Why Spread Bet?

• Bookings
  One of the most notorious of all spread markets - focusing purely on the number of yellow and red cards handed out by the referee. With 10 points awarded for each yellow and 25 points for each red, colossal final tallies are possible. There is virtually no limit to the total number of cards a referee can issue and plenty of ill-tempered games have produced totals north of 200 points in the past.
• Player Goal Minutes
  If you fancy a player to get amongst the goals then there is no better example of a bet with potentially enormous returns than player goal minutes. The bet is simply the total of the minutes in which your chosen player's goals are scored. For example, if he scores in the 80th, 85th and 90th minute, the result would be 255 minutes. If a player doesn't score then the result is 0. However, if he scores more than once late on, the returns can be massive. Compare this to fixed odds of sometimes only 3/1 for a star striker to score first or last and you can see the benefit of betting on goal minutes. The benefit of goal minutes is also that there is often very little downside. For Example, you may be able to buy a defender's goal minutes at 3 (a very small loss if they don't score) and if they scored in the 80th minute you'd make 77 times your stake.
• Goal scorers Shirt numbers
  The result or make-up is calculated by adding together every goal scorer's shirt number in a match. Therefore, when players turn up with large numbers on their backs, there is always a chance of a big total. Take Liverpool's Champions League match against Turkish outfit Galatasaray a few seasons back. The prediction for the final 'Shirts' total was around 40 and two goals from Crouch (15) and one from Garcia (10) saw that total reached mid way through the game. Step forward Galatasaray striker Umit Karan who came of the bench to score twice within a seven minute period. Amazingly he had number 99 on his back and sent the shirts tally to an amazing 238! For all those who bet higher at the start of the night, it was a 198 point profit.
• Goals
  Anytime a team walks onto a pitch, there is no limit to the number of goals they are allowed to score. If Sporting Index predict somewhere between 2 and 3, there are often occasions when they can be well wrong. Let's not forget that Arsenal touched off Spurs 5-4 a few years ago in what was expected to be a tight game.
• Corners
  There is also no cap on the number of corners in a game. The average expectation for the total number of corners in a game is somewhere between 10 and 12. There have been plenty of games where that total has been eclipsed within 30 minutes.

Cricket

There are a number of cricket markets that offer the real buzz of an open ended winning opportunity...

• Team Runs
  Whenever a team goes out to bat, whatever the conditions, there is always the possibility of a collapse. Yet, at the same time, there is always a possibility of a massive total. India got a massive 537-8 declared against Sri Lanka in the 1st Test in Colombo in 1997. Sri Lanka were forecasted to respond with 330 runs and in fact racked up a massive 952 -6 declared!
• Batsman runs
  There is always a prediction on every batsman as he goes out to bat. Will he be dismissed for nothing or go on to topple Lara's 501? Just think, you will often only get skinny odds of 7/2 for a batsman to top score for his country. If you really fancy him then why not buy his runs. If he goes on to score a century you will have made a whole load more money and you won't even have to worry if he's the top scorer.

Rugby

There are a number of rugby markets that offer the real buzz of an open ended winning opportunity...

• Total Points
  You've got both teams playing for you and often massive totals can be produced. Take New Zealand's 145-17 demolition of Japan in the 1995 World Cup... Again, why go for 6/5 about there being more or less than 46 points. If you feel the layers have got it wrong, you're going to make a far bigger profit by buying or selling total points.
• Supremacy
  How big will those winning margins be? The sides can finish level, but you can have one-sided encounters like the All Blacks' 128 point victory against Japan. Funnily enough, that's not even close to the record. Australia beat Namibia 142-0 in the last World Cup and Argentina beat Paraguay 152-0 in 2002.

Horse Racing

There are a number of horse racing markets that offer the real buzz of an open ended winning opportunity...

• Winning Distances
  When you mix horses and fences, you have always got the possibility of fallers and possibly huge winning margins. On a seven race national hunt card, all the winning distances added up normally falls between 30 and 50 lengths. There have been occasions when the result has been in the low teens and others when it has made up north of 150 lengths.

Golf

There are a number of golf markets that offer the real buzz of an open ended winning opportunity...

• 72 Hole Match Bets
  When you pair two golfers together in a match over 72 holes, they can often finish level. Yet, on other occasions they can finish as far as 25 shots apart. A fixed odds bet on one player to win a major could be more or less over after the first nine holes and your interest in the tournament from a punting perspective is finished.

2. Take your money and run

Unlike a fixed-odds bet where you have to wait for an event to reach its conclusion before receiving any winnings, you have the power to take a profit on any spread bet as soon as it becomes available. The exchanges allow punters to hedge their positions by laying back their selections at skinnier odds, but many markets are not fast moving enough for this to happen.

