If you’re already a Platinum or Diamond Member with us and haven’t tried your hand at profiting from 2ups yet then here’s a really useful list of guides and resources to help you profit from these offers:

If you’re new to matched betting or checking out our&nbsp;<a href="https://outplayed.com" target="_blank">free matched betting trial</a>&nbsp;then you can&nbsp;learn more about Matched Betting&nbsp;2up offers and how we profit from them below :)

The 2up offer, which is also known as the early payout offer, is a football offer run exclusively for existing customers of Bet365 and Paddy Power.

For a regular punter, the offer in itself is quite simple: If the team they bet on goes 2 goals ahead of the other team at anytime – Bet365 and Paddy Power pay them out as a winner regardless what the final result of the match is.

This means if a punter bet on Liverpool to win vs. Manchester City and Liverpool were winning 2-0 at half-time, but then went on to lose the game 2-3 at full-time, Bet365 and Paddy Power would still pay the punter out as a winner as Liverpool had gone ahead by 2 goals during the game.

How do we profit from the 2up offer in matched betting?

There are two main strategies that we can use in matched betting to profit from the 2up offers at Bet365 and Paddy Power.

The first strategy is often referred to as the ‘Let it Ride’ (or ‘Wait &amp; Hope’) strategy, the second is the ‘Lock-in Profit’ strategy.

Both strategies start with finding suitable qualifying bets to do. So let’s look at that first, using some examples from the German Bundesliga (May 2020).

Finding and Placing the Best Qualifying Matched Bet(s) for the 2up Offer

Before starting any reload offer such as this we always recommend to double check the offer terms and conditions at the relevant bookmaker and/or in our reload offer guides.

Step 1: For an eligible bet find as close a match as possible between the bookmaker and exchange odds. We recommend when you're starting 2ups for the first time that the match should be a 98% match or higher. Sometimes people do choose to settle for a little less than the ideal match (e.g. 96% or higher). If they do this they tend to lower their stake amount in order to reduce their qualifying loss. For the qualifying bet we’d recommend the bookmaker odds be 1.70 or greater.&nbsp;<a href="https://forum.outplayed.com/topic/45767/bet365-2up-offer-analysis-and-ev" target="_blank">Analysis suggests the ideal odds tend to be between 2.0 and 5.0 though</a>. If the odds you choose are less than 1.70 then you are unlikely to make much profit unless you’re using huge stakes (£100 and more). If the odds are above 5.0 the chance that the team will go 2 goals up over the other team becomes more and more unlikely. In football of course anything is possible – but it’s always better to go for options that have the best probability of coming in for you. The best place to find these close matches is using our oddsmatcher and the relevant&nbsp;<a href="https://forum.outplayed.com/topic/54274/early-payout-offers-2up" target="_blank">thread</a>&nbsp;on our forum.

Step 2: Once you’ve found a suitable odds match, place your back bet at the bookmaker first, and then lay it off at the betting exchange using our&nbsp;<a href="https://outplayed.com/calculator" target="_blank">matched betting calculator in normal mode</a>&nbsp;- just as you would for any normal qualifying bet. It’s worth remembering if you are doing the 2up offer on Paddy Power that it’s advisable to&nbsp;<a href="https://outplayed.com/what-is-lay-betting-or-laying" target="_blank">lay your bets</a>&nbsp;off at Smarkets rather than at Betfair. The back stake amount you use is up to you – there is no maximum limit (at the time of writing). If you are a beginner to matched betting, have never done 2up offers before and have a relatively small bankroll – start very small with £10 to £20 bets. Over-time you can build up to doing bets of £100, £200 or more.

<a href="https://outplayed.com/upgrade" target="_blank">If you upgrade to our Platinum Membership</a>&nbsp;you can find the best bets to do in seconds with our&nbsp;<a href="https://outplayed.com/oddsmatching/" target="_blank">Oddsmatching Tool</a>. Once on the Oddsmatching Tool just use the preset filter on the left-hand side, scroll down to the bottom and select Bet365 Football 2UP or Paddy Power Football 2UP as you need.&nbsp;<a href="https://outplayed.com/news/matched-betting/are-you-making-the-most-of-our-oddsmatching-tool" target="_blank">You can also set up your own 2up filter on the Oddsmatcher if preferred.</a>

Here’s an example of an upcoming qualifying bet on the German Bundesliga (30th May 2020) that the Oddsmatcher just found within a few seconds.

