Ultimate Spread Betting Guide for Newcomers
Ultimate Spread Betting Guide
For a normal person, betting or wagering is correlated to the probable outcome of an event. The outcome can be either a win/lose or a tie. However, those who have been treading in the world of online betting or traditional betting for a while must be aware of spread betting.
Beginners, as well as seasoned bettors, remain averse to spread betting. This can be attributed to the complex nature of spread betting and a spiraling win/loss margin. The extremely volatile nature and risk involved in Sports Spread Betting keeps average bettors at bay. This article showers light on some of the important aspects of Spread Betting in Sports. In the process, we hope to enlighten the novice bettors with the risks involved and strategies required in Spread Betting.
What is Spread Betting?
A simple sports bet involves a wager placing a bet on the probable outcome of an event. A favorable outcome confirms win and payoff are made as per the initially offered odds. This is where Spread betting differs from normal betting. In a spread, betting payoffs depend on the accuracy of the bettor and not the initial odds offered on win/lose. People, working in Finance Sector or those who keenly follow finance markets can better understand Spread Betting in Sports.
People investing in financial markets around the globe speculate about the market movements. Based on these speculations backed by complex mathematical logic, investors speculate on the movement of markets. However, the variables controlling financial markets are very complex and volatile for spread betting. A slight change can cause losses in the range of thousands of dollars. Sometimes the total loss may be much greater than the initially wagered amount. Hence, financial spread betting demands a no laid-back attitude and a more informed approach about how the bets are structured.
Sports spread betting is similar to financial spread betting in this regard. Financial spread betting is the most popular form of this type of betting. One must also be careful about the risks involved and there must always be a plan B in place to deal with the mishaps.
Understanding A Sports Spread Bet
Let’s say that there is a boxing match tonight. The spread for the match is a total of 45 Jabs in the match. We would bet a set amount per point that we guess their final tally would be above or below the spread. Now if we bet 4$ for every point higher than the spread point, we win four times the difference between the actual and spread. However, for any number less than the spread, we stand to lose an amount equivalent 4 times the difference.
Hence, when betting on a sports spread, the potential for a great win or a great loss are equally high. Similar to the rules of Financial Spread bets, here also we can minimize our loss by using a mechanism called STOP LOSS. In stop loss, we fix a point below which we cancel our bet and take the loss until that point. The situation is analogous to financial markets where you buy on a spread. However, for some reasons, the share price of the company takes a toll. Your bet will be automatically closed out when the share price reaches the stop loss point fixed by you. This minimizes potential big losses in spread financial betting.
Spread Betting in Football
Two most popular spread bets on football are:
1) Spread betting on Total Points over a season
2) 2)Player goal minutes.
Let’s discuss them in details.
Points betting over a season
The spread for this may look like this: Liverpool 65-66.5
The prediction is Liverpool finishing with either 65 or 66 points at the end of the season.
65 is the lower price or the selling price. 66 is the higher price or the buying price.
Now if you buy the spread at 4$ per point and Liverpool end up winning the season with total points 74 then, you win 30$.
However, if Liverpool ends up with 58 points, then you are staring at a loss of 34$.
Again, if you decide to sell the spread at 4$ per point and Liverpool end up with 55. You win a total of 40$. However, in case Liverpool has a dream run and ends as title winners with 80 points. You incur a loss of 60$.
Spread bet on Player goal minutes
All teams in the big leagues boast of some great strikers with goal striking capacity at will. The spread for a good striker who does not play full 90 minutes will be set at something like 27-30.
At the end of the game, the time when the goal was scored is added up. Buying the spread means you believe that total points (sum) would be greater than 30.
Example: Rashford Sell 30 – Buy 40
Let’s assume that Rashford scored the goals at 18th and 35th mins respectively. hence, the sum of the two-goal time would be 53 minutes. If you bought at 4$, then your profit at the end of the game would be 52$. However, if you sold at 4$, the loss would be around 92$.
A few Spread betting strategies for football
By now it is crystal clear that spread betting can cause huge losses on very bad days. Moreover, strategies are few and mostly used for minimizing overall loss rather than increasing the odds of winning.
closing out the bets in-play
As the game progresses, the spread keeps on moving throughout the game.
Let’s assume that both the teams had great strikers in their ranks and slightly weak defense. Hence, confident of a good scoreline at the end of the match, you bet on Total Goal Minutes market and the spread was 165 SELL – 175 BUY.
But there were a few goals in the 20th minute of the game, to give you 60 points. The spread line would move to reflect this. Say, now it moved to 190. You can get out of the bet by selling at this profit-making price.
5 Spread Betting Tips to Remember
1. Never bet under influence. Keep emotions in check. Your calmness and presence of mind is the best armor you have in this scenario.
2. Don’t be too greedy. Closeout when you are in a win-win position. Play it safe. Always remember small profits are many times better than big losses.
3. You can always lose more than your stake. Always chose a stake in which loss-gain difference is minimal.
4. Prepare yourself for the worst when betting on the spread. Don’t bet on spreads when you cannot afford the loss it might incur.
5. If you are a novice to spread betting. Do full research on the ins and outs of the rules. Also, remember that risk associated with it can be huge and don’t bet the money you can’t afford to lose.
Top Spread Betting Football Markets
Time of First Goal
In this, the spread predicts the expected time when the first goal of the match would be scored. For a match say the spread is 19-22, strongly favoring a goal. However, expecting a quiet half you buy at 10$ per point. A goal scored in the 42nd minute would yield a profit of $200 dollars.
Supremacy Markets
The spread betting firm sets the spread based on the possible goal difference between the two teams at the end of the game.
Say in Germany vs Brazil world cup semi-final match, you bought Germany at 0.4 for a stake of 20$. The scoreline at the end of the game was 7-1 in Germany’s favor. The actual result was +6.6 and net profit would have been 6.6*20 = $132.
Total Corners
The spread predicts total expected corners in the match. The corners of both the teams are added at the end of the match.Winners and losers are based on same logic.
Besides these, there are other spread betting markets based on goalscorers shirt number which is both fun to bet on and also requires research on the part of the wager.
Conclusion
We must add that Spread betting involves both fun and risks for an individual. Spread betting may bring a very pleasant experience at times. With the high risk involved, you may alternatively want to go to safer alternatives like Matched betting where you can earn a good amount just by being clever with the deals and promotions on offer without using your own money. Also, at the end of the day, we must always keep it in mind that betting must not develop into an addictive habit. If so we must not refrain from seeking counsel and expert help.