Spread Betting

Introduction to Spread Betting

Spread betting is not the same as ordinary betting, since it isn't about who wins or loses, but rather the margin of victory (or loss) for a team or player. Each week on this site we suggest trades for golf tournaments when we think there is an error in the price. Although with Spread betting you win more, the more you are right, you will also lose more, the more you are wrong. An understanding of how to handle money is just as necessary as the tips are. Each trade will be suggested for a specific stake and this happens to manage the volatility of this idea.

In the case of golf, firms tend to price up certain markets on a weekly basis. Spread bets will sometimes be available in special situations, such as the performance of the field at the famous 12th hole at Augusta.

Each bet has two options; bettors can opt to sell/go low, or buy/go high. With nearly all spread betting markets, if you think the people on the team will perform worse than the firm thinks, you will sell but if you expect the team to perform well, you will buy. The firms understand that most fans root for high scoring games. For example, fans generally prefer to cheer for goals or runs, rather than low scoring matches. Since prices are set with the intention of having the amounts accepted on each side of the spread be equal to each other, the price will unquestionably be set slightly above whatever the true price actually should be. If you chose to trade on cricket runs at an amount of 250-260 runs per inning, you could not lose any more than 260 if the team is out for zero, which is next to impossible. Whereas if you sell at 250, there's no limit on how many runs the team could score. Spread firms make a profit by essentially taking the spread money. I anticipate that this quick explanation will help you to understand that the majority of punters buy markets for both the support of action and because they know how much they can afford to lose. It's in their best interests, however, for the firms to make certain that those buyers who make up this majority buy at an unfavorable price.

Spread Betting On Golf:

Finishing Positions of the Markets -- We've previously discussed the idea of selling to oppose and buying to support. In Finishing Positions markets, the opposite is done; this is where newcomers often become confused. The answer is that the Finishing Position is the place that a player finishes on the field so the 1st represents 1 and so forth. Please make a note of the fact that with these bets, the firms normally impose an upper limit of 50 on the topmost position the player can finish, in order to minimize volatility. Most players are quoted around the high 20s, low 30s; if you expect the player to contend, you sell, and if you think he will do poorly, you buy. If a player does not make the cut he ends up (Finishes) with 50 automatically. The same applies to any player who withdraws or has been disqualified.

There are also Index Bets to be considered. Bets such as these can be referred to as those that are a "tournament within a tournament." Quotes are accepted for just 7 or 10 players, with the winner being the one shooting the bottommost quoted score. The winner usually gets 50 points with the next in line getting 30, followed by 20 and 10. In a 10 man field, the bottom six score a 0. Again, you have the option to buy or sell, based on your projection of that player's performance.

Only the top three can score in a 7-man field; the 72-Hole Match Bets received are 50, 25, and 10. The easiest to describe. How many strokes a particular player should finish ahead of another player is what the firms will give a price on. Here there is an upper limit of twenty five strokes, with just one other important rule, namely, that if either player (or both) fails to make the cut, the scores get doubled, in order to give a 4 round total.

Match Bets for 18 Hole Events: Much the same as the above, in that it involves one player versus another, but since the difference between the scores is generally not that great, the scoring is modified to credit the winning player with 10 points, plus 3 points for each stroke in their margin of victory.

Hotshots: A spread to a selection of 4 players will be allocated by the firms. Being in the top 10 guarantees 25 pts, and 25 pts extra are added for winning the tournament. The scores are different according to various firms but this will be revealed when we suggest a trade.

The Leaderboard Index: This market is similar to index bets, only it includes the whole field. In the beginning, most the popular players will be quoted, but when the less popular players rise up higher on the leader board between games, they will be quoted also. During the larger events, such as The Open, the market can be traded as play is progressing, although typically it is only updated in between rounds. Generally firms pay down to 8th place with 60 points going to the winner.

So, exactly what firms participate in these markets?

Unlike having bookmakers by the hundreds compete for your business, as in ordinary betting, only few bookmakers are available for Spread Betting and, save for SportsSpread which is based in Ireland, all others are located in the UK, including IG Sport, Sporting Index/Bet HiLo, Cantor Sport, and Spreadex. It's almost a necessity to have accounts with all five of these firms if you're going to engage in spread betting.