At 96% it’s not the best odds match possible so we’re going to use a lower stake for this example (£20) than what we would do if we’d found a 98%+ match (£100+).

For a £20 back stake on Werder Bremen at Bet365 the calculator tells us we would need to lay £19.18 at Smarkets. This would incur a small qualifying loss of just -83p (with our Platinum Member 0% commission at Smarkets).

With 2up the more games you can bet on the better – as then your chances of hitting a 2up, or even several 2ups is much better. This can use up a lot of bankroll though – especially if you start using large stakes of £50 to £100 or more. This is one reason why we tend to recommend only starting 2up early payout offers once you’ve built up a decent matched betting bankroll of at least several hundred pounds. We’d also recommend only doing the 2up offers after you’ve completed all available welcome offers and any guaranteed profit reload offers available on the day.

The benefit of both Bet365 and Paddy Power providing this reload offer is that if the odds are suitable you can try betting on one team at Bet365 and the other team at Paddy Power. Thanks to&nbsp;<a href="https://outplayed.com/offers/training/shared-liability" target="_blank">shared liability</a>&nbsp;you can do this even if you don’t have a huge matched betting bankroll as well. Alternatively, you could also double down on one team if you find +98% odds matches that give you a really small qualifying loss.

Once you’ve completed your qualifying bet (or bets) all you have to do then is wait for your team to go 2 goals ahead then choose your profit strategy below.

The ‘Let it Ride’, Or Full Turnaround (FTA), 2up Strategy

This strategy is super easy. You basically do nothing and hope that after the team you bet on go 2 goals up that they then proceed to draw or lose the game! This strategy is perhaps best to do on days when you might not have the time spare to check the games in-play and use the Lock-in Profit strategy.

Using our example from above – if Werder Bremen go two goals up in the first half, then don’t win the game, with it ending 2-2, or 2-3 or similar, we will make £55.18 in profit.

Bet365 will pay us out as a winner for Werder Bremen going 2up – so we get £36 in winnings there.

Smarkets will also pay us out as a winner as our lay bet against Werder Bremen will also win at full-time because they didn’t win the game. We get £19.18 in winnings there.

If Werder Bremen don’t go 2up then we are just down by our small qualifying loss of 83p after the game.

Some recent examples from the German Bundesliga...

The first game was F.C. Koln vs Mainz on the 17th May 2020. Koln went 2 goals up and then the game ended 2-2! If we’d done a £100 qualifying bet on F.C. Koln at odds of 1.86, laying them off at 1.90 for a qualifying loss of £2.10 we would have come away with £183.89 in profit (£86 at the bookmaker, £97.89 at the exchange).

The second game was F.C. Koln vs Fortuna Dussledorf on 24th May 2020. Dussledorf went 2 goals up then the game ended 2-2! If we’d done a £100 qualifying bet on Dussledorf at odds of 4.36, laying them off at 4.50 for a qualifying loss of £3.11 we would have come away with £432.89 in profit (£336 at the bookmaker, £96.89 at the exchange).

The third game was Frankfurt vs Freiburg on 26th May 2020. Freiburg went 2 goals ahead during the game (1-3), and then Frankfurt came back and the game ended 3-3! If we’d done a £100 qualifying bet on Freiburg at odds of 3.60, laying them off at 3.75 for a qualifying loss of £4.00 we would have come away with £356 in profit (£260 at the bookmaker, £96 at the exchange).

Even accounting for qualifying losses from 2up bets we did that didn’t come in on those days, making over £900 profits for placing just 3 sets of matched bets is a pretty awesome turn around and shows off just how much value can be had from doing these early payout offers.

This strategy is a little bit more complicated – but once you get the hang of it by following our full guides, it can be very profitable.

