Spread betting comes in two forms, sports and financial. Both work in roughly the same way, by predicting if the actual online bookmakers have it right or wrong, the more right you are the more you win. In spread betting you do not know how much you will win or lose before the event has finished. It can be a very volatile business but just like fixed odds betting, as long as you are sensible and make sure you fully understand how the game works, you can enjoy the most exciting form of sport betting there is without the risk of losing the shirt off your back!

How does it work? Here are a couple of examples taken from Sporting Index.
A Supremacy Bet. This is a market predicting a team's dominance over their opposition. We will predict how many more goals any given team will score against their opponents.

Example: We might make Arsenal favourites to beat Tottenham by 0.1-0.4 goals. Therefore, if you think Arsenal will win you might bet high at 0.4 for the stake of your choice, in this case, £50 a goal. If Arsenal were to win the game 4-1, their winning margin (make-up) would be 3 goals.

Had you gone high at 0.4 you would have made 2.6 times your stake. (3 - 0.4) x your stake = 2.6 x £50 = £130. But if Tottenham had won 1-0, the same bet would have lost you 1.4 times your stake. (0.4 - -1) x your stake = 1.4 x £50 = -£70

Why Spread Bet? Spread betting has some significant benefits when compared to other forms of betting:

1. Your involvement lasts all the way through to the last minute.
2. The more you're right, the more you win and vice versa.
3. You can close bets or open new ones at any time during live events.
4. You can back teams or individuals to perform well or badly.
5. You can oppose favourites without nominating who will beat them.