Best UK Sports Spread Betting Sites for 2023 - Free Bets & Offers

How we rank the best spread betting sites

Spread betting has gained popularity as an alternative form of financial speculation that allows traders to profit from the price movements of various financial instruments, including stocks, indices, currencies, and commodities. It’s an innovative and growing way to wager, so we’ve ranked the best spread betting sites to bring traders only stellar recommendations. We take into account several important things we look for in UK brokers, which bettors need to have a great experience. Below we’ve outlined how we evaluate and rank these platforms based on relevant criteria.

A big choice of assets	First and foremost a decent spread betting site needs to cater for the many ways traders make their trades. We expect to see sites offer a wide range of financial instruments, including stocks, indices, currencies, and commodities. A broker that offers a wide range of trading assets means increased opportunities for traders to take advantage of price fluctuations of different markets.
Competitive spreads	Competitive spreads are crucial in spread betting. Sites that consistently offer tight and competitive spreads on various instruments earn a better ranking, enhancing traders’ profitability. Lower spreads means lower trading costs, thereby maximising returns, so we’ll recommend sites that offer them.
Commissions and fees	While most brokers don’t make commissions from spread betting, which is due to them earning money from the spread they have for the assets chosen by the bettor, it’s still important to verify any commissions and other fees associated with being on the site.
Platform availability	Another one to consider is the trading platform offered by the spread betting site. Traders prefer different platforms for different reasons and sites that cater to this will be looked upon favourably.
Leverage options	We expect to see a high availability of leverage options, which can be defined as the ability to trade with a relatively small amount of capital in comparison to the total position size. Spread betting is often associated with leverage because traders are not required to own the underlying asset they are speculating on. Instead, they bet on the price movement of the asset, and leverage enables them to take larger positions. Common options in spread betting are leverage ratios, margin requirements, and more. We consider what’s on offer from spread betting sites in the UK.
Risk management tools	As you may have guessed, spread betting involves significant risk. Sites that provide risk management tools such as stop-loss and take-profit orders, guaranteed stops, and negative balance protection receive a higher rank, as they assist traders in managing risk and enhances the experience.
Low bet sizes	Spread betting sites that offer low bet sizes is great for beginners or experienced traders who want more granular control over how much they’re willing to risk. Spread betting sites that offer this is diversity of choice are more likely to rank highly.
Customer support	Issues and errors can lead to a lot of frustration, not to mention losses. We review the customer support quality by looking at their channels, responsiveness, and knowledge. We expect to see live chat services – with real humans behind it – available 24/7. If a trader can’t close a position because of elongated delays with customer support, they’re not going to have a good experience.
Reviews and rep	Traders have unique insights into what works and what doesn’t for spread betting sites. As a result, those insights are invaluable to our review process. We’ll comb through online reviews on websites like TrustPilot, to try and learn more.
A user-friendly platform	Spread betting can be a complex endeavour, so we look for sites that offer an intuitive, feature-rich platforms that facilitate easy trade execution and analysis.
Reliability	All spread betting sites should be reliable. How speedily and reliably they execute functions and processes can determine whether a trader has a positive experience or not. We look at this in our review.
Demo options	Because spread betting comes with high risk and requires often complex strategies to make profits, it’s important that UK-based spread betting sites offer ways to support beginners. A demo account or tool is a great way to do that. These accounts are often free but for a limited duration, so we’ll look at spread betting sites and recommend the ones with the best support.

The Best Sports Spread Betting Sites:

Today we only need to do two reviews since there are only two trusted brands offering spread betting in the UK. With only Spreadex and Sporting Index going head to head for your business here, there isn’t much choice, but their presence in the region guarantees neither platform has a stranglehold on it.

Sporting Index is the oldest of the two platforms which was founded in 1992 whereas Spreadex was founded in 1999.

Sporting Index

SpreadEx

What is sports spread betting?

Spread betting is a type of betting in which the bettor wins or loses money based on the gap by which the value of a particular outcome differs from the bookmaker’s spread of expected values. In essence, a “spread” is a forecast of what will occur in a particular market for a specific sporting event, stated as a SELL-BUY range. In a football game, the “spread” for total goals may be between 2.8 and 3.0. This suggests that you would BUY if you believed that the market or outcome would rise above the specified range. Or SELL if you thought the goals would be less than the chosen range.

It sounds complicated, but stick with us and hopefully you’ll understand by the end of this article. In no time, you’ll be making your own spread bets in no time and hopefully bringing in a profit!

Is it worth spread betting?

Spread betting can produce large profits if bets are properly placed. Most spread betting traders achieve success only after developing a systematic trading strategy based on years of experience. Only a small number of individuals succeed, while the vast majority fail. While you may profit if the market moves in your favour, you may also suffer big losses if the trade moves against you and you lack adequate risk management. Another feature that makes punters more interested in spread betting as opposed to the more traditional means of placing wagers, is that currently, spread betting profits are not taxable in the United Kingdom.

