Spread betting you will most likely want to tip-toe into the game with caution. The reputation is that spread betting is extremely volatile; this can be true if you choose particular markets but there are more that are not. Always look at prices you wouldn’t like to be on before you look at prices you do want to be on. Choose an involatile market for your first bets; for example, total goals in a football match, bowlers’ wickets in a Test match or indeed total tries in a rugby game.

 

Have a small bet on a few games of your choice and see how you get on. Worst case scenario, a £2 play in any of these markets should not cost you much. With the internet and the endless written material available to all it is very easy to make some statistical based assumptions about a game. For example, if you are playing the time of the first goal in a game between Manchester United and Arsenal, your research might indicate that the first goal in the game over the last ten years on average comes in the fiftieth minute of the match.

 

The spread betting price will be around 37–40, and therefore you would surmise a buy is appropriate. This can be done for pretty much any market and then you can ascertain if your gut feeling is right. People who understand sport but not betting, or in particular spread betting, dismiss the value of betting by gut. More times than I care to remember I have heard a person who is knowledgeable on sport say, ‘I feel that…’. This is loose talk but should not be dispelled when making your bet. If the bet doesn’t feel right it will more often than not be a loser for you.