Spread Betting is still a mysterious way of gambling to many but it is a hugely exciting medium and with the 2011 Cheltenham Festival just days away, it is the perfect time to open an account for your Cheltenham betting.

Extrabet are offering up to £125 of free bets for new customers - click here to claim

Sporting Index are tempting us with a very generous £100 to play with! Any profits you make with this £100 are yours to keep! Click here for full details and terms and condtions.

Risk Warning – Please ensure you understand the risks with sports spread betting as it involves a higher level of risk and you can lose more than your original stake. Remember to bet responsibly. Sporting Index is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

Between now and the Supreme Novices’ ‘Roar’ on Tuesday, we will be looking at some of the Festival Markets and to kick-off with an easy one, let’s consider the ‘Biggest Winning SP’ index.

Quite simply, the biggest winning SP across the four-days constitutes the make/up and the quote with extrabet.com is currently  47.5 – 49*, with a maximum make up of 100.

Since the festival was switched to 4-days in 2005, the highest winning SP’s have been 40/1, 50/1, 50/1, 66/1, 33/1 & 40/1.

Had we bought each year at 49, we would have had three profitable years but on average, lost 2.5 times our unit stake. So that’s a poor result? No, I don’t think it is. Remember that we could have a 100/1 winner, a result which would give us a massive 51 point profit or an 80/1 winner giving a profit of 31 points.

Playing with scenarios, if we felt we could stand the loss of 2.5 points each year (and accept what I think is a very worst case scenario of a 33/1 winner being the highest SP in any one year – losing 16 points), then we could have 20 years of 2.5 average loss but be in profit if the 21st year turned up a 100/1 winner. If there happened to be a couple of years in 21 where the winning SP was 100/1, then we would be 103.5 points up, a good return.

My feeling is that is a genuine chance of a 66/1, 80/1 or 100/1 victor over the four days and I would be surprised if we did not see an SP of at least 40/1. My conclusion therefore is that this market has very limited upside for sellers but a big potential for buyers, with real prospects of a decent return. I recommend buying at 49* with extrabet.com.

Note that the content of this article is the opinion of the author and does not constitute financial advice. Spread betting carries a high risk and it is essential to understand the risks involved before placing a bet.

*Prices may fluctuate.