Anybody here tried spread betting?

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A

accel

Free Member
Apr 10, 2010
11
1
  • #1
    Hope I'm in the right category, so if I'm not perhaps someone could point me in the right direction.

    I received a mail shot about spread betting and promptly chucked it in the bin. Later on, I thought "hmmmm" I wonder if its worth a punt?

    Thinking specifically here about Oil Price betting on Tuesday nights (after the government reports come out). Using double bet stop-loss (to manage risk) with forced second position open to follow the new trend.

    I wanted to post an example of the site which is actually www dot igindex dot co dot uk but I haven't made enough posts to do that.

    It looks like I'd need to pull a late night on each Tuesday/early morning weds to make anything on it, but hey-ho, nothing ventured etc etc and if it makes me money I'm not averse to pulling the odd night shift.

    So, smart people, has anyone actually TRIED this? Did you use a system? Did you make anything from it?
     
    A

    accel

    Free Member
    Apr 10, 2010
    11
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  • #3
    I did.

    And although I spent some time on the advanced searches, including using "spread betting" it the search engine still went to single words such as "spread" or "betting" but I didn't find "spread betting".

    But if you're adamant I'll try again.:)
     
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    M

    martin001

    Free Member
    May 28, 2008
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  • #4
    You can download / signup to free demo spreadbetting platforms, which let you play the markets with toy money, before using any real money.

    A very very big word of warning though. Spread betting is a leveraged product and carries ernormous risk as well as reward.

    Loose example of spread betting:

    Chelsea V Arsenal.

    Its running odds that the number of free kicks taken by Arsenal will be 11. Well, I decide that Chelsea are dirty players and guess that Arsenal with get 15 free kicks, so I be £10 per point.

    Aresenal get 17 free kicks and I make £60.00
    or
    Arsenal get 2 free kicks and I lose £140.00

    (this is just an example - I dont expect to be 100% accurate on the above)

    The point is, unlike normal betting, with Spread Betting you can be £10, but lose £200, i.e., more than your original stake.

    I've had a colleague lose £10k (and a wife)
     
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    M

    MH1

  • #5
    The trouble for most people is playing with made up money is one thing, once you start using your own real money emotion creeps into your decisions, and emotional responses are not very well based very often.

    I tried it for a while, made a small amount, but as mentioned could have lost a fair bit more.

    There is a reason why it is called betting.
     
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    The Panda

    The Panda

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    Apr 16, 2008
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    Runcorn, Cheshire
  • #11
    There is a way to do spread betting and always win by, well ummm spreading your bet and making sure it pays.
    For instance. If England were playing Italy tonight and you wanted to bet on an English victory then you would probably just go into a bookies and put a bet on.
    Wrong. If you were to back an English win but with an Italian bookmaker you would get better odds as Italy would be weighted towards an Italian win simply because most people in that country would back them to do so and vice versa.
    So here it may be evens a UK victory and 6/4 an Italian one but in Italy it may be the other way around.
    So a £100 win bet on Italy to win here at 6/4 gives you £150 profit plus stake money of £200 back. A total £350 back, a profit of £150 and if England win then the same but it is with an Italian bookmaker to get the better odds on England.
    I only use those teams as an example and odds must be checked out. Some clever pro gamblers make a living out of doing this but it takes a lot of money as usually the odds are fractions of a percentage point you also have to have quite a few bank accounts abroad and lots of accounts with different layers.
    If I got the maths wrong its because I have had a couple of pints.
     
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    oldeagleeye

    oldeagleeye

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    Jul 16, 2008
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  • #12
    You must have had more than a few pints Panda. There is no way on earth a professional trader in the City can make money from spread betting let alone an amateur.

    I know my brother in law was a top class currency dealer in the City. Made millions of pounds virtualy every day for his bank.

    Then he started Spread Betting.In just 3 months he lost over £500,000 and the family home had to be sold.

    Now he works as a postman because he knows if he went back to the City he would be tempted again.

