Supremacies and Match Bets

After Totals, this is the second main type of spread bet that backers need to understand. All sports involve competition between individuals or teams, and this type of bet allows you to predict the superiority of one individual or team over another.

In most match bets one of the two rivals will be the favourite and their name will appear first, followed by their opponent's, and then the predicted margin of victory.

Example

Wasps are playing Leicester, and the spread is quoted as follows: Wasps / Leicester 3-6. This translates into Wasps being the favourites over Leicester (as it is their name that comes first) by a margin of 3 to 6 points.

If you expect Wasps' winning margin to be greater than 6 points you would buy at the higher figure (6) but if you thought Leicester would put up a bold show and either lose by less than 3 points or actually win the match you would sell at the lower figure (3). In this way, Leicester does not actually need to win for you to make a profit.

The final score turns out at Wasps 22 Leicester 21.

The two bets would work out as follows:

1. Buying at 6 for £10 a point. You were predicting that Wasps would win by more than 6 points but in actual fact - although they won - it was only by a one point winning margin. Therefore you lose 6 - 1= 5 x £10 stake = £50.
2. Selling Wasps' superiority at the lower figure (3) for £10 a point. In this case you correctly felt that Leicester would not lose by 3 points or more and so you would win 3 - 1 = 2 x £10 stake = £20.

If the score had been Wasps 27 Leicester 21, the two bets would work out as follows:

1. Buying at 6 for £10 a point. You predicted that Wasps would win by more 6 points or more, which they did - by exactly 6 points. This means that you break even (6 - 6) = 0 x £10 stake, meaning no money changes hands.
2. Selling Wasps' superiority at the lower figure (3) for £10 a point. In this case you would lose 6 - 3 = 3 x £10 stake = £30.