Virtually every betting enthusiast understands the prospect of betting on a sport. However, the concept of financial betting is a touch more foreign to many, despite this alternative form of gambling becoming increasingly more popular. Thankfully, for those that or looking to get involved, it isn’t especially difficult to understand how it works.
In simple terms; wagers are placed on the current value of a financial indicator, versus what that value will be at a future date. As would be expected, the wagers are generally placed against odds provided by a bookmaker, and are binding. Which is to say; a total win or total loss will be decided, without any room for error.
Examples
An example of a financial bet would be putting down money on the price of silver. Will the price increase over the next 24 hours, or will it decrease? A wager could be put down on a prediction that the price will increase to a predicted value, with a payout being made if the price of silver is in the range of that predicted value in the next 24 hours.
It is important to keep in mind that, in the case of these wagers provided by bookmakers, that the asset is not actually being purchased. No transactions are being made that involve silver at all in the above example. The transaction is simply a bet based around the value of silver
Types Of Bets
There are 3 main kinds of options provided by bookmakers when it comes to this sort of gambling. The first option is fixed odds, which is the most common choice. The second is a binary option, which we’ll get into in a moment. The third is spread betting.
In fixed odds a bookmaker will simply provide a set prediction, and put odds on that prediction occurring. As a broad example, odds of 1/2 could be given for the price of gold increasing to X amount in a fixed period of time.
Binary options are broken down into a number of different categories, with a few interesting variations. The wager could involve the simple notion that gold will touch a certain value in a set time. Or, alternatively, money could be put down on if gold is higher, or lower, in its next 5 official changes. Money could even simply be put down on if a value is up or down by the time a set limit expires. The binary range of variations are by far the most popular.
Spread betting is the most complicated, and as such is the least popular. However, it is the most potentially lucrative. Punters here have to not only indicate if a price will be up or down, but also manually predict the specific value.
Where To Get Involved?
With this form of gambling becoming so popular, a number of respected, regulated online bookmakers have started offering options. From William Hill, to Betway, to Bet365, official selections are provided for those interested in giving it a shot.
Just remember; sticking to licensed, regulated sites is the smart way to go about gambling.