spread betting

SPREAD BETTING. THE PRINCIPALS.
 
The firms offering Spread Betting to the public are few but all are experts in their field.
They all have similar operating methods. i.e. They all have excellent websites. You can bet online or by phone and they all have staff who know their business and are helpful in the extreme.
The firms  I will deal with are those who have held their positions in the market and can be trusted. Contrary to many thoughts some bookmakers do over reach themselves and go too the wall. The same could happen with Spread firms. However they are so tightly regulated by the Financial Services Authority that their clients are very unlikely to suffer.
 
 
SPORTING INDEX
 
Founded in 1992 with a handful of staff and not many more clients. They have progressed steadily to their present position were their clients number in their tens of thousands and half of their large staff work on the trading desk.
So successful have they been that they now have a website for the sole use of  their Irish clients.
Progress in other avenues have been consistent. An interactive website that handles over 75% of all it’s trade. A mobile ‘phone facility that is as good as being online. 2004 saw a world first, with Spread Betting Games being added to there lengthening portfolio. Their clients can now enjoy casino and many sports betting games with a Spread Betting flavour.
2007 saw them win "Mobile Operator of the Year" with their Bet on the Move, mobile facility.
They accept all major credit cards and a variety of currencies. Aussie dollar, Euro .Yankee Dollar and of course the GBP. 
 
 www.sportingindex.com
 
 
SPREADEX
 
They have a reputation for having a very friendly and most helpful staff.
"Born" 1999 they have built up a fine client base.
Their Sports Betting portfolio is as you would expect of a market leader. Whatever your chosen sport Spreadex will have something to offer you to trade on.
In addition to Sports Betting they  operate financial spreads on all the commercial markets, including equities bonds and currencies.
Their chosen currency is the Great Britain Pound. (GBP). The usual credit cards are accepted.
Check regularly to see what incentives they are offering, even to existing clients.
They also have a nice gimmick, "Hide me now". Just hit this but when the "enemy" are around and you have a nice blank screen.
 
www.spreadex.com
 
 
I. G. SPORT
 
Their parent company can be considered as the inventors of Spread Betting as we know it.  They had been operating for almost 20 years when their "Sports Child" was spawned in 1993.
They specialise with, "in-running" markets. If there’s live action of some kind going on, you can bet I. G. have an "in-running" market operating on it.
Their online tutorial is very easy to understand and ideal for "newbies". Take a look.
They offer almost identical facilities to their competitors.
Currencies of choice are The Euro and GBP. All the usual credit cards are accepted.
 
www.igsport.com
 
   
 
BETHILO
 
For me, the Jewel in the Crown.
To me this is a "lite" version of Sporting Index, it’s parent company.
Ideal for the newcome, but also a haven for the accomplished "SPREADER".
You don’t need to have a bulging bank account to bet here. £10.00 should open your account. Some markets start as low as a penny a point.  As with it’s parent company, if there’s action going on, you’ll find a market for it here.
Six years old this month, (January), the youngster is growing into a strapping individual. It doesn’t have any pretentions of being the shy youngster either. It accepts The Euro, GBP, US Dollar and Australian Dollar, as well as the usual credit cards.
Like it’s parent, you can place bets  on the Website, Telephone and Mobile.
Telephone and mobile betting can be accessed whenever there is a live event being covered. Access via the internet is 24/7.
Bethilo also runs some unique markets. Soccer Shootout and Cricket Roulette being quite popular. Fancy a flutter on the gee-gees, to get you thru’ the half-time break. Well there’s virtual racing waiting for you.  They run nineteen virtual games as well as Poker and the Casino. Surely something for everybody.
Bethilo is very innovative in many ways. It’s new customer incentive is  quite novel. Place five bets with the potential to win or lose at least five pounds each bet  and receive £30.00 cashback. They’ll also refund your first losing stake up to a maximum of 10. 
 
www.bethilo.com
 

That about sums it up for an intro’ into Spread Betting.