If you want to use this strategy our&nbsp;<a href="https://outplayed.com/calculators/early-pay-calculator/" target="_blank">Early Pay Out Matched Betting Calculator</a>&nbsp;is an essential tool.

If we use our Werder Bremen example from above, as soon as they go 2 goals ahead in the game, we would need to cash-out (or trade-out) at the exchange (Smarkets in this case) by placing a new back bet there on Werder Bremen to win.

The back stake we would need to use is worked out for us from the back odds on Werder Bremen at the exchange and by our Early Pay Out Calculator. The back odds on Werder Bremen at this point will be very low as being 2 goals up they are now expected to win the game. We’ve used back odds of 1.20 for them here as an example.

The Early Pay Out Calculator then tells us to do the following if we want to ensure to make a guaranteed profit of £8.50 no matter what happens in the game now.

Basically – as soon as Werder Bremen went 2 goals ahead we know Bet365 are going to pay us £36 in winnings. By cashing-out, or trading-out, our lay bet at the exchange once this happens we can ensure we will now make a profit whether Werder Bremen go on to win the game or not.

Doing a cash-out (or trade-out) like this using the full £20 that we original staked is referred to as a 100% cash-out. This tends to be a good option to use when your team goes 2up in the 2nd half of a game because there is limited time left for the other team to come back. It’s better to lock-in as much profit as you can at this point and as quickly as you can after your team go 2up.

What could you look at doing if your team went 2 goals up quite early in the game though?

The ‘Lock-In Profit’ 2up Strategy with Partial Cash-outs

Instead of doing a full 100% cash-out you could instead do a 25% or 50% cash-out so that you either at least cover your qualifying loss or guarantee yourself a bit of profit no matter what then goes on to happen in the game.

How would this work exactly? Well, let’s pretend Werder Bremen went 2 goals ahead just 25 minutes into the game and we want to cash-out just 25% of our lay bet to cover our original qualifying loss, and leave the remaining 75% to see if Schalke can come back.

In the Early Pay Out Calculator we need to switch it to Advanced Mode, input everything as before and then make the 'Early Pay Out Lock-in' section to 25% (which is equivalent to a £5 stake if using the calculator in the standard mode).

Following the results of the calculator we then do a back bet of £11.66 on Werder Bremen to win at the exchange, which will cash out 25% of our lay bet and give us a definite profit of £1.50 if Werder Bremen go on to win the game. If Werder Bremem go on to lose the game we will be up £43.51.

By doing this 25% cash-out we’ve covered our 83p qualifying loss already and put ourselves in profit by a minimum of £1.50.

Alternatively if Schalke get 1 more goal back just before half-time, we could then cash-out more of our lay bet and lock-in more guaranteed profit. Let’s cash out another 50% using the Advanced Calculator mode (which would be £10 of our original £20 stake in the standard calculator). Note the Werder Bremen’s back odds at the exchange would have now risen to 1.40 or thereabouts due to Schalke getting one goal back on them.

Following the results of the calculator we now do another back bet of £20.00 on Werder Bremen to win at the exchange, which will cash out another 50% of our lay bet and give us another £7.17 in profit.

By doing this we’re now definitely a minimum of £1.50 plus £7.17 up – so £8.67 if Werder Bremen win the game. Plus we still have 25% (or £5’s worth) of our lay bet left to cash-out if we want to during the second half of the game.

If Schalke get a 2nd goal during the second-half, we have a decision to make – do we cash-out the rest of our lay bet or leave it and hope the game will end 2-2 rather than 3-2 or similar to Werder Bremen. The choice of what to do is yours! From a matched betting stand-point though we’d recommend to cash-out the remainder of your lay bet as we always prefer guaranteed profit over potential profit when we can have it.

So let’s do this now. The game is 2-2 at 64 minutes and Werder Bremen’s back odds at the exchange have risen to 2.10 now. We use the remaining 25% cash-out we have left...

Following the results of the calculator we now do another back bet of £6.67 on Werder Bremen to win at the exchange, which will cash out our final 25% of our lay bet and give us another £6.51 in profit no matter what happens in the game from this point on.

By doing this we’re now £1.50 plus £7.17 plus £6.51 up – so £15.18 overall guaranteed.

