Live betting (or in-play betting, as some bookmakers call it) is one of the most exciting ways technology and the betting industry are working together. In the past, live bets require physical presence in a betting office during a game. Now, all you need is internet access, and a computer or smartphone. The latter is used more and more in the betting scene as well, with more and more bookmakers giving their mobile apps the attention they deserve. But is live betting really for everyone?
We’d tend to say no. It has its pros and cons, like any other thing related to the betting industry, but it’s certainly not for everyone. Take the World Cup, for example. Nearly everyone is tempted to place a bet at the beginning of the competition on the winner, or a couple of times on their favorite team. Even people who have no previous betting experience place a few bets during this tournament – but they steer clear of live bets. Even seasoned bettors divide themselves into two categories: those who love live betting and play lots of them, and those who ignore it completely.
Best Live Betting Sites
What is Live Betting
First of all, we’d like to explain what a live bet looks like. When looking into soccer live bets, you can bet on the next event to happen during a game: next team to score, next player to score, next corner, you name it. Outright bets, Asian handicap bets, over/under bets are all available in live betting as well, with more flexible odds, of course. In a sentence, live betting gives you the opportunity to place whatever bet you want after a certain game has started. This process has a few advantages, which we will detail below:
- Lots of options and flexibility. Live betting gives you almost all the bets which you can place before a game starts, plus a good couple of ones which are only available on live betting platforms. There are hundreds of items to choose from.
- Open to direct, immediate feedback. You don’t need to wait for the finish of the game for certain live bets. For example, if you bet that team A will score again until the end of the game, the bet can be settled in a few seconds after you place it. This type of immediate gratification gives a very nice feeling, as well as money.
- More knowledgeable picks. How often, after placing a pre-game bet, do you find yourself thinking “if I knew they were going to play like this, I would have bet a different way”. With live betting, you can do that. You can quickly see that a team is out of form after the first 10 minutes of the game, and bet against them – even if they were heavy favorites before the game.
- Cash out. One of the big advantages of live betting is the cash out feature. It basically works like this: the odds of your bet are calculated every second, and the bookmaker offers you a sum of money which fluctuates in exchange for you closing your bet. If you just don’t want to be feel pressure in the last few minutes of a game, the cash out option is great.
We believe that live betting is something every bettor should at least try once in their life. It brings more excitement, as you’re often acting against a timer, and is much more interactive than pre-match betting. There are lots of promotions directed towards live betting as well, especially on mobile platforms – a direction towards more and more sports betting sites are leaning nowadays. Live betting might just give you an extra edge in your betting systems, and net you some nice sums of money in the long run. Just make sure you choose a reliable sportsbook for live betting. We have a few recommendations in among the ones we’ve reviewed. Quickness of execution, good money management and fair odds are essential for a good live betting sportsbook, and you’ll quickly find yourself losing money if any of those three qualities are absent.
At the end of the day, we hope that we’ve highlighted that live betting adds another dimension to sports betting, and is something everyone should definitely try. There are so many possible benefits, but also a few risks, which should be carefully calculated before you start placing bets. We also recommend using the mobile version of as many betting apps as possible, since some of them are stunning in terms of quickness and user friendliness.