Football

The majority of football markets offer up the opportunity of grabbing an early profit. Whether you are buying or selling, the market will move enough to allow it...

• Team Points
  If you back a team to win its division, the price might only gradually move over the course of a season. However, a total season's points bet on a team will often be far more variable. Sporting Index will make a prediction on how many points every team in every division in the league will get. Some of the predictions finish up being pretty spot on come May - others are simply well out. For example, this season, following their 15-point deduction, Leeds were forecast to register 67 points (not including the deduction). After six straight wins, Leeds were later predicted to get 82 points - already a large profit for those who bought. The key is often your skill in taking the profit at the right time when it becomes available.

Cricket

There is probably no better example of a sport where profits become available quite quickly and decisions on whether to take those early profits have to be made...

• Batsman runs
  Every time a batsman walks to the crease and begins his innings, a quote on his total runs will be made. As soon as he starts scoring (if he does); the prediction on his final runs total will start to rise... It's then up to us punters to decide when to shout 'stop' (not literally of course!) and take the profit.

Rugby

Another sport where plenty of early profit opportunities are served up...

• Total points, Total Shirts, Supremacy
  Any of the markets that are traded in running serve up opportunities to grab an early guaranteed win. When France faced Ireland last year at the Stade de France, punters who had bought French supremacy at around 12 were sitting pretty at half-time with Les Bleus leading 29-3. However, this was the perfect time to take the profit as the Irish fought back in the second half for a final score of 43-31 to France. Whether you fancy a high scorer or a low scorer, if the market moves in your favour then the opportunities will come. As always, you have to decide how much profit to take.

Horse Racing

With traditionally six or seven races on a typical card, the main set of horse racing markets are updated after each race. That means that predictions on winning lengths, jockey's performances and the like will move every time they are updated creating profit opportunities. Gone are the days with these markets when if your horse falls, you have immediately done your money as you would with a simple fixed odds bet.

• Winning Distances
  If the expected winning distances for an entire flat meeting are around 11 lengths and the first winner on the card wins by 7 lengths, the prediction might be revised at nearer 15 or 16 lengths. An early profit can then be seized...

Golf

As Golf tournaments traditionally span over four days, there are plenty of opportunities to take early profits on any of the updated markets.

• 72 Hole Match Bets
  If you fancy one golfer against another and your selection has a cracking start to the tournament and leads the match by six shots, a guaranteed profit will be available. You just need to look back to Padraig Harrington's final round in the British Open this year to see how quickly things can change in the big tournaments.

3. Back an individual to perform well or badly

There has been much media focus on the betting exchanges and Betfair in particularly in the past five years as it provides the options for punters to back or lay a specific individual or team. Spread betting actually gave birth to backing and laying and gives us the opportunity to bet on things not to happen, as well as individuals and teams performing well or badly. Fixed-odds betting will only focus on the performance of the entire team.

Football

Whether you fancy someone to play well or badly, many of the spread bets available on football allow you to single out individuals and how they perform.

• Player Performances
  One of the most popular markets available focussing on individual players - points are awarded for winning free-kicks or corners, successful passes, assists and goals. Many people have focused on Arsenal for these markets in the Wenger days due to their fluid passing philosophy. The form of Cesc Fabregas this season has resulted in many high scoring performances and you can back any player to play well or badly irrespective of how his team performs. Player performance is unique to spread betting - there is simply no fixed-odds equivalent.

Cricket

Cricket is tailor-made for spread betting and is very much based upon natural outcomes, e.g. runs rather than decimals in football. There is also probably no better example of a sport where you can focus directly on the performance of one player.

• Batsman runs
  Every time a batsman walks to the crease and begins his innings, a quote on his total runs will be made. As soon as he starts scoring (if he does); the prediction on his final runs total will start to rise... It is then up to us punters to decide when to shout 'stop' (not literally of course!) and take the profit. A batsman can still be out of form and not scoring runs in a successful team - it's up to the punter to spot who that batsman is. Think Ian Bell during England's successful Ashes victory in 2005!

Rugby

Another sport where the performance of one individual can be focused on...

• Player Try Minutes
  Whether you fancy your selection to be amongst the tries or to have a quiet day dictates whether you buy or sell this market. You must place close attention on when your player's strengths will really come to the fore. If it is as the other team tires, then you can make big profits if they score late on in a game. This has particularly been the case at the World Cup when teams like New Zealand and Australia have scored bundles in the last 20 minutes against minnows like Portugal and Japan.

Horse Racing

Sporting Index price up an index on every horse in every race, every day... You then decide against that point scoring system whether that prediction has been pitched too high or too low.

