: : Index Betting In a Nutshell

Index Wagering, which originated (as Spread Betting) in England during the late eighties, is similar to the Financial Futures markets in that the more right you are, the more you win, and conversely the more wrong you are, the more you lose.

Punters either "buy" if they think a market will go over the quoted spread, or "sell" if they think it will be lower.

For example, VIP.com offered a market on the Total points in the NFL Pro Bowl, the opening quote being 46-49. Punters who "bought" the points at 49 ended up netting a 16-point profit as the AFC won 45-20 (65-49 = 16).

Punters who "sold" at 46, however, lost 19 times their unit stake (65- 46=19).

Those who "bought" the total goals in the NHL All-Star game didn't fare so well, however, with the 11 goals falling well short of the opening quote of 16-17 goals.

How does Index Betting work?

IG Index may predict the England cricket team will score 250 runs, so they offer a Index of 240-260 runs (if the actual score falls within that range they win regardless – it’s a way of them absorbing UK betting tax into their prices without making the client pay it. But they rarely get it bang on).

In this example, you have to decide if you think England will score more than 260 or less than 240. If you think they will score more than 260 you “buy” at 260 and stand to win one times your stake for every run more than 260 that England make. If you think they will score less than 240, you “sell” at 240 and win one times your stake for every run short of 240 that England finish. The main thing to remember is you always buy at the higher number in the Index and sell at the lower one.

If you predict wrong, you lose – in this example, one times your stake for every run over 240/under 260.

Let’s say England actually make 275. If you bought for a stake of £1 per run, you’d be right by 15 runs, and so would win £15. If you’d sold, you’d be quite badly wrong, and would lose a pound for every run you were out – £35. Unlike fixed odds betting, you don’t know how much you could win or lose when you place the bet – it depends on how accurate you are.

Index Betting Explained

Below we describe the more common boxing Index Betting markets. You will find that each Index Betting firm will introduce additional markets, sometimes unique to them, especially for special sporting events.

Rules for each market may vary between Index Betting firms, especially for markets where points are allocated for specific events, so always ensure you fully understand the rules of a market before placing a bet.

Supremacy

The spread represents the points margin by which one team is expected to beat the other. The team listed in the spread is considered to be the favourite.

For example, 'Miami Dolphins 11-14' indicates that the Miami Dolphins are expected to beat their opponents by 11 to 14 points. If Miami Dolphins lose, the make up will be negative.

Total Points

The total points scored during a match.

Touchdown Scorers Shirt Numbers

The aggregate shirt numbers of all the touchdown scorers.

Team Performance

The spread represents the overall performance of a team during a match.

Points are awarded for winning, drawing, scoring touchdowns, kicks at goal and sacking the opposing quarterback. Points are deducted for missed kicks, and turnovers. The points allocated may vay from one spread bet firm to another.

e.g.

Win = 25 points
Touchdown = 15 points
Field goal = 5 points
Sacking the opposing quarterback = 3 points
Missed field goal = -5 points
Turnover (not on downs) = -10

Total Touchdown Yardage

The aggregate distance (in yards) of all the touchdowns scored in a game.

Player Supremacy

The spread represents the supremacy of one player over another during a match.

For example two quarterbacks are measured according to the difference in their net passing yardage, while for two running backs it is their rushing yardage that counts. A quarterback's passing yards could be negative as any sackings will count as yards lost.

First Last Blast

The spread represents the likelihood of a player scoring the first and/or last touchdown in a game. Points are awarded to the first and last touchdown scorer. The points allocated may vay from one spread bet firm to another.

e.g.

The first touchdown scorer is awarded 25 points, as is the last touchdown scorer.

If there is just one touchdown, then the scorer is awarded 50 points.

1st Quarter Points

The number of points scored in the 1st quarter of a match.

Time of 1st Touchdown

The number of minutes that elpase before either team scores a touchdown.

A market also exists for time of the 1st touchdown scored by a specified team.

Homes/Aways

The total number of points scored by all the home teams minus the total number of points scored by all the away teams in a given week or on a given day.

Super Bowl 100 Index

The spread represents the performance of each team in the playoffs of the Super Bowl. Points are awarded according to the final position of the teams in the competition. The points allocated may vay from one spread bet firm to another.

e.g.

winner = 100 points
runner up = 70 points
losing conference finalists = 50 points
losing in the divisional playoffs = 33 points
losing in the wild cards = 20 points
missing the playoffs = 0 points

NFL Divisions

The spread represents the performance of a team within their NFL division. Points are awarded according to the final position of the team in their division. The points allocated may vay from one spread bet firm to another.

e.g.

division winner = 25 points
second place = 10 points
third placed = 5 points

Prices are updated after each week's games.