There are three further common kinds of betting. The Tote . The Tote offers a very similar set of options to a bookmaker, including Win Bets and various Accumulators. This means that your bet isn't made at fixed odds as the amount you stand to win is affected by all those who bet after you. In practice although there are usually some small differences between the Tote's prices and bookmaker's prices they end up pretty even.
Some punters have famous stories about big differences on outsiders.
A form of betting derived from financial markets where the punter bets on a 'spread' of numbers relating to the particular event - for example, runs scored in cricket, points in Rugby Union, or the number of lengths between named horses at the end of the race. The attraction of spread betting is that the more right you are, the more you will win - and by the same token the more wrong you are, the more you will lose. This essentially refers to betting without a bookmaker, as you would with a friend, for example. On these sites you can offer to either lay or place a bet. If you lay a bet, you yourself offer the odds and the stake, and then wait to see whether another user will take you up on it.