spread bet  Spread betting  Spread betting is any of various
types of wagering on the outcome of an event, where the pay-off
is based on the accuracy of the wager, rather than a simple "win
or lose" outcome, which is known as money-line betting. A spread
is a range of outcomes, and the bet is whether the outcome will
be above or below the spread. Spread betting has been a major
growth market in the UK in recent years, with the number of
gamblers heading towards one million. As with all gambling,
however, spread betting carries a high level of risk. In the UK,
spread betting is regulated by the Financial Services Authority
rather than the Gambling Commission.     Spreads in sports
wagering  Spread betting was invented by Charles K. McNeil, a
mathematics teacher from Connecticut who became a bookmaker in
Chicago in the 1940s. The idea became popular in the United
Kingdom in the 1980s. In North America, the gambler usually
wagers that the difference between the scores of two teams will
be less than or greater th