E-Book Overview
To compile this definitive and up-to-date guide to all aspects of sports spread betting, Daniel Townend interviewed countless insiders in spread betting firms and sports journalism plus successful punters. The book includes chapters on the major individual sports, details of all the different markets offered, and the differences between the spread betting firms.
E-Book Content
Daniel Townend
Sports Spread Betting An Insider’s Guide
HIGH STAKES
First published in August 2003 by High Stakes Publishing 21 Great Ormond St London WC1N 3JB T: 020 7430 1021 www.highstakes.co.uk www.gamblingbooks.co.uk/publishing Copyright © Daniel Townend 2003 The right of Daniel Towend to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs & Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the written permission of the publishers. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. ISBN 1 84344 012 1 Sports Spread Betting An Insider’s Guide
Printed and bound in Great Britain by Cox & Wyman Typeset by ABLE Solutions, Birmingham.
For Lucy
Contents Prologue Catching the Spread Betting Bug ............................ 9 Chapter One Spread Betting and the Golden Age of Sporting Dominance ...................................... 12 Chapter Two The Mechanics of Spread Betting ................... 18 Chapter Three Managing Your Money .................................. 23 Chapter Four Know Your Enemy ........................................... 33 Chapter Five What Moves the Market? ................................. 42 Chapter Six In-running Action ................................................ 62 Chapter Seven Arbitrage and Why the Firms Hate It .......... 73 Chapter Eight Football Matches and Markets....................... 78 Chapter Nine Over the Season—Long-term Football ........ 99 Chapter Ten The Ups and Downs of Cricket ..................... 107 Chapter Eleven Rugby and its Rival Codes.......................... 120 Chapter Twelve The Mind Games of Golf ......................... 128 Chapter Thirteen Playing the Field, Spread Betting and Horse Racing ......................................... 140 Chapter Fourteen The Equality of American Football ....... 147 Chapter Fifteen The Opportunities of Motor Racing ....... 156 Chapter Sixteen Pub Games, Greyhounds, Boxing and . . . Lawn Tennis .................................................. 161 Chapter Seventeen Spread Betting and the World of Politics ...................................................................... 170 Chapter Eighteen The World of Speciality Markets .......... 180 Appendix Main Sports Spread Betting Firms ..................... 184 Glossary .................................................................................... 188
Prologue Catching the Spread Betting Bug It is a hot summer day in June 1995. England have just beaten Australia in the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals thanks to a towering last minute drop goal by stand-off Rob Andrew. England players and fans are delirious, convinced that the team have become world beaters. Next up—tournament favourites New Zealand, the All Blacks and their fearsome winger Jonah Lomu in the semi-final. I also have a new toy to play with. Sporting Index have opened my credit account and I am about to step into the world of spread betting. With hindsight, buying the time of Jonah Lomu’s first try at 37 minutes might not have been such a sensible idea. On the day I thought ‘this will be a tight cagey game at least in the first half ’. So when Lomu trampled over h