As a reference find the links here to the 5 previous parts of this series:

Spread Betting (part 1)

Spread Betting Markets – Shirt Numbers, Corners (part 2)

Spread Betting Markets 2 – Goal Minutes (part 3)

Spread Betting Markets 3 – Bookings (part 4)

Spread Betting Markets 4 – Win, Lose or Draw, Performance (part 5)

Be certain to read the rules for each firm and the rules for each market that you bet on.
Don’t bet blind. There’s bags of help online.
Do bet responsibly. 

Spread Betting Markets ( Cont’d).
 
Win, lose or draw. (or 25 – 10 – 0).
 
Probably the easiest market to make friends with.
You also know what your maximum liability will amount to, before the game starts.
This market has a few names. As well as those above it’s known as, The Win Index, the Pony, the "25". Probably a few more as well.

The market is set up as, Win = 25pts. Draw = 10pts Lose = 0pts. Each team in the match has it’s own "spread".
You know the "make-up" for each possible result before the game starts. An ideal spread for each team would be 12 – 13.     
Let’s assume your teams spread is 11.5 – 12.5. If you BUY you’re profit will be 12.5 if your team win. You BUY @ 12.5 and the win makes-up @ 25. Difference 12.5 times your stake unit
Should the game be a draw you would lose 2.5 times your stake unit. BUY @ 12.5, make-up @ 10 = – 2.5 stakes.
Should your team have an off day and get beaten the make-up would be 0. Your lose would be 12.5 times your stake unit.
 A recent game was Burnley  v  ‘Spurs. Burnley’s spread is 10  – 11.5  ‘Spurs’ 12 – 13.5. From these  spreads it can be assumed that a tight game was anticipated. In fact you couldn’t make money on Burnley, as their spread started at the Draw Mark-up of 10. A shrew move by the bookies. It didn’t come off though. In this game the "make-up" was Burnley 25, ‘Spurs 0. 
 
A good market in which to find your betting legs. Plus, you won’t lose too much, as the minimum stake is normally £1.
 
PERFORMANCE.
 Another market to test your knowledge of the teams abiltiy. You can stick with either team or depend on a "joint" effort.
 
INDIVIDUAL TEAMS PERFORMANCE.
 Points are awarded for Winning or Drawing. For goals, clean sheets and even corners. Yellow and red cards cause a deduction from any accrued points. 
Points awarded for various criteria are often different  bookie to bookie.
 
PERFORMANCE SUPERIORITY.
This is based on the PERFORMANCE figure of each team. The spread offers you the opportunity to decide which will be the better performing side.
With both the above markets, stake units start at only 50p.
 
MATCH PERFORMANCE.
The criteria awards are usually different to the last two markets. In addition there are points awarded for penalties being given.  Minimum stake for this market is usually 25p.
 
One word of warning. NEGATIVITY.
The performance markets can have a negative score.  Imagine your team are outplayed. Fail to even get one corner, never mind score a goal. Things get desperate and two yellows are followed by a red. In team Performance markets that would leave you MINUS 25pts but in Match Performance, MINUS 45pts. So beware.
 
There are so many markets that you really should take a look for yourself. You might just find one that really appeals to you way of betting.
 
Next time I’ll end this mini series by looking at the firms that offer these markets. There’s one little beauty that has real appeal for value for money.
 
Spread betting firms Sporting Index and I.G. Index have some "too good to miss" offers on at the present.
Sporting Index will give you £300 worth of football bets or £100 cash back. But hurry this offer ends 2nd February.
I.G.Index offers two x 100 bets.
To make full use of these offers, may I suggest you visit www.bet72.com  bags of help there for you to maximise your winnings.
Again, I must stress I DO NOT receive any referral "!kick-back" from any links I suggest.
 