As we've now fully traded out (25% + 50% + 25% = 100%) this is now our overall profit no matter if the game ends 2-2 or not.

With this partial cash-out strategy to lock-in profit there are no hard and fast rules that we can tell you to follow. For example, you might adjust your strategy depending on what’s happening in the game, what the original odds of the team were that you backed, and on how much time you have to follow the game and to keep cashing-out. You will develop your own approaches the more experience you get doing 2up offers.

As an example here’s what one of our staff member’s preferred strategy on 2up i

Both our&nbsp;<a href="https://forum.outplayed.com/" target="_blank">community forum</a>&nbsp;and<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/outplayedofficial/" target="_blank">&nbsp;Facebook Group&nbsp;</a>are fantastic resources for asking our more experienced members about their personal strategies on 2up as well.

You will see that some members resolutely stick to 98% odds matches for example, others don’t. When teams go 2up some might do a 25% cash-out then always switch to the Let it Ride strategy. Others might always immediately do a full 100% cash out at 2up.

The important thing to know is when you really get the hang of doing 2up offers they can make you a lot of money. There will be losses on the way – and if you’re quite new to matched betting with a small bankroll this is important to bear in mind before tackling 2up offers. Start with just doing 1 or 2 teams with small £20 bets and work your way up to doing lots of teams with £50 to £100 stakes. You will see in the forum some of our really experienced members use very large stakes, even up to a couple of thousand!  They are confident in using such stakes because 2ups have been so profitable for them!

Need a helping hand with Matched Betting the 2UP Offer?

Our&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/outplayedofficial/" target="_blank">Facebook Group</a>, which has over 50,000 members, is a great place to ask for help and ask questions, especially if you are new to Matched Betting.&nbsp;

Alternatively you can also&nbsp;<a href="https://outplayed.com/contact" target="_blank">contact us directly</a>&nbsp;for support too.

Interested in Getting Started Matched Betting?

You can&nbsp;<a href="https://outplayed.com" target="_blank">start learning for free with our free trial and make your first profits</a>.

Andrea

Want more profits? ‘2ups’ are key!

We all know what services bookmakers offer, but very few of us are aware of what a betting broker is. So let's go into some more detail and discuss the benefits and disadvantages of <a href="http://ow.ly/Qlio30qb5MP" target="_blank">betting brokers.</a>

<a href="http://ow.ly/U4Rj30qb5Nb" target="_blank">Sports betting brokers</a> act as a middle man between the players and the bookmakers. Bookmakers will provide betting brokers with their betting lines and this data is collected, compiled and displayed by brokers on their website.

This allows players to bet using multiple different bookmakers at once, using just one broker account. Typically, betting brokers are paid by the bookmakers from a % of their clients turnover.

We have already mentioned the super convenient feature of being able to place bets with multiple bookmakers at once, using one account. We have listed some other great features below.

Another great benefit is, because they have several bookmakers competing for business and connected to the betting broker, the player can always compare the odds offered and make sure they are getting the most value.

One of the biggest challenges that professional bettors, and even just winning weekend punters face, is being ‘stake restricted’. This means the bookmaker has put a limit on the account to reduce the ‘max bet’ amount.

Due to the fact betting brokers income comes from a % of the players total turnover, it wouldn’t be a wise business decent to limit the players stakes.

In case by case situations, betting brokers can also request for higher betting limits for their clients.

Lots of betting brokers also give access to a variety of Asian bookmakers they otherwise wouldn’t, this is beneficial because they often offer the best odds and highest paybacks.

There are some downsides to using a betting broker of course, the main ones we have also listed below.

Most betting brokers don’t have the large variety of sports the bookmakers offer, which as you can imagine is primarily football.

Compared to the multiple payment methods we have grown used to having with bookmakers, betting brokers typically have a smaller selection of options to choose from.

A <a href="http://ow.ly/UxTJ30qb5Pc" target="_blank">betting brokerage service</a> offers a service with many undeniable advantages. Are the minor drawbacks worth getting the best value out of your bets? That's up to you to decide.

