How to enjoy the rugby and make money

published 10 March 2011

This weekend, England rugby fans will be hoping their team can keep up its strong performance in the Six Nations Championship and defeat Scotland. Deciding where to watch the game is one tough call at home or in the local? The next one is how to pay for all the celebratory beers you hope to drink. Well, here's one option rugby spread betting.

At sites such as sportingindex.com you can bet on just about every aspect of the Six Nations tournament. For example, you might have a view on the total number of points that will be scored across all 15 games. Let's say sportingindex offers a spread of 630-638. If you think the tournament total will come in above 638 you would buy the spread at say £10 per point. Now this spread will move as more games are completed.

The point is that you don't have to wait until the Six Nations is over to close out your bet. If a good points haul is added by England the spread will move up, at which point you could see it and take a profit. For example, were it to move to, say, 650-658, you would sell at 650 for a profit of 12 points (650-638) all at £10, so £120.

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Alternatively you could bet on the total number of drop goals, yellow cards or a host of other totals. Maybe you want to bet on the number of points the England team will amass or just the outcome of the England v Scotland game itself? There are plenty of options.

And if the tournament goes the way you hope, all of this means you get to celebrate a successful English campaign and pay for your celebrations at the same time. What's not to like about that?

Tim graduated with a history degree from Cambridge University in 1989 and, after a year of travelling, joined the financial services firm Ernst and Young in 1990, qualifying as a chartered accountant in 1994.

He then moved into financial markets training, designing and running a variety of courses at graduate level and beyond for a range of organisations including the Securities and Investment Institute and UBS. He joined MoneyWeek in 2007.