Where does spread betting originate?

Spread betting or spread trading as it is sometimes know was developed by a man called Stewart Wheeler in 1975.

Wheeler and a few of his close friends began to bet on the price of gold. Wheeler and his friends set a buy and sell price which they thought the gold would be priced at. They would bet against each other to see who closest to the set price. The price of the gold would be set by the gold merchants and bankers in the city on a weekly basis.  If they felt the price of the gold would be higher they would place a ‘buy’ bet and if they thought the gold would be priced less they placed a ‘sell’ bet.

This in turn led to Stewart Wheeler founding IG the International Gold which is the largest spread betting company in the world today.
Spread betting offers the opportunity to bet on the stock market without taking the typical risks found when betting. You can set yourself limits to how much you bet, win or lose so you do not have to worry about losing too much money. You are only required to put a percentage of the price of the commodity up front thus minimising your chance of losing a lot of money.