Those who like a flutter will be interested to hear of the arrival on these shores of City Index, a British firm offering spread betting facilities on both sporting events and financial markets.
All spread betting is based on the same principle. City Index predicts the future result of an event, setting a low and a high estimate, thus creating a "spread". The punter then bets or trades against this, either by "buying" at the high end of the spread if they feel that the result will be higher than the estimate or "selling" at the lower end if they think the result will be lower than the estimate.
Profits or losses are the stake, multiplied by the difference between the result - whether it's measured in goals or share points - and the level at which the trade or bet was made.
Spread betting is a high-risk business - the more right you are, the more you win, the more wrong you are, the more you lose. Even City Index warns that spread bets "carry a high risk level to your capital".
But for those who like the thrill - and can afford the spills - horseracing, rugby, golf, football and snooker are among the sports you can bet on. You can also bet on most financial markets - City Index simply predicts where a financial market will stand at a specified time in the future.
The company also allows punters to bet on single shares. Among the 15 leading Irish shares on which City Index is quoting futures are AIB, Bank of Ireland, CRH, Smurfit, Ryanair, Elan, Fyffes and Irish Life & Permanent.
