Sporting index

And before anyone says none of that has been through arbing !

What about Spreadex?

Did you win the 55k on your final trade? Hard to believe you were winning consistently with them without encountering restriction/closure earlier, unless they were using your account as an information indicator.

Yer you're lucky, all bookies I've used have closed me down after I've won 2-3k tops.

My spread betting ended in 2000 or 2001 when the companies
finally realised that they had been incorrectly calculating
one of their markets.

This market started in about 1996 by the company whose then head of sports is now favourite to be next Ladbrokes CEO.

This is was also the only company that consistantly rejected
or reduced my trades.

My profits with both City and Sporting was in the region
of £50K-£100K and neither ever refused a bet.

Profits with Lads and WH was much lower but well into 5 figures but,surprisingly,never had problems getting on.

In those days, they all advertised their prices on Channel 4 text and they also used to place an advert in the
Racing Post most days.

Spread betting is likely to attract every shark but only a
tiny % of regular punters.

If I was to open new accounts now,I'd be surprised if they
allowed me to consistantly make a profit.

And since the chances of me now being able to profit from
spread betting is zero,I'll never find out.

Sounds like I've been lucky to be allowed to trade this long then . The 55k was over a long period time the last 4 years probably made 8-9k per year with them , the rest of my profits been over a much longer period , sort of 2 steps forward , 1 back. But basically an upward curve. I'd say 75% of my profits have been trading 1 specific market on a sport I actually know very little about , that's horse racing

How the hell did you guys manage such massive profits - they restricted me on my winning type of markets after I'd won a tiny fraction of thosse amounts (a few grand basically was my profit on them).

They'd let me play my mug markets till the cows come home in comparison, but down to pounds for my useful markets. How did you guys get allowed so much??

SPIN that was.

Used to enjoy spread betting. I doubt Sporting let me take them for more than about 10-12k before they seriously restricted me and they closed me down thereafter. It is a dead duck if you have any history of winning money.
I fear we will be talking in the same terms about exchange betting in a few years time.

stu-the clue in my case is that all my profits were made before 2001.

They probably started with the idea that sports spread betting was going to be much more popular than it proved to be,and didn't want the reputation of closing accounts.

Better to take the bet and then change the price,similar to what Pinnacle still do.

I remember when one firm came out with the number of wides
(or it could have been extras)market for the cricket world cup.The racing post pointed out that they hadn't taken some new rules about wides into account and that the advertised price was far to low.Can't remember exact figures but it is
possible that it was over a 100 to short.

Instead of immediately changing the price,for about 30 minutes
they allowed everyone a small bet.

That honourable desision must of cost them a five figure sum.

And in those days even bookmakers were much more likely to take a sizeable bet in their shops.

Definitely the case that any significant profits had to come several years ago. In recent times they have become utterly pathetic even on fairly muggish markets.

It was interesting in that they sent an email this week asking how they could improve things!! Whats amazing about it is that they have huge margins built in with the spread anyway. Are their compilers and traders that bad....Maybe instead of closing/restricting accounts they should get some decent traders in. I suspect that with the restrictions in place that they are really struggling for volume. The business they get will be incredibly profitable but just not much of it. Only going to get worse.

I had a go at the winning distance markets and found them to be quite accurate.  The spread is just to wide in most markets to try and finesse an edge.

Match betting was the best angle on Horse Racing. Also selling total points on Rugby League in muddy conditions before they cottoned on to it.

It's been mentioned on here before, the spread companies had a great opportunity to corner a huge chunk of the market before BF came round but blew it by keeping their wide margins and they lost the £20+ punters forever.

I just think spread betting is too scary for your average punter. The spread firms hate it when a new account holder loses in the first month cos they know they may not come back . I think there will always be a niche market for it however.  I still bet with spreadex but find them a much tougher nut to crack. They always go lower than sporting on the 1 market I have consistently sold for profit. One of my friends has also won consistently on this market for 10 years , they haven't closed him  (yet)

Some years back it was reported that the Racing Authorities passed
on a quiet word that they were concerned about possible Jockey
involvement in selling distances at NH meetings. One meeting at
Warwick would have made under 10L if it hadn't been for the only
amateur race ending in a 15L Win.

Dave Nevison Got Warned off Horse Racing Match Bets

Having just tried to place a bet and it coming back as being offered at half stakes it really does drive me mad. Its a market that has a max make up of 25 with a spread of 1.5 built into it!! Only wanted £100 ffs. Will get what they deserve unless they get bailed out by another betting company.

Had a dispute once about a match bet, after I placed my bet about 6 minutes before the race started. Interesting point, during the dispute they told me that my bet was the last bet placed on that market.

So, apparently my bet was the only bet they took for more than 6 minutes on that horse race market. Makes you wonder indeed.