Spread Betting Explained

Are you tired of the same old types of bets in the horse racing systems? Then you should try spread betting. Word of caution, though - this type of betting is not for the faint of heart.

So what is Spread Betting?

Spread betting is about choosing between betting high or low. Remember 'Play Your Cards Right', the TV show where the contestants would try to predict whether the next card would be lower or higher? The principle behind spread betting is not all that different.

There are different types of spread betting, namely the Jockeys Index, Favourites Index, Doubles, Winning Distances, Matched Bets and Winners Starting Prices.

The Favourites Index

To help you understand how spread betting works; here is a thorough explanation on favourites index.

For the favourites index, a meeting is selected. Then points are set for every favourite that makes it to the top three. 25 points is given to the big winner, 10 points to the favourite that makes it to the second place and 5 points for the third placer. Those outside the top three won't get any points.

The Spread Betting company publishes an index before the race begins. For example, the meeting might consist of six race cards. The runners might have expected the favourites to pick up high points and decided to take on a high index. Say, they gave 82-86 for the index.

But you may think otherwise and would bet on either a higher or lower index. For example, you might feel that some favourites would not do all that well and decide to bet on an 82 index instead. You will have to bet in pounds for every point, say, œ2 per point.

If after the race the favourites did well after all, you're in for some losses. If for example three won (at 75 points) and one went second (at 10 points), while another one went third. In this case, a total of 90 points were raised. If you had bet at 86, you would have done well with 4 points' earnings. And because you bet at œ2 fro every point, you would have bagged œ8.

But since you bet at 82, you lost a total of 8 points, which means that you have to let go of your œ16.

Most of the other types of indices work in much the same way.

So how do you join Spread Betting?

You will have to open an account. Once you've accomplished this, you can do your transactions over the Internet or through the telephone.

A Word of Caution

You do have to be aware of the fact that Spread Betting is as dangerous as it is exciting. It would be easy to lose everything you got all in one go. But you can take the necessary precaution and still get all the fun. You can try one of those betting companies that offer a pretend account. This is a great way to get used to the game first. You might also want to try those betting companies that allow you to take on stakes valued at only a penny.

But you can always increase your odds by getting the best horse racing tip you can find. Why don't you check out one of those horse racing systems? They've got the horse racing results all figured out. They haven't been the rave for no reason!