Betdaq are back on normal commision terms. However, a little bird whispers that a nicely worded e-mail asking if there is any possibilty of a reduced rate, may not go amiss. But no promises.

Spread Betting Markets. (Cont’d).
 
Bookings.
 
Yet another popular market with the punters.
Most firms allot 10 points for a Yellow card and 25 points for a Red card. Anyone getting two yellow cards 
in the game, thus earning a Red card will count as 35pts. 
 
The "normal" spread for a match is usually set between three and four Yellows. Say 35 – 38. Some games will be set higher. A "local derby" would be such a game.  Setting at around 55 – 59. Expecting, or a least allowing for, one Red card.
Many games have the SPREAD set according to past performances. Arsenal and Man. Utd have been known to have the odd set to on-field and this will be taken into account when the Spread is set. Can you imagine what some of the old, Old Firm derbies must have made up at. The influx of foreign players to both teams has somewhat dampened down the fiery exchanges. Now a Sell of, say, 76 would be considered rather high.  
A very important factor is the Referee. Some as we know are card happy. Why does Mike Riley‘s name spring to mind? As early as 2001/2 season he was averaging 55pts per game. Although he does appear to have "quietened down" recently. Last season his average was 40pts per game. This season, so far it’s 42pts per game. Compare him with Mark Halsey. 2001/2 his average was 36pts and his average this season is a little in excess of 17pts per game. Perhaps experience  brings forth a mellowing in the referee’s attitude to the players. Or it could be that the players are not as bad as they are made out to be. This may be born-out by the figures so far this season. The average make-up being just below 30pts per game. So it does pay to "know your referee". Always have a look at the referee’s current "booking form". Especially if he’s refereed the two sides before. Lightening can strike twice is these cases.

In the early years of this market., the spread was often set too high. Mainly because, human nature being what it is, we all like to see a bit of rough and tumble on the pitch. As you will imagine, the Professional Punters were in their element and Sold at every opportunity. Obviously the market spreads were adjusted downwards. There are still many occasions when the Buy is set a bit on the high side. This can happen when the two sides are middle of the table, not much to play for, on a nice spring afternoon being policed by a known "lenient" referee.  
In general just under half of all games see no more than three Yellows. If you can Sell under 40pts you will be on the right side of the fence more often than not.
However do bear in mind that this season average points per game are slightly down.
Foreign leagues tend to have a higher average per game than the Premiership.

SPREAD BETTING MARKETS (cont’d).
 
There are so many markets to choose from.
First Goal Minutes has a few offshoots which can be very interesting and profitable.
The basic idea is very simple. You buy or sell the teams minutes up to the time the first goal goes in. The spread is usually around 38 – 41. Of course there are the peculiarities that apply to this market that, you need to master. Does one or other of the teams have a habit of scoring early? Does one of them have a defence that "slows down" as the game gets older? once again  you must do your homework. There is an extension to this market appropriately called Second Goal Minutes. Surprisingly it is exactly what it says on the tin. You chose to buy or sell the minutesf or the second goal. 

The Biggie amongst these markets is Total Goal Minutes. The minutes of each goal  are added together. No matter who scores the goals. Own Goals are included. The spread for this market will depend on the two teams. Todays Man U v Chelsea will be around 110 – 120. Notice the size of the spread. The bookies love this market. More often than not, the starting BUY price is overweighted.  
Now the thing about this market is the possible large make-ups. Two goals in the 90th minute, (not unheard of, due to"added time") makes for mouth-watering returns. So the guys that SELL must be very wary of picking the right type of game. Hopefully he will stick to tight games. Anything that looks like coming close to the 2.65 goals which can be expected in a Premiership game. Always assuming the two teams taking part have ambitions to "put one away early".
Basically, this market is usually set too high on the Buy, but the high rollers love it. However, choose carefully, and Selling can be a very lucrative option.    