    Learn a lesson then. SB is more addictive than charlie.
     
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    N

    nade

    Free Member
    May 28, 2009
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  • #16
    Spread betting is far do dangerous as in theory there is no limit to how muh you can use. There is a way to to this which is much more sensible which is trading using the bookmakers. I know as that is what I do. www.cash-matters.com will begin to tell you how. I'm very happy to be PM'ed if anyone wants any strategies as I doubt it would be allowed on this forum
     
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    Moneyman

    Moneyman

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    May 3, 2008
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  • #20
    I have made and lost loads over the years at spread betting. basically it is just a bet.
    if you trade too much the value of the spread will clobber you. If you say do a ftse trade and lose 5 points on the spread and trade every day you are losing the equivalent of 365 x 5 over a year. it is a lot.

    I do use it if i am worried about say a currency change just before i get a big cheque in in euros or dollars or need to pay it out. I just work out how much i would lose if the currency went against me by say one cent and place an equal and opposite bet with ig index or cantor. That way whatever the change in currency i gain on my transaction and lose on ig or gain at ig and lose on the transaction.

    What you have to remember is that it is a bet against expectation not the current price. So if everyone is expecting the price to go up by say 100 points by the close of that trade period, and it does, then nothing is gained and you lost the value of the spread. If it only goes up by 90 then you lose. You can choose the right direction and still lose.

    the swings can bust you out even if the overall stratergy is correct.

    All the clever butterfly spreads and stop losses in the world dont really help. they just add to the dealing costs.

    My advice is. If you know what you think is going to happen. oil hits $120 by september. look at the various september spreads and place the bet. then leave it and see what happens. daily jumps are for mugs only. an option is often a better bet. either it pays off or it doesnt and you dont get tempted into pushing in more money if the price drops short term.

    been there done that. i was an options trader once in the 80's pain and gain over the years. treat with extreme caution.
     
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    G

    garyk

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    Jun 14, 2006
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  • #22
    The Panda said:
    There is a way to do spread betting and always win by, well ummm spreading your bet and making sure it pays.
    For instance. If England were playing Italy tonight and you wanted to bet on an English victory then you would probably just go into a bookies and put a bet on.
    Wrong. If you were to back an English win but with an Italian bookmaker you would get better odds as Italy would be weighted towards an Italian win simply because most people in that country would back them to do so and vice versa.
    So here it may be evens a UK victory and 6/4 an Italian one but in Italy it may be the other way around.
    So a £100 win bet on Italy to win here at 6/4 gives you £150 profit plus stake money of £200 back. A total £350 back, a profit of £150 and if England win then the same but it is with an Italian bookmaker to get the better odds on England.
    I only use those teams as an example and odds must be checked out. Some clever pro gamblers make a living out of doing this but it takes a lot of money as usually the odds are fractions of a percentage point you also have to have quite a few bank accounts abroad and lots of accounts with different layers.
    If I got the maths wrong its because I have had a couple of pints.
    Click to expand...

    Thats not spread betting its arbitrage.

    Anyway in a nutshell, spread betting is risky, just like forex. People do make money at it but like anything you cant just start and 10 minutes later be in profit, like any skill or trade it has to be studied and experience gained.
     
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    The Panda

    The Panda

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    Apr 16, 2008
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    Runcorn, Cheshire
  • #23
    garyk said:
    Thats not spread betting its arbitrage.

    Anyway in a nutshell, spread betting is risky, just like forex. People do make money at it but like anything you cant just start and 10 minutes later be in profit, like any skill or trade it has to be studied and experience gained.
    Click to expand...
    I knew there was a word for it but I think that term relates more to the financial system rather than just a plain old gamble. You are right though, its not what is called spread betting. It is a form of betting that pure pro gamblers use but it is strictly for sporting events around the world where a bias towards two teams or players can throw up different odds in different countries. Sports such as boxing, basketball, football, rugby, horse racing where Ireland has a bias towards its own horses and runs them here at Cheltenham and so on.
     