It's important to note that betting brokers cannot be used in conjunction with matched betting.

Matched Betting is a way of taking advantage of the hundreds of free bet offers dished out by bookies. In Matched Betting we cover all possible outcomes of an event. This means regardless of the result, we can extract a profit from free bets the bookmakers hand-out. 

Gain access to all of our other fantastic signup offers, reload offers, industry leading forum and matched betting software. <a href="https://www.outplayed.com/platinum-trial/">Sign up here to our free trial today and you make up to £40.</a>

If you have any questions, don't forget you can always <a href="https://www.outplayed.com/contact/">contact our customer service team</a>. We're open 7 days a week.

Also read about&nbsp;<a href="https://outplayed.com/what-is-hedging-or-hedge-betting" target="_blank">sports&nbsp;betting hedge calculator</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://outplayed.com/what-is-lay-betting-or-laying" target="_blank">what does lay bet mean</a>

Jack Taylor

What Is A Betting Broker?

Asian Handicap Betting, so-called due to its popularity in the betting markets in Asia, is only available on football matches. Asian handicap betting is designed to eliminate the possibility of a draw, reducing possible outcomes in match market betting from three (1 x 2) to two (1 2). This is the main difference between Asian Handicap Betting and European Handicap Betting where you can have a draw.

The handicap on a team will be indicated by either a decimal figure of 0.5, 1.5 etc or a whole figure of 1.0, 2.0 etc. If a whole number is used then there is the chance that the game would end in a draw due to the handicap. As mentioned earlier Asian Handicap betting is designed to not include the draw so if this does happen then the bet is called a push (voided) and the stake is returned to the bettor.

As mentioned, the name itself comes from the fact this type of bet is popular with Asian punters. Although it’s not restricted to just <a href="http://ow.ly/FAJ130qb5CN" target="_blank">Asian sportsbooks</a>, the <a href="http://ow.ly/g3AG30qb5KR" target="_blank">best Asian bookmakers</a> or <a href="http://ow.ly/dUe430qf9hJ" target="_blank">Asian handicap betting platforms</a> - Asian handicap odds are available.

In this market Team A are starting with a -1 goal deficit, essentially they are 1 nil down before the game kicks off. If you were to bet on Team A you would need them to win by 2 or more clear goals for the bet to win so 3-1, 2-0, 4-1 etc. If Team A wins by just 1 goal then the bet will be a push as the game would be seen as a draw due to the -1.0 handicap. If Team B wins by any score then the bet will lose.

If you were to back Team B with their 1 goal head start then you will win your bet if: Team B wins or if it is a draw. If Team A win by 1 goal then the bet will be a push and stake returned. If Team A win by 2 or more goals then the Team B bet will lose.

With half line Asian Handicaps, there is no way a draw can happen as the handicap is set to a 0.5 decimal place. In this example, Tottenham have been given a 0.5 goal headstart over Liverpool, with Liverpool starting with -0.5 goals.

With this, if we were to place a back bet on Tottenham +0.5:

Conversely, if we were to back Liverpool with their -0.5 handicap:

Hopefully, you have followed this so far as this is where it gets a little bit more complex. You may notice at times two figures/lines against a team for Asian handicaps. These are known as Split Line Asian Handicap bets and with these, your stake is divided between the two lines so you are actually placing two bets in one.

With the above example if you placed a £10 stake on Ecuador U20 -0.5, -1.0 then £5 of your stake is placed on the whole line handicap of -1.0 and £5 is placed on the half line handicap of -0.5.

This means that if Ecuador were to win 1-0 then your half line handicap bet will win and your whole line handicap is a push meaning that your £5 stake for that one will be returned.

Matched Betting is a way of taking advantage of the hundreds of free bet offers dished out by bookies. In Matched Betting we cover all possible outcomes of an event. This means regardless of the result, it's possible for us to turn extract a profit from a free bet offer.  

Gain access to all of our other fantastic signup offers, reload offers, industry leading forum and matched betting software. <a href="https://www.outplayed.com/platinum-trial/">Sign up here to our free trial today and you could make up to £40.</a>

Also read about&nbsp;<a href="https://outplayed.com/what-is-arbing-or-arbitrage/" target="_blank">arbitrage betting UK</a>

What Is Asian Handicap Betting?

