The first thing you think of when you think of betting is sports, but it’s also possible to bet on financial markets.
In this guide we’re going to give everyone a quick primer on the financial betting market and what you need to know. We’ve listed the best financial betting sites on this page, but for the most part all major UK and European bookmakers have started offering financial betting odds on various markets. Companies such as Bet365, Ladbrokes and William Hill have financial betting platforms that bettors can access.
What Is Financial Betting?
With financial betting you can bet on lots of different markets including forex, indices and commodities. The objective is to predict whether the market will rise or fall in a predetermined amount of time, but you don’t actually own the underlying asset. For instance, you could bet on the UK Index rising in the next hour. If the index were to rise from the current price you win a set amount of money. With financial betting you know exactly how much you’re betting (risk) and how much you can potentially win (profit) before you make the wager.
Financial betting sites charge a commission (juice/vig) just like sportsbooks do and that’s how they try and guarantee a profit by balancing the books. By doing independent research in the financial markets it isn’t that difficult to make profits betting on specific financial markets. If you follow certain currencies closely you can make money betting on whether a certain currency will rise or fall in price. Typically you can wager on 1-minute markets, 1-hour markets and 1-day markets although some financial betting sites let you select any settling date for your bets.
Trying to predict what will happen in the market is difficult when betting on 1-minute or 1-hour markets unless you’re trading the news and have a good handle on how the market will react after the news release. The longer your bets last the better chance you have of being able to predict what way the market will move, but this also means you need to risk more on a bet to make it worthwhile. In some cases you can sell your bets early if they’re in the money and you’ll receive a percentage of your profits right away, but you’re also losing value by doing this.
There are also special markets you can bet on at some of the leading financial betting sites such as Higher / Lower, Touch / No Touch and In / Out. You should read more about these markets before betting on them, but each of them has benefits. Financial betting is great for every type of investor because it’s very straightforward and all of the potential risks are known upfront. There are no fees or any sort of charges when financial betting and in the UK all profits from financial betting is completely tax-free, which is a huge benefit.
Before you begin betting on financial markets you should make sure you read over everything you can to make sure you’re totally prepared for what you’re trying to do. Make sure you understand the potential risks involved and don’t jump into the market until you have time to research the financial betting sites. You want to make sure you know how the markets are graded at the site and you also want to learn about the company to make sure they’re reputable.