   
Of course once again you must Research your games. Some teams have a habit of making the most of their opportunities against specific rivals. Two that spring to mind are Liverpool and Newcastle United. Get these two together and the goals flow. The last 27 games have ended with 17 having at least 3 goals. 4 and 5 are common place and 6 and even 7 have been known. Apply recent form to these figures and you’d know whether  to Buy or Sell. Wouldn’t you? 

You can, of course bet on the foreign leagues. Here again you need to apply yourself to solid study. Even basic facts will prove useful. Such as, how many goals do teams average in each league. Although they’re all playing the same game, these figures differ by up to half a goal per game, at least. In the present season, Serie A have an average per game of 2.47 whilst La Liga in Spain stand at 2.92 and the Dutch Eridivisie is 3.10. Little known facts but nevertheless they can prove crucial when it comes to putting you cash down. 

People seem to prefer to BUY goals rather than Sell them. I imagine that is because the one thing we like to see in a game is GOALS. In fact that’s really what we pay for  when we put our entrance fee down at the turnstile. It’s a much more optimistic way of life to expect to see things good happen. Whereas watching and hoping that an attack will break down because you’ve SOLD GOAL MINUTES, seems to be a completely alien way of life to the average football supporter in Britain. A little bit of advice to any would be Sellers. Don’t watch the game, go to your local and down a pint. At least if you come off worst, it won’t seem so bad.
Next time I ‘ll wrap up the Spread Betting and move on the other things. 

SPREAD BETTING (part 2) .  — MARKETS.
 
The most popular market appears to be Shirt Numbers. You simply add together the shirt numbers of all goal scorers  in the match. Simple. NOT.
There are many variables in this market. First you need to know what the lineups are. So that you can try to decide who the likely scorers might be. You must also give thought to the possible substitutions.  Thses can make or break a good bet. Research is very necessary.

A few years back  a player named Akinbiyi, (spelling is probably wrong), joined a new club, (Crystal Palace?). Now this chap was a striker had usually wore number 10. However that was already allocated, so he chose what he considered the next best number. No not 11 but 55. 5 + 5 = 10. O.K.  So he was good at  maths. You can imagine what a spin that put the Market makers in. At the other end of the scale. A player joining a new club was photographed holding up his new colours. The shirt bore the number 68. The Market makers on seeing the picture, not unnaturally went "large" on the spread. When the teams appeared the new player was wearing not 68 but number 7. Now those who’d done their homework "sold" like mad, before the Spread Firms could rectify their mistake. The lesson being research every little fact you can.

Shirt numbers is popular but very volatile. What happens when number 4 is substituted by 26. Now if 26 is a renowned goalscorer what action do you take? Especially if you’ve "sold" the market. The opposite can happen when you’ve "bought"  and the star striker, 10 is taken off injured, and replaced by say, 3. These types of problems occur regularly but if you have done your research and laid out your plan properly, you’ll have an answer to the problem. Nevertheless. it is an exciting market, where you’re not worried about loyalties to players or club, as every goal counts, no matter who scores them. Of course if you get it right, the sky’s the limit.  

Another market that can be exciting without testing your loyalty is TOTAL CORNERS. In it’s simplest form you add together the number of corners won by both sides. A "normal" spread is 10 – 11.  Again research is necessary. Get two teams playing each other, who prefer "route one" and I doubt you’ll see many corners. However get two or even one team with a pair of wingers, sorry that should be, attacking mid-fielders, (just showing my age) and you can have a goal-fest. Just check the "corners won " figure for teams who prefer this way of playing.

Another version of "corners" is CROSS CORNERS.  This is where the corners from the first half are multiplied by the corners from the second half. Sounds easy. Well it is, until your get a "game of two halves". Say the first half is cornerless. ( It does happen and more often than you think). That’s your bet lost. 0 multiplied by any number is still 0. Similarly just one corner in a half can leave you wanting a large score in the other half, assumimg you’ve bought. Do the sum. 1 multiplied by ? is still ?
The final "corners" market is MIXED CORNERS. Again very simple. You multiply the corners, gained by both sides, together. However the previous warning hold good here, too. You’re looking for a nice spread of corners to each team. 1 to one team and 11 to the other will only get you 11. However if the 12 corners are evenly split, 6 apiece, they get you 36. 
Check your teams’ method of play, check the "average corners" for each team, and work from there. The watchword on Spread Markets, is RESEARCH.
 
