Your guide to spread betting in the UK.

We provide a guide to spread betting along with example markets for a wide range of sports and financial spread bets. We also list all the UK spread betting firms and the facilities they offer.

Spread Betting comes in the form of two distinct flavours; sports and financial. However, the principle is the same regardless of the types of market or bets involved.

The spread betting firms quote a spread on the future prospects of a share or index, or the predicted outcomes of a sporting event. The investor/gambler can then decide as to whether they believe the price will rise or fall. [more details].

The term 'spread betting' invokes strong gambling connotations which is unfortunate as financial spreads offer a valuable, tax efficient alternative to direct investment in the stock market.

Financial spread betting also gives the investor the opportunity to bet on a wide range of financial markets, including stocks, indices, currencies, commodities and bonds without the need to physically own the share or commodity in question.

Sport spread betting offers an alternative to fixed odds sports betting, but similarly allows you to put your sporting knowledge and predictions to the test.

One of the great advantages over fixed odds is that you can profit from predicting that an individual or team will perform poorly rather than backing their success. There are also many bets available that do not rely on the final result of the sporting event in question, such as the number of corners in a game of football.

Another advantage is that many markets offer live prices, meaning that as the sporting event progresses the spread is updated accordingly allowing you to take profits or cut your losses before the end of the event.

Remember, although you have an opportunity to make large profits you can also make very heavy losses. Always be aware of how much you could lose.