Some betting markets are clear and apparent in their meaning and need little explanation but the Draw No Bet market is one that can lead to confusion, much like the <a href="https://www.outplayed.com/news/matched-betting/win-both-halves-half-time-full-time-markets/" target="_blank">“Half Time/Full Time”</a> and “Handicap Betting” markets. In this article, we will break down what Draw No Bet means and look at an example of a Draw No Bet bet in practice.

The Draw No Bet is actually not that complicated a market once you look into it a little and the title of the bet type summarises it nicely. Essentially with this market, you are removing the draw outcome from a Full-Time Result (1 X 2) bet and, therefore, betting on the home or away win. This bet offers insurance for bettors in the fact that if the event you are betting on ends in a draw your stake will be returned. In comparison to betting on a straight home or away win in the Full-Time Result (1 X 2) market, the Draw No Bet selections will have lower odds due to the possibility of the stake being returned.

Also read about&nbsp;<a href="https://outplayed.com/calculator" target="_blank">match bet calculator</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://outplayed.com/what-is-lay-betting-or-laying" target="_blank">what is lay in betting</a>

Let’s look at an example of a Draw No Bet and the potential outcomes:

In this match between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United on the Draw No Bet market the odds are:

Let’s now see what the potential outcomes are if you were to place a £10 bet on Tottenham at odds of 2.0:

If Tottenham Hotspur win you will receive £20 back from your £10 bet. This consists of your £10 original stake and £10 return.

If it is a draw then your bet will be voided and your £10 stake returned to, therefore a £10 total return meaning you are neither return nor loss.

If Manchester United win then you will lose your entire stake, meaning that you will end up with a £10 loss

Let’s flip that now and look at the outcomes if you have placed your £10 on Manchester United instead at odds of 1.72:

If Manchester United win you will receive £17.20 back from your £10 bet. This consists of your £10 original stake and £7.20 return.

If Tottenham Hotspur win then you will lose your entire stake, meaning that you will end up with a £10 loss

Draw No Bet Odds Compared To Full Time Result Market Odds

Earlier we looked at the fact that to counter the “insurance” of the stake being returned that the odds on the standard Full-Time Result would be higher in comparison.

Looking at the example above you will see that Tottenham Hotspur’s odds are 2.9 (19/10) compared to 2.0 (1/1) on the Draw No Bet market. Manchester United’s odds are 2.30 (13/10) compared to 1.72 (5/7), so a marked difference there but how does that affect potential returns?

If we compare the same £10 bets again, but this time between the Draw No Bet and Full-Time Result markets we get:

£10 Bet on Tottenham Hotspur to win and they do win:

£10 Bet on Tottenham Hotspur to win and the match ends in a draw:

£10 Bet on Tottenham Hotspur to win and they lose:

Now for a £10 Bet on Manchester United to win and they do win:

£10 Bet on Manchester United to win and the match ends in a draw:

£10 Bet on Manchester United to win and they lose:

In summary, the returns betting on Full-Time Result market have the potential to be higher however so do the losses. The Draw No Bet market, although it will be at lower odds, will provide you with the safety net of the stake back if the event ends in a draw.

Need a helping hand with Matched Betting?

Our <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/outplayedofficial" target="_blank">Facebook Group</a>, which has over 29,000 members, is a great place to ask for help and ask questions, especially if you are new to Matched Betting. Our <a href="https://forum.outplayed.com/" target="_blank">community forum</a> is also a great place to ask for help and advice.

Alternatively you can also <a href="https://www.outplayed.com/contact/" target="_blank">contact us directly</a> for support too.

You can <a href="https://www.outplayed.com/" target="_blank">start learning for free with our free trial</a>

<a href="https://www.outplayed.com/platinum-upgrade/" target="_blank">Alternatively, upgrade to our Platinum Membership here</a>. You can easily make the cost of your monthly membership back within one hour once you get the hang of things. Talk about value for money!

