How Does Spread Betting Differ From Fixed-Odds Betting?

Sports fans are always presented with two intriguing options when they want to place a bet on a big game or tournament. The first option involves a simple fixed-odds bet, where you know exactly how much you stand to win if your prediction is successful. The alternative is to delve into the wonderful world of spread betting, where your payoff is determined by the accuracy of your wager. Spread betting carries the potential for far greater rewards, as your stake can be multiplied several times to form your payout depending on how correct you are, on the flipside, your losses will also increase the more incorrect you are.

With a fixed odds bet, you simply stand to lose your stake or earn a pre-determined profit if your wager succeeds. In spread betting, the more the market moves for or against you, the more you win or lose. Some punters might prefer fixed odds betting as it is less volatile, but many are attracted to spread betting due to the excitement it offers and the potential for greater rewards. Spread betting on sports is typically popular among experienced bettors with strong knowledge of a particular sport, but also attracts casual fans looking to ramp up the thrill they experience when watching a game.

Why Try Your Luck at Rugby Spread Betting?

You might be settling down to watch the England rugby team take on Australia at Twickenham and decide you fancy a bet on it. If you go to a fixed odds betting site, you will be able to bet on England to win, but the odds might not be particularly compelling if they are in great form. Another option would be to look at handicap betting and back England -9, for example. If they were to win by 10 or more points, you would earn your pre-determined profit and if they failed to do so then you would lose your stake.

However, rugby spread betting offers a really interesting alternative. For this game, you might see England given a Match Supremacy price of 3-6. This means the traders believe they will win by somewhere between 3 and 6 points. If you believe they will win by more than 6 points, you can buy at 6, and if you think they will struggle then you sell at 3. If you buy at 6 for £10 and England go on to win 32-14, you would make a profit of £120. In this instance, England’s winning margin would be 18 points, leaving you 12 points above the price of 6 you bought at. Your stake is then multiplied by this figure to calculate your profit (18 – 6 = 12 and 12 x £10 = £120).

If England ended up winning 22-14, you would make a £20 profit, as the winning margin of 8 points would see the market settle 2 points above the buy price (8 – 6 = 2 and 2 x £10 = £20). However, if they only won by a single point, you would incur a loss of £50 (6 – 1 = 5 and 5 x £10 = £50). With spread betting, how much you win or lose is determined by how accurate your prediction is. In fixed odds betting, there are just two scenarios: win or lose. In spread betting, the more right you are, the more you win. The flipside is that the more a result goes against you, the more you stand to lose, but there are a multitude of outcomes and that makes things really intriguing.

Why Does Cricket Lend Itself So Well to Spread Betting?

The difference between fixed odds betting and spread betting is stark when you look at total runs in a cricket series. You might be able to bet on a batsman scoring over or under a certain number of runs in a particular series, with a simple set of odds on each outcome. But things become a lot more interesting when you look at cricket spread betting alternatives.

In a three match series, Sporting Index might predict that Jonny Bairstow will score between 210-220 runs. If you think he will score fewer than that, you would sell at 210 and hope he scores a paltry total. If you think he will have a great series, you would buy at 220. If he goes on to post knocks of 56, 69, 21, 23, 36 and 71 in the series, totalling 276, you would earn a profit of 56 times your stake. If you had placed a bet of £5, you would make a £280 profit. Spread betting offers you the opportunity to make huge profits off small stakes, but the risk is also higher than fixed odds betting. If he only managed 205 runs, the market would settle 15 points below the price you bought at and your loss would be £75, for example.

The same principles apply to betting on total points in a basketball game, total corners in a football match or total 180s in a darts contest. You can also choose from all manner of win markets, supremacy markets, options like Time of 1st goal in minutes and many more, so you have plenty of ways to enhance the excitement of watching a game. There are also a number of weird and wonderful wagers that are unique to spread betting, like a bet on the cumulative total of the shirt numbers of goalscorers or tryscorers in a game. Of course you will find a huge array of bets to choose from when looking at fixed odds markets too, but it is great to have such a wide selection across the board.

One great advantage spread betting boasts is that it keeps you interested in a contest for its entirety. If you place a fixed odds bet on over 12.5 corners in a football match, the fun is over once the 13th corner is awarded, which may be long before the match is coming to its conclusion. But if you had bought on a spread of 10-12 corners, you would still be willing there to be more corners throughout the remaining 22 minutes of the match, as you would earn a higher profit each time one is conceded.

Spread betting therefore has the ability to turn even the dullest of 0-0 draws into a really exhilarating experience as you have a stake in all the action as it unfolds. Fixed odds bets are often settled well before the action finishes, but many spread bets keep you engaged throughout. Both methods have their merits, and many punters enjoy using both spreads and fixed odds bets in harmony. If you’d like to know more on the ins and outs of sports spread betting be sure to visit our comprehensive Training Centre.