Spread betting on handicap markets
HANDICAP spread markets offer terrific value if you fancy a team to win – particularly if they are the underdog on the supremacy market.
Wales play Bosnia Hercegovina tonight and there’s a case for saying the supremacy market should be closer than the 0.25-0.45 it’s trading at.
The Welsh have reached their highest ranking since March 1994, just four places behind their rivals. Although Joe Allen and Aaron Ramsey are missing later, Gareth Bale is a match-winner of the highest order, and they must fancy their chances in front of a roaring Cardiff crowd.
If you believe Chris Coleman’s team will triumph, you can of course sell Bosnia at 0.25. But buying Wales with a -1 handicap at 4.5 offers far greater rewards, and of course higher losses should they fail to win.
Sporting Index’s handicap markets are settled as: Win by greater than Handicap = 25 pts, Win match by exactly Handicap = 10 pts, Any other result = 0 pts.
Conversely, punters who are firmly in the Bosnia win camp tonight, might be interested in buying Bosnia -1 at 8. A 1-0 away victory would make up 10, and a profit of two times original stakes – better than the 0.55 times original stakes a simple supremacy buy at 0.45 would return from the same result.
The more you believe a team can win by, the lower you can expect their handicap price. For example, Bosnia -2 is trading at 2-3.5, Bosnia -3 at 0.5-1.5 and Bosnia -4 at 0.1