Betting Help and Tips
Betting is a thrilling way to enjoy a variety of sports and potentially make money at the same time. But for the beginner, gambling's rules and jargon can often be off-putting. Below is a step-by-step guide to sports betting to help first-time punters.
Step One
Choose an outcome of an event you wish to bet on. Decide how much money you wish to stake and whether you want to bet win-only or each-way (see glossary). For example, you decide to bet £5 on Papillon winning the Grand National.
Step Two
Find an on-line betting partner quoting odds on your chosen event. For our example, you would first click on "horse racing" then "Grand National" on the betting partner's website.
The betting partner displays say 9-1 against Papillon winning the race. This means if Papillon wins, your return on £5 will be £45, plus your stake, making a grand total of £50.
Step Three
Place the bet. Clicking on the BestPrice for your selection will open up a betting slip or direct to the appropriate betting partner. Enter your stake. Before logging the bet, it is advisable to find out how much betting tax (see glossary) a betting partner is charging.
Step Four
Win the bet. The betting partner transfers your winnings plus returned stake into your account.
Back or lay
When using a betting exchange, you can "BACK" or "LAY" a selection.
If you BACK a selection (be it an individual, a team, horse, dog or other), you are betting that it will win. This is just like betting with conventional bookies.
When you "LAY" it, you are betting against it winning. For example, if you're betting in a market on which team is going to win the Premiership and you lay Man Utd, you offer odds to other punters who wish to back Man United. If Man United don't win, then you pick up the backer's stake. If Man United win, then you pay out. This is what bookmakers traditionally do.
You never know who you are betting against, your privacy and the confidentiality of your bets is maintained by the exchanges secure site.
Choose odds
There is always a choice of what odds to accept. If you want better odds than are currently available, you can place an order for a better price, but be realistic because there has to be somebody prepared to lay the bet at those odds, and vice versa.
Take a look at the odds before a game and you will see them change as visitors back and lay their bets. The odds often improve nearer to the off, as there are more people in the market.
Commission
You do not pay tax but commission is paid on your net winnings on each market. This is particularly beneficial if you have multiple bets on a single market such as the Premiership Winner market. Some of your bets may win, some may lose, however you only pay commission on your NET winnings. If your bets in a particular market amount to a net loss, you do not pay commission.
Your Commission rate is set according to how much you use an exchange.
Sports spread betting provides you with the ultimate betting thrill and challenges your skill, judgement and knowledge of sport. Spread betting firms make predictions on various aspects of sporting or topical events. You then decide whether that prediction has been pitched too high or too low.
You will notice that their predictions are presented in the form of two prices. This is a range known as the 'spread' and you bet low (also known as a 'Sell') at the first named price and if you wish to bet high (also known as a 'Buy') you would do so at the second price.
What you win or lose depends on the stake size you choose and how right or wrong you are.
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