• Index
  With the most common scoring system being 50 points to the winner, 25 points to the runner-up and 10pts to the third, every horse is given a quote on how many points they will finish up with. If a horse is predicted to get 10pts, it is therefore expected to finish third. You then decide whether the prediction has been pitched too high or too low. This is the perfect betting medium for those who really fancy a short-priced favourite to be beaten, or in a similar vein, an outsider to get a place.

Golf

Sporting Index make a prediction on where every golfer in a tournament will finish. Unlike fixed-odds firms who just offer betting with place terms that stretch to 5 or 6 places at best...

• Finishing Positions
  If you fancy a golfer to play well in a tournament and he finishes 7th, you won't win any money with a fixed odds bet yet you were right with your opinion. A finishing position spread bet has revolutionized golf betting by allowing punters to single out players to do well or badly. If you fancy a 100/1 shot to play well and you back him each-way and he finishes 7th you'll win nothing. If you were to sell his finishing position at 40 and he finished 7th, you'd win 33 times your stake. This can make every shot in the four days meaningful and keeps you on the edge of your seat for the entire tournament.

4. Wider choice of alternative markets

Although many fixed-odds bookmakers are now offering a wider choice of markets, it is spread betting that really provides the variety in modern-day gambling. Here are some examples of interesting bets in different sports which simply aren't available through any other betting medium:

Football - Multi-Corners

Multi-Corners is determined by multiplying the total number of corners in the first half by those in the second half (e.g. 1st half corners - 5, 2nd half corners - 7 = 35). Punters who feel there will be very few corners in the first half with many more in the second will normally sell the predicted figure for multi-corners. This is a completely different alternative to any other corner bet available.

Cricket - Runs until next wicket

This is obviously a market where huge wins can be made. When an opening pair step out onto the crease there will be a prediction of when the first wicket will fall. Punters anticipating a long stand will buy the predicted runs, whilst those expecting an early wicket will sell the figure. A prediction of the number of runs until the next wicket falls is offered throughout the innings.

Tennis - X Courts

This is where each set total is multiplied and then added with the other sets to make a final total (6-7 + 6-2 = 60). Remember some of those epic five set battles with many tie breaks at Wimbledon and you can see the profit making possibilities of X Courts.

Horse Racing - Jockey Performances

As mentioned earlier, spread betting is perfect for betting on individual performances. If you fancy a jockey to have a storming day then you can buy their performance. Each jockey is awarded 25 points for a win, 10 for second and 5 for third. If Sporting Index predict that a jockey will get 15-17 points, you have bought at 17 and the jockey wins two races and has two seconds then you will make 53 times your stake.

Golf - Hole Specials

How many times has one hole caught out the majority of players during a tournament. Hole specials mean you can bet on how well or badly one hole is played during the entire week. Some holes will focus on eagles and birdies, whilst others will concentrate on bogies, double bogies and triple bogies. If you expect the 12th at Augusta to be the big trouble hole then you can sell the total number of predicted points.

There are literally endless opportunities within spread betting which will make sport even more exciting for you. Gone are the days where a £5 single on Man United to win 1-0 is all the excitement you look forward to on a Saturday afternoon.

5. Not as risky as you think

Spread betting has long had the stigma attached to it that it is risky, however this needn't be the case. Like all forms of betting, it's only as risky as you want it to be.

For example, a spread bet on a team's total innings runs in a game of cricket is seen as 'volatile' bet (meaning the result could end up a long way from our original prediction), but it needn't be risky. A high staking punter may bet £10 per run, which has a potential loss or win of about £2,000. Yes, this is big bet and the sort that adds to the risky image that spread betting has but remember, the bettor knows it's a big bet and will be placing it because they want to. You, like the majority of people, may not like betting with this sort of stake which is fine because you can bet on the same market for 10p per run, now the potential loss or win is only £20. By controlling the size of your stake, you are controlling how risky spread betting is. It's exactly like one bettor having a £2,000 fixed odds bet on a team to win and one who has £20 - it's all down to what you feel comfortable with.

A 'stop win/loss' account is also a good way of controlling the perceived risk of spread betting. With this account, every bet you place has a maximum win and loss limit but again, it correlates directly with the stake you choose. That's the important thing to remember, it all comes back to the stake size.

6. The excitement can't be beaten

Anyone who has had a winner at the races, seen the last leg of their acca come up in the pub on a Saturday evening, or backed the winner of a golf tournament knows the feeling winning can give you. However, the level of excitement that spread betting provides can magnify a fixed odds bet massively. It can make the most mundane contest the most thrilling 90 minutes (or four days of your life). Imagine every tee shot, every chip, every putt all affecting how much you may win or lose from your initial hunch and stake.

If your team / player / bet is doing well the buzz you get is incredible. You can sit in the comfort of your own home knowing that you've already reached the figure you bought at and it is anyone's guess how much you could end up winning. This simply doesn't happen with any other betting medium.