Pros and cons of spread betting instead of “regular” betting

Whether you’re new or established in the betting world you will normally think of just placing a bet and based on the odds receiving the equivalent returns. However with spread betting it is a little more complicated which can make it harder to understand. We want to try and pinpoint the benefits and the pain points to help you better understand if spread betting is for you.

Pros of spread betting	Cons of spread betting
You can win significantly more when winning continuously	You can lose more than regular bets if you keep losing
Finding winners requires less precision	It can be more complicated to understand
In-play betting could compensate for potential losses	There are only two brands to choose from for spread betting in the UK
Options for cashing out early allows you to quit while you’re ahead	Many people confuse UK spread betting with point spread bets in the USA. They’re not the same
Larger collection of markets to choose from compared to normal sportsbook	The market is much more volatile than regular betting markets

Difference between fixed odds bets and spread betting offers

The concept of fixed odds betting will be understood by the majority of sports bettors. For instance, the odds for the home team to win, the draw, or the away team to win in a football game. Additionally, you can wager on outcomes with special bets like both teams scoring at any point in the game or a specific individual scoring the game’s opening goal or any other goal. With special bets there is so much flexibility on what type of bet you can place.

In sports spread betting, as opposed to fixed odds betting, it counts how accurate or inaccurate your forecast is. In fixed odds betting, you are either right or wrong.

Let’s assume you have £20 you are happy and willing to stake in either scenario.

Fixed odds betting example	Spread betting example
Arsenal to win at odds of 2.30	The range of goals in-match is 2.45 to 2.65
A bet of £20 placed before the game	If you think 2.45 or less you would “sell”
You would win money if Arsenal win	If you think 2.65 or more you would “buy”

FIXED ODDS BET

In a fixed bet, you would simply multiply your stake (£20) by the odds value (2.30) in order to establish your potential winnings. Typically to make your life a little easier, the bet slip will calculate this on your behalf anyway. This is how straight forward a fixed odds bet is.

SPREAD BET

Spread betting offers operate in a unique way. The two companies (SpreadEx and Sporting Index) that provide spread betting in the UK will provide a predicted “range” of values for an event element. It can be the total amount of goals scored instead of just which team wins or loses for example. The range provided for this is 2.45 to 2.65 goals.

Take the “sell” price if you think or predict fewer than 2.45 goals in the game (which is 2.45). Take the “buy” price if you believe there will be more than 2.65 goals in the game (which is 2.65). In our hypothetical case, you choose to “sell” for £10.

What does it mean to buy or sell with sports spread betting offers?

Sell – Let’s say there was only 1 goal. Your winnings are the odds (2.45) multiplied by your bet (£20) minus the number of goals (1). By this calculation you will have won = £48

Buy is the opposite and instead the numbers are minus figures.

Buy If you place a bet on odds of 2.65, anticipating at least three total goals, your earnings in a two-team draw 0-0 are the odds -2.65 + 0 (goals) which is -2.65. Then multiply this by £20 (your wager) which is -£53, which is the equivalent of a loss of £53. If the score was 2-2, your profits would be -2.65 + 4 (which equals 1.35), multiplied by £20, which equals a loss of £27 instead.

Sports spread betting UK – Tips and tricks to succeed

As with all types of betting, there are some key guidelines and sports spread betting advice to pay attention to if you want to make the most of your wagering experience and possibly turn a profit. Although it seems like there are a lot of things to be aware of, the tips and tricks are rather transferable across all types of betting so they’ll help you with spread betting as well as your regular wagers too.

1) Research

Never, ever try to get into betting if you don’t research first. You’ll need to make sure you understand what it is you’re doing and what you’re aiming for in order to be successful. When you understand the process and what to do you’ll have a much better experience.

2) Do not rush

When you are trying to start your spread betting journey you should take your time after researching to make sure you select the best you want accurately to make sure you don’t make any simple mistakes.

3) Don’t overcomplicate it

If you’re familiar with other types of betting then it’s always worth starting with markets that you already know and are familiar with. Plus, make sure to keep the actual bets simple and straightforward and don’t do too much at once.

4) Set your limits

When available, use stop loss/stop win orders to guarantee that any losses you do experience are within a range you are comfortable with. This way you can prevent yourself from experiencing huge losses.

5) Compare platforms

Just because there are only two platforms in the UK to choose from, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t compare the two for each particular spread bet you wish to make. Similar to regular betting, there are always going to be differences in the odds available for each wager.

6) Early cash out

Just like with fixed-odds and regular betting, you might be able to withdraw your funds early on selected bets to prevent getting large losses if the game or outcomes are looking a certain way. If you can, it;s always worth taking advantage of the cash out feature.