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    S

    Successful Selling

  • #25
    I don't get it. You start by saying you received a mailshot about spread betting and promptly chucked it in the bin. You then get it out the bin and think about having a punt. This suggests you know very little spread betting.

    But then you specifically draw out attention to oil price betting on a Tuesday nights and use words like 'double stop-loss' and 'forced second position'.

    This isn't the language someone who knew nothing about spread betting would use!

    You then even suggest you have to work late Tuesday nights to 'make anything on it', when someone new would just trade during business hours on other markets.

    I'm guessing you clearly aren't new to spread betting and are posting this thread for some other reason.

    Call me suspicious, but this is very fishy.
     
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    T

    TakeNoPrisoners

  • #26
    oldeagleeye said:
    You must have had more than a few pints Panda. There is no way on earth a professional trader in the City can make money from spread betting let alone an amateur.

    I know my brother in law was a top class currency dealer in the City. Made millions of pounds virtualy every day for his bank.

    Then he started Spread Betting.In just 3 months he lost over £500,000 and the family home had to be sold.

    Now he works as a postman because he knows if he went back to the City he would be tempted again.

    Learn a lesson then. SB is more addictive than charlie.
    Click to expand...

    Are you for real? Is that a fsairy tale you just made up. Let me get this right. Your brother was working in the city earning more than 100k a year, driving expensive cars and women. Then he lost half a mil because of his stupidity and decided to leave his high paying job in order to be chased by dogs while delivering the post... And his career had nothing to do with spread betting anyway... Keep taking the pills ...
     
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    oldeagleeye

    oldeagleeye

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    Jul 16, 2008
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  • #28
    TakeNoPrisoners said:
    Are you for real? Is that a fsairy tale you just made up. Let me get this right. Your brother was working in the city earning more than 100k a year, driving expensive cars and women. Then he lost half a mil because of his stupidity and decided to leave his high paying job in order to be chased by dogs while delivering the post... And his career had nothing to do with spread betting anyway... Keep taking the pills ...
    Click to expand...
    You are new here aren't you. Well let me mark your card pal.
    NEVER - NEVER accuse me of telling tales - fairy or otherwise - and get some spectcles. I was actually talking about my brother in law and there was no way he was driving fast cars or 'women'. My sister had the car while Michael used to commute from Norfolk to London every day by train. A 4 hour round trip.

    As for being chased by dogs. I don't know. I do know that he was mugged delivering mail on a council estate twice in a year because the yobs obviously new when the giro cheques were in the bag. Fortunately he wasn't seriously hurt.

    And finally. No my bro's career was not in spread betting but he spent a lot of time in the derivitives market as well as currency. He had a far greater knowledge of how it SB works and how to play the odds and the bottom line it is a fools game for fools.

    Now go away and wash you mouth out poster for trying to wind me up for I know who you are.

    Blob Blob, Blob X
     
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    filtuh.com

    filtuh.com

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    Feb 28, 2010
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    York, UK
  • #30
    Arbitrage became more difficult when products such as betradar were introduced. There are still and always will be some opportunities, but don't believe the hype. I know a couple of people who make decent money on betting exchanges but they just absorb the value from fools mainly.

    Stick to what you know for your, and go and have the odd punt on a horse or on 32 red if you feel like it.
     
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    A

    Ash069

    Free Member
    Sep 2, 2011
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  • #31
    Spread betting can loose you a lot of money if not done correctly. I recently signed up to a smart options trading website called One Two Trade where you can make up to 80% returns on your investments in stocks, commodities, indices, or currencies. You basically predict whether an asset will go up or down within a given time frame and then you make gains from that! A lot of people I know have tried it and are making some good money and its much easier than spread betting. I believe they have a 22 pound sign up bonus if you click the following link: ww.onetwotrade.com/?IB=2018219[/url]
     
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