Unless the bookmaker does something horribly wrong, there is no way of placing a sure-fire spread bet. That is not to say, however, that it is impossible to place a spread bet with a greater likelihood of success.

The road to successful spread betting starts with education. Additionally, it is always helpful if you are thoroughly passionate – and, more importantly, knowledgeable – about the sport on which you are betting. Many online betting sites and information websites provide free access to match-up reports for major sporting events. These reports may contain win/loss records, statistics and injuries. However, most of them are quite basic, so do not limit yourself to them; browse Internet forums before the start of a game, check newspapers and chat rooms to see if there is any extra information that might impact on the outcome of a match before placing your bet. Experts may offer sports betting tips – you do not necessarily have to heed these, but rather keep them and the result in mind; some experts are more reliable and more often correct than others.

Aside from predicting the correct result, there is still a great deal of technique involved in placing a bet. Firstly, we will deal with online betting sites. For example, you visit a UK online betting site. You will be quoted a spread that is an indication of the quote you will get. You click to make the bet, stating your unit stake. This connects you to the dealer who will give you a live quote – not necessarily the same as you were previously given. You then have a small amount of time in which you can either choose to place the bet, or curse the British spread betting system. If this time expires or you click cancel, you will need to go through the process again – otherwise, the bet is on.

Off track spread betting is still commonly available over the telephone, but your instructions must be explicit to avoid being caught out. Give your name, account number and ask for the spread – but be very careful not to indicate which way you will go (buy/sell) as they might alter the quote as a consequence. Once you are given the quote, tell them which way you are betting and the price per unit. Note that you also must be very careful bandying around terms like unit, goal and point as they have different interpretations at different betting shops. UK online betting site William Hill Index, before being bought out by IG Index, used to define a point as being a tenth of a goal, which did catch a few unsuspecting people by surprise.