7) Be selective

Since there are so many different markets available, it can often be more beneficial to select a specific niche and become as educated as possible to improve your chances. If you try to spread yourself too thin across different sports and markets it would be much harder to make accurate predictions which can in turn cause you to lose more.

Don’t forget to have fun

Yes there is money to be won (or lost) when you take part with sports spread betting UK sites but the main thing to remember is how fun it can be. By following all the tips and tricks you can easily enjoy yourself while (hopefully) making a profit in the process. Don’t take the spread betting offers too seriously and lose sight of the enjoyment you can have while joining in.

What sports have good opportunities for spread betting?

Like regular fixed odds betting you do have many different sports and events to bet on when looking to place down wagers. In some instances there are actually more betting markets to choose from which can lead to this betting type being more overwhelming since too many options isn’t always a good thing. Below I want to outline some of the most popular sports and events you can expect to find spread bets available for:

Sport or Event	Spread betting market examples
Football	–       Total number of corners –       Total goal minutes –       The 1st match goal –       Supremacy (difference between winning and losing scores)
Rugby	–       Total try minutes –       Number of match tries –       Total match points
Cricket	–       Number of batsmen runs –       Total cricket sixes –       The 1st match wicket –       Total team runs –       Multi-fours
Horse racing	–       Winning favourites –       Winning distances –       Favourites –       Squared numbers
Golf	–       Finishing position –       Leaderboard –       Winning margin –       Player A vs Player B shot supremacy –       Player A vs Player B 10-3 match

As you can see there are many different markets available in each of the different sports available and this list is not exhaustive. There are more sports and even more betting markets, I have just listed some of the most common that you’re likely to find.

Now, when you consider that there are huge events within each sport that people are more likely to bet on, you can be sure that there are lots of events that you can place spread bets on too. Almost any sporting event you can think of will have at least some betting market available for it. But to be sure and know what you can place wagers on, it’s easy to check the sportsbook indexes available on each of the sites, SpreadEx and Sporting Index.

To give you a quick example, here are some of the main popular sporting events around the world that you can bet on and the markets provided:

Sporting event	Spread bet markets
Football World Cup	–       Highest scoring team –       Highest scoring group –       Lowest scoring group –       Lowest scoring team –       Name the finalists
Super Bowl	–       Winning margin –       Total match points –       Super bowl winner –       Half time –       Full time
Rugby Union World Cup	–       Tournament winner –       Total points –       Total match points

 

The same as last time, this list above is not exhaustive. There are countless numbers of sporting events and tournaments that take place every single year and there is no slowing down. For those die hard sports fans, there is something happening during every month, and even when the tournaments are over there are usually still smaller matches and events that take place. You can often expect to see lots of spread betting markets for other popular events including:

• The Formula 1 Grand Prix racing in Monaco
• Tour De France cycling tournament in France
• The Cheltenham Gold Cup horse race in the United Kingdom
• The Grand National horse race in Aintree, United Kingdom
• The UEFA (football) Champions League
• The Cricket World Cup
• The NBA finals in the United States of America
• Wimbledon Tennis Tournament in England
• The Olympic games (which changes destination each time)

What is a stop loss in sports spread betting UK?

A stop loss is a way of protecting yourself and your funds which is not a possibility in regular betting. It is basically when you set a maximum limit of your bet loss ahead of time to make sure you don’t lose more than you’re willing to (not that anybody actually plans or hopes to lose anything). This is one of the best and most unique features of spread betting.

• Standard stop-loss orders: Stop-loss orders minimise risk by immediately terminating a losing trade when the market crosses a predetermined price level. When a normal stop-loss is used, the order will close out your transaction at the best price when the predetermined stop value is achieved.

Think of this as a way of “turning off” your bets before they make a dramatic turn and you lose everything. It’s a practical way to protect yourself and can be considered a type of bet insurance in a way.

By including a “stop loss” component in your wager, you can avoid suffering significant losses which can be a punter’s saving grace if they make inaccurate predictions. So far in football, the highest number of goals is 11in one game. We will be using this as our goal amount for the example. Therefore if you sold at £20 at a price of 2.65, you would have -£167 in addition to your initial stake.

The equation looks something like this:

2.65 (odds) – 11 (goals) = -8.35 x £20 = -£167 (which is a loss of £167) plus your initial stake.

This facility’s single drawback is that if you limit your possible losses, you must also limit your potential wins. However, not every wager offers the stop loss/stop win feature.

Which spread betting site should you choose?

Honestly, they both have amazing features that make them a fantastic choice, they both have enough reasons to join them. There is also nothing to say you shouldn’t join both sites with a new user account each. With both spread betting accounts, you can select the firm with the best spread on a specific market and ignore the one with the poorer spread. That way, you can almost guarantee your success much easier than just having one and one only.

