Spread betting

Spread betting is any of various types of wagering on the outcome of an event where the pay-off is based on the accuracy of the wager, rather than a simple "win or lose" outcome, such as fixed-odds (or money-line) betting or parimutuel betting. A point spread is a range of outcomes and the bet is whether the outcome will be above or below the spread. As of 2006, spread betting was a major growth market in the UK, with the number of gamblers heading towards one million. Financial spread betting (see below) can carry a high level of risk if there is no "stop".

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