Welcome to our Spread School. Here you will find all you need to know about spread betting with SportsSpread. Please navigate through our content to get a greater understanding of spread betting and what it entails. SportsSpread offer this information to provide clients with a greater level of knowledge and if there is anything you believe we have not covered please do not hesitate to get in contact.
At first, spread betting can seem daunting, which is why we have created Spread School. Here you will learn all the various terminology used in sports spread betting, the top sports to place bets on, and most importantly, how spread betting works.
Before you dive into the various sections, it's helpful to know the terminology. Below is a helpful glossary of various terms that we’ll be covering throughout Spread School.
Benefits of spread betting
Take a look at the many benefits that spread betting offers.
Discover More
Why are two prices quoted in spread betting?
Understand why there are two prices quoted in spread betting.
Discover More
Frequently asked questions
View the questions we get asked about the most about spread betting.
Discover More
The stake is the amount that you win or lose on a spread bet for each specific movement of the price of the market.
If you think that a market will increase in price, then you buy. You are able to also ‘buy’ to close out an existing ‘sell’ bet. As soon as you do buy, you do so at the higher of the two prices quoted (See ‘Why Are There Two Prices Quoted?’ section).
This refers to the ending process of a bet. Closing the bet means that either a profit or loss will be determined. When it comes to a financial bet, it can be automatically closed when it reaches a limit order or a stop loss limit. Alternatively, it can be closed manually by entering an opposing bet in the market to the open position. In sports spread betting, a bet can be closed in the same way if you make an opposing bet, or the bet can be closed when the outcome has been determined and our traders have settled on the market.
The deposit is a sum payable as a first outlay for a bet, this isn’t the total amount that could be lost on the bet.
A down bet refers to a spread bet that has been placed with the hope that a specific price will drop for a financial instrument or that a sports market will finish lower than the price we quote.
When you place a bet that is ‘In-Play’ or ‘In-Running’, this allows you to close a bet when a game has started or open a brand new one if you think the event is going a particular way.
This refers to the final result of a spread bet in a sports market and the foundation on which we would settle sports bets.
The margin refers to the sum required from a client in order to place the bet (including any deposit due). This is to cover any losses when a price shifts unexpectedly. It can also be referred to as a ‘variation margin’. In sports betting, the sum of the margin needed is quantified by the stake being placed and the erratic nature of the market. .
A match bet is something that we would price up one member against the other - a ‘for’ or ‘against’ scenario. An example of this is in horse racing - we’d pitch one horse against the other. It doesn’t matter who actually wins the overall race, your match bet is determined by the two chosen horses and which comes first.
When you ‘sell’ a market, you expect it to drop, however, you also ‘sell’ to close an existing ‘buy’ bet.
This is when the bet is closing against a particular market level. In sports betting, the settlement is based on the outcome (result) of the event.
The spread refers to the difference between the buying and selling amount for a specified bet and also the foundation on which all of our markets are offered to trade.
Supremacy is the spread bet that determines how much a team will beat the other by. This can be quantified by the number of goals or points one team will beat the other team by.
When you place an up bet, you’re anticipating that the price of the spread will increase or that you believe the make-up price will go up.
