Why Spread Bet?
So why should you spread bet? Why not have a win or lose bet with the traditional bookmakers? Well, even the dullest sporting event can be livened up straight away with the introduction of a spread bet!
We've all had to sit through boring 0-0 draws, but imagine if you have 'sold' the number of goals in the game and the last thing you need is someone to score - suddenly you become excitable every time the ball goes near either of the goals! And there's no better feeling than when you've bought the number of runs for a batsman and he then proceeds to hit the bowler for three consecutive sixes!
Finding a spread bet that offers you good value is the just reward for all those hours that you've spent watching Match of The Day, reading the Daily Telegraph sports section and listening to Sports Report on BBC Radio Five Live - you've done the long apprenticeship, now you can reap your rightful rewards with a Spread Bet…
So You Think You Know Sports?
You're a seasoned sports-watcher, you have a vast sporting knowledge, and you've seen thousands of football matches - but how well do you really know the game? Can you answer the following question:
How many throw-ins are there in a football match?
Usually it's around 40-45 in a Premier League game and there are also around 10-11 corners.
Armed with this information and a spread bet even the most mundane 0-0 game on a cold Tuesday night in February can be transformed into an exciting affair! A couple of our favourite spreads are the number of bookings / sendings-off and also the penalty index - these markets can be fascinating to the spread bettor, because long after the game has ended as a meaningful contest they give you a keen interest in the match right up until the final whistle.
A Good Spread Bet
One of the great advantages of spread betting is that you can focus on the minutest areas of a sport and then bet on it. For example, if you think that Wayne Rooney's terrible run of form is likely to continue for the rest of the season (or at least the next 90 minutes) you can sell his match performance - which allots points for goals, completed passes, winning free kicks etc. and deducts points for conceding free kicks & getting booked. So the final result of the match can be almost incidental, as you follow your particular player and his trials & tribulations.
Our first big success with this index was when we 'sold' the performance of Roy Keane in the 1999 FA Cup Final. His performance spread was 78 - 80, but his early substitution after 9 minutes meant his performance total reached a mere 4 points - which meant a whopping 74 points profit! Who says it's impossible to like Roy Keane?