American Football, the unit would be based on points and so forth.
It sounds complicated when explained in this way, but it is not that difficult to understand, even for someone new to spread betting.
If you think that the result of the spread market will be greater than the range of spread shown, then you would buy. This means you are betting on more points or goals being scored in that game. On the other hand, if you think that the result for the market in question will be less than the state range, you would sell. Which means you think there will be fewer goals or points scored than shown in the spread.
Buy and sell are some of the more popular spread betting terms used to describe the same thing: Your stake.
However, this form of spread betting offers customers more volatility than standard betting on sports as when you place a spread bet like this, you could win, or lose, more than your initial stake.
That’s because your stake is a bet per unit for that market and your outcome of the bet depends on how far outside the spread the end result was, and whether or not your bet, won or lost.
A simple rule of thumb here is, if your bet wins and the result is well outside the spread, you will win more. But if your bet loses and the result is outside of the spread, then you will lose more.
Betting the Spread – How Your Profit/Loss Is Worked Out
When you Buy or Sell on a chosen market, how much profit or loss you make depends on the result of the market you have bet on.
The more potentially volatile that market could be in terms of the result, the more profit you could win if your bet succeeds. However, if your bet is a loser, then the further away the result is from the stated range, the more you could lose.
For example, if you bet the spread on the total goals market in a football game and that spread is set at 2.8 to 3.0, then if you place a sell bet here, you are betting on there being fewer than 2.8 goals in a game.
Therefore, if your game has 0, 1 or 2 goals scored in it, your bet would be a winner, all other number of goals scored would be a losing bet.
Alternatively, if you buy at this price, then your bet would be a winner if there are 3 or more goals scored in it. But if the game has two or fewer goals, your bet would be a loser.
So how would your winnings or losses be worked out if you place a bet on the total goals spread bet market?
The formula for your spread bet returns is as follows – (Settled Price – Buy Price) x Stake.
Let’s show you a winning and losing example on a football match total goals market for a football spread bet.
Winning Spread Bet £5 per unit stake:
- Buy on Spread of 2.8-3 goals. The game in question finishes 4-3 with 7 goals scored.
- (7 – 3) X 5 = £20 profit
Losing Spread Bet £5 per unit stake:
- Buy on Spread of 2.8 – 3 goals. The game in question finishes 0-0 with 0 goals scored.
- (0 – 3) x 5 = -£15 loss
In many sports there are spread betting markets available which can be considerably more volatile than the total goals spread we showed above. These sports spreads can offer considerably greater potential returns, especially compared to fixed odds betting.
But the flip side of this is that they can also see you incur heavy losses if your bet is a loser and the result finishes well outside of the range stated.
Spread betting specialists like Sporting Index that also offer standard sports betting fixed odds markets are therefore a wise choice for bettors that want to enjoy sports spread betting and fixed odds betting in one place.
However, if you just want to explore the easier to follow spread betting opportunities we outlined first in this post and that are available at most betting companies in the UK, then you do have a far wider choice of options.
What Are the Best Sports for Spread Betting?
Some great examples of spread betting sports bettors can bet on include:
- Football – Bet on a football match with one of the leaders in sports spread betting and you will have a wealth of markets to bet on for each game.
- Horse Racing – Another very popular spread betting option.
- Cricket
- Golf
- Tennis
- American Football
- Basketball
- Boxing
- Cycling
- Rugby League & Union
- Snooker
- Virtual Sports
- Greyhounds
- Ice Hockey and many more besides
The Pros and Cons of Spread Betting
Spread betting has its own advantages and disadvantages compared to other types of betting. Let’s take a look at them in more detail.
Spread Betting Advantages Over Fixed Price Odds Betting
- Some forms of spread bets are offered as fixed price odds markets with standard bookmakers.
- You can enjoy spread betting in play, as well as on pre-match markets.
- Some types of spread bet offer you the chance to win much more than your unit stake if your bet is a winner.
- Spread betting is widely available across a selection of sports, fixtures, and markets.
Spread Betting Disadvantages Over Fixed Price Odds Betting
- Some forms of spread bets can only be found at top sports spread betting providers.
- There are not as many sports market options for spread bets as other types of betting.
- You could lose more than your unit stake, sometimes considerably more, on some types of spread betting.
Other Sports Spread Bets Hints and Tips
There are some other points of note that you should be aware of it you are new to sports spread betting and want a little more of the finer details of spread betting explained to you:
- You can often find spread betting markets available on in-play betting markets. These can offer further betting options for an enthusiastic and experienced sports bettor. Football spread betting is one of the most popular live betting options.
- Popular sport betting apps and online sports betting mobile websites carry spread betting markets alongside their standard betting on sports.
- You can find numerous spread betting strategies online that will help you pick and choose the best sports and markets to target when you first start spread betting on sport.
- Sites like Sporting Index will offer their own betting guide to help you get started with spread betting with them.
- If you plan to use spread bets as part of your strategy for matched betting, or to perhaps qualify for a free bet, it is sensible to check the terms and conditions for the offer with your bookmaker as you may discover that certain types of bet, including spread bet may not be allowed when trying to earn a free bet or similar.
- Remember, the first type of spread bet we looked at here is a non-volatile win or lose fixed odds bet available at most standard bookmakers’ betting sites. The other sports spread bet we looked at in the second part of this article is more volatile and can result in significant wins and/or losses depending on the markets selected and the unit stake wagered.
This concludes our guide to spread betting. We hope that this has given you an insight into some of the best spread betting sites, top spread betting options available in the world of sports and how spread betting can enhance your betting experience. A sports spread bet provides an exciting alternative to a common fixed odds bet on a regular sports betting site!
