Spread betting offers a high octane alternative to traditional fixed odds betting. A spread betting company turns some aspect of a football match into a number. The spread betting company will offer odds by providing a prediction of where they expect the outcome to lie.

The first goal betting market is a good market to illustrate how this works. The spread betting company predicts that they expect the first goal to be scored after 28 minutes. A spread bet can be placed higher or lower than the prediction.

Lets compare some stats for first goals by Everton and Birmingham city. Both teams have similar goal records. They are only separated by one place in the table.

The average time of Everton’s First Goal (in home matches)
this season is: the 56th minute

The average time of Birmingham’s First Goal (in away matches)
this season is: the 48th minute

So taking an average of the two stats as a guideline (56/ 48 =
52mins) the data matches-up very well for a First Goal After 28th
Minute bet.

With most bookies you’d get odds of around Even Money on the ‘After
28 Mins’. BUT you could place the same bet with a Spread Betting
firm for potentially much greater rewards…

By taking a ‘higher’ bet every minute that passes by before the First Goal – your chance of lossing money decreases. Hit the spread betting companies prediction and every minute means profits.

A 17/1 payout from an Even Money bet!

Take the Wolves v Burnley match at Christmas as an example of how
lucrative this market can be…

The stats highlighted a bet on First Goal Before 27th Minute –
available @ 5/6 with most bookies (FBD email, December 18th).

Wolves scored after just 15 minutes on their way to a 2-0 win. So
FBD members staking £10 with traditional bookies collected an £18.30
payout. And very nice too.

But those placing the same bet with Sporting Index pocketed 17 times
their stake!

Sporting Index set their spread at: 32 – 35 minutes. And because
this market pays out for EVERY minute under the spread the actual
result was, bettors collected – 32 (Spread price) minus 15 (actual
result) = 17 x their stakes. Remember though, had the first goal
come after the 35th minute bettors would’ve lost their money.

However, bear in mind that these bets do offer more risk than you standard fix odds bet.