Justin Legg

Some betting markets are clear and apparent in their meaning and need little explanation but the “Draw No Bet” market is one than can lead to confusion. In this article we will break down what Draw No Bet means and look at an example of a Draw No Bet bet in practice.

What Does Draw No Bet Mean When Betting?

Spread betting involves wagering on an outcome where the final profit or loss is determined how accurate their bet is.

Spread betting can be split into two distinct categories - sports and financial.

Sports spread betting began in the UK in the 1980s, offering an alternative to fixed-risk betting - the traditional form of sports gambling. In spread betting, the stake is not fixed, meaning profits can be high but losses can be more than the initial stake.

In sports spread betting, the bookmaker offers a predicted outcome and the punter chooses a higher or lower value.

The closer the punter’s prediction is to it being correct, the bigger the profit will be. Conversely, the further away the backer’s prediction is, the bigger the loss will be. So you can see there is the potential for big wins, but also big losses.

The customer makes predictions by ‘buying’ and ‘selling’ values, depending on whether they believe that the outcome will be higher or lower than the bookies’ predictions.

It is possible to spread bet on groups of matches, and longer-term markets, including tournament outrights, such as the Champions League winner for example.

A bookmaker forecasts that a football match will have three goals and offers a quote of 2.9 to 3.1 goals - this is known as “the spread”.

If you think there will be more goals, you would buy at 3.1. If you think there will be fewer goals, you can sell at 2.9.

The profit is the difference between the spread and the outcome (known as the “make-up”), multiplied by your stake.

If you bet £100 at 3.1, and there were five goals you would win £190 (1.9 x £100).

If there were two goals in the game (1.1 fewer than your bet), you would lose £110.

Spread betting is not restricted to betting on the events of a given match, there are a number of longer-term spread betting markets are available.

In the Premier League, for example, a bookmaker will offer a spread on the total points a team will achieve at the end of the season, allowing bettors to buy or sell if they think the prediction is correct or incorrect.

For outright markets in knockout competitions, such as the Champions League winner, a value is given to each stage of the competition. For example, 50 points for losing in the semi-finals, 75 for losing in the final and 100 points for winning the tournament.

Just like with traditional bookmakers, spread betting firms offer thousands of different markets. Basically, anything that has a variety of outcomes, can be used for spread betting. Most spread betting firms also offer binary markets (financials), too.

Number of goals, number of corners, amount of bookings, time of first goal and shirt number of goalscorers are among the most popular spread betting markets in football.

Spread betting on corners gave the top spread bet of the 2018/2019 Premier League season at Spreadex, a well established spread betting and fixed odds company.

The spread for corners was set at 9,700 - 10,200 on a TV Specials market set up by Spreadex where you multiplied the total corners in each televised match by one another. The actual total came in at 24,192, meaning a total profit of 13,992 times your actual stake!

It isn’t just football that is popular for spread betting though. Horse racing, cricket, golf, rugby and tennis are also popular sports to spread bet on.

Spread betting exists in the UK and some US states but the term is used differently. In the US, the bookmaker offers a line that the punter can choose to go above or below, but the stake is fixed, as are the potential profits and loss.

Many companies offer in-play options, allowing customers to make a profit during or cut a loss, during the event.

Unlike traditional sports betting, there are only a few companies in the UK to offer spread betting services, with, SpreadEx, Sporting Index and SportsSpread the most prominent brands.

The increasing popularity of spread betting is evident in SpreadEx’s growth. Since 2010 the firm has more than tripled revenues from £15m to £50m.

Also read about&nbsp;<a href="https://outplayed.com/what-is-lay-betting-or-laying" target="_blank">lay bets</a>

Sports spread betting stemmed from the popularity of spread betting on financial indexes such as stocks and shares.

Companies such as SpreadEx and Sporting Index offer both sports and financial spread betting. There are scores of companies - brokers - dedicated solely to financial spread betting.

Much like sports spread betting, financial spread betting is a way of betting on the movement of a financial instrument - whether it is share price, the value of gold, or house prices.

You can buy (or go long) if you think the numbers will increase, or sell (go short) if you think the values will decrease.

The difference between the buy and sell price is “the spread”.

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