Once you’ve joined one, you’ll quickly realise the value of opening another sports spread betting account. Having both in your betting arsenal provides you with more opportunities to profit. As they always say, it’s better to have more and not need it, than to need it and not have them.

Spread betting sites compared

Although the UK only has two sites to choose from, if you can or or only want to register on one site, you should definitely make sure you know the differences between the two. Luckily for UK bettors, the majority of spread betting features are covered by both platforms so there isn’t much to compare. One of the only major comparisons is that Sporting Index does not presently offer a bet builder whereas SpreadEx does. If you are not a fan of using the bet builder then it might not make much of a difference when choosing which to start with.

Feature	SpreadEx	Sporting Index
Spread betting with sports	✅	✅
Bet Builder	✅	❌
Mobile app	✅	✅
Live streaming service	✅	✅
Welcome bonuses and promotions	✅	✅
Fixed odds betting	✅	✅
Online casino	✅	✅
Financial spread betting	✅	✅

A Step by step guide: How to successfully complete sports spread betting

After learning more about sports spread betting, you probably can’t wait to put your new knowledge to the test. Spread betting in sports is quite similar to betting with fixed odds. Here, we’ll walk you through the typical actions involved in placing a spread wager.

Step #1: Register an account on the spread betting bookmaker

In order to start placing spread bets you will first need to register an account on one of the two main spread betting platforms. We will use SpreadEx for our example today. From the image below (the homepage of the SpreadEx site) click on the middle option which is “open a sports spread betting account”. This will open the registration form for you to fill out.

You will need to fill out the form to create an account before you can start betting. You must input your title, first and last legal name, email address, create a username and password, select your country of residence and your nationality. Once these fields have all been filled in you can click continue.

The second page will require slightly different information but you cannot proceed to betting until this page is also complete. You will need to enter your date of birth, mobile phone number, house number and postcode (which will auto populate a list of addresses to choose from) and lastly you will need to choose a security question and answer to help keep your new account secure. Once complete you will be asked if you want to activate spread betting. Make sure you click this and you will see this next window.

Fill out everything as before and then you will be taken to the homepage once confirmed.

Step #2: Deposit your funds into your new account

After creating your account you will be asked if you are ready to deposit. Click the button and you will be brought to the page below. Follow the instructions on each box to input your correct information. Make sure to accurately enter your details otherwise your deposit will not be completed.

Step #3: Find your sport and spread betting market

We will be using the opening match of the football World Cup (between Qatar and Ecuador) so to find this game in the sportsbook you will need to head to football along the header, and then find the international button. That will take you to a list of various international competitions. The world cup is near the top of the list and the match we watch is at the top of that section. Now you are ready to place your bets

Step #4: Create a bet slip and place your spread bets

As you will be able to see, the sell price for this match is 0.2 and the buy price is 0.4. As you click on the value button you will see a new window pop up and prompt you to decide which option you’d like to select.

To understand the difference between the buttons, I’ll run through it.

Each number/button represents the number of goals of one team over the other. For example, since the market is shown as Ecuador/Qatar and Ecuador wins 3-1, the market would settle at 2 (because 2 is the difference between the two teams’ scores).  If Qatar wins instead with a score of 1-0, the market would instead settle at -1 because that team was expected to do worse than the first team listed – that’s why the order of the teams is important in spread betting.

One thing to be aware of (and bear in mind from the previous notes above) this market has the chance to settle at a negative value which means you could lose more than just your stake.

Now you understand, enter your chosen stake amount into the box and decide if you are wanting to sell at that value or buy. Every spread bet you make will show you a confirmation to make sure you are ok with what you have selected before it is finalised. Use this time to make sure you have selected the correct market.

Step #5: Wait for the result and potentially collect your winnings

Spread betting has one main similarity to fixed odds betting in the respect that you need to wait for the outcome in order to find out if you won or lost anything. When the match has finished (it is still a few weeks out of writing this article) your account will automatically notify you about any winnings you earn or any losses you accumulate. As we said before, if you were unsuccessful or your prediction was quite far out from the actual outcome, then you could be out more money than you put in. This is often one of the main features that puts punters off from making spread bets. It amplifies the amount of risk you put yourself in.

Some final thoughts on sports spread betting UK

Sports spread betting is thriving for UK customers, and long may it continue. We’ve covered the difficulties, risks, and benefits, so you should have all the information you need to decide whether spread betting is right for you.

Spread betting on sports continues to be shunned by many bettors despite its recent growth in popularity.They don’t fully get how it operates, which is the fundamental cause. However, sports spread betting UK offers an exciting betting experience for individuals who take the time to learn about betting in this unique way. There is a misconception that spread betting can result in significant losses, but you can keep any losses to a level you are comfortable with by understanding how to use stop loss orders and protecting yourself just a little bit. Take your time, remember to research and good luck!