These are just a few of the many enticing markets/spreads.  More anon.

SPREAD BETTING (part 1) .

Spread Betting is not for the faint-hearted. If you don’t understand it, DON’T bet in this media. If you do however want to try it out, bet in one of the Limited Loss Markets, until you’re happy with your progress. However CAUTION is the watchword.
 
Spread Betting started in 1974. A young unemployed stockbroker by the name of Stuart Wheeler had a brainwave that started people trading on gold prices.  A short while later it extended to Foreign Currencies and Commodities. That you might say was the thin end of the wedge.
 
We must thank one Jonathan Sparke for bringing Spread Betting to the Sporting World in the not too distant past.
Spread betting has been around for some time. Only at earlier times it was applied mainly to Financial Markets. The idea being that you would bet whether stocks and/or shares would rise or fall over a given period. If you fancied they’d fall you would Sell. If you thought they’d rise you would Buy. The more right you were, the more you would win. On the other side of the coin the more wrong you were, the lighter your wallet would be.
 
This form of betting was and still is, regulated  by the Financial Services Authority. Spread betting on sport also comes under their umbrella.This means that there is a fair amount of red-tape involved in opening an account with the companies that accept this type of wager. However having the F.S.A. is a free form of insurance.
The idea being that you must prove who you are and where you live. With suitable documents. This is to ensure that you’re not a terrorist about to launder your winnings for the benefit of God knows who?  You will probably be asked for an upfront payment. A DEPOSIT. I did warn about red-tape. So having proved that you’re a bona-fide sportsman with no evil intent what will you find? A cornucopia of bets to whet your appetite and empty your wallet, if you’re not careful. I have it on good authority that over 100 "markets" can be offered on One football match. How’s that for variety?  
 
With this type of betting you’re putting your money where your mouth is. So it’s important to know where you’re going and how you’re getting there.  In other words you must plan ahead and keep a weather eye on your finances, betting wise, at least. Don’t try to chase losses and don’t bet on impulse. Fancying a team or backing one because it’s "due" is definitely not for this type of betting. You’re never certain how much you’ll win or lose before the match ends. Returns can change on, the issuing of a card, a corner being given and of course a goal being scored. It can be a real White Knuckle Ride. So if you decide this is for you, Blackpool’s Rollercoaster will seem tame by comparison.    
 
 
In Spread Betting the bookie sets the odds or the SPREAD within a range which he hopes will be profitable to him, no matter how many punters are right.

The opening spread may be 46 to 52. In effect the bookmaker is saying the result will be within this range. You have to decide how wrong he is. If your opinion is that the spread won’t make up to 46 then you bet LOWER/SELL If you think he’s underestimated the spread the other way, then you back HIGHER /BUY.  You can only back within the range offered. In many cases the spread may be changed "in play" in a similar fashion to the Betting Exchanges. This gives you the opportunity to Close at a profit, or if it’s not going your way, to try to salvage something from your original bet.      

Let’s assume that you’ve chosen to Sell and you’ve bet at £1 per point.  The bet "make-up" at 38 . You win. £8. The difference between the bookies lower spread figure 46, and the final make-up figure. However had the final figure been, say, 55 you would have lost £15 .(You sold at 40 and the make-up was 55). In other words you either win or lose, the figure made up from the difference  between the outcome and the bet.  The "spread" between the Sell and Buy figures is the Bookies "edge".

The various markets are so many and varied that they deserve at least one article to themselves [to be continued ...]