LIVE / IN-PLAY BETTING EXPLAINED
WHAT IS LIVE OR IN-PLAY BETTING?
The world as we know it has rapidly changed over last 20 years and as technology advanced – it unrecognizably changes the way we interact with the world on a daily basis. If you compare the betting industry now to what it was even some 15 years ago, you will see that computer technology and the internet in particular have played a key role in making sports betting what it is now.
If we look at traditional betting – placing a bet and eventually receiving your winning is a process, that takes quite some time since you will need to place a bet on a game that will take place at some point in the future and receive your winnings only after the game had ended. Now when we have incredibly fast internet connections and the means to gather and transmit data in a number of different ways – we don’t necessarily need to place bets on games in the future and wait for them to be played, we can place bets on games, that are ongoing right now and that is what we are referring to as live or in-play betting.
Live betting offers people the opportunity to quickly win, if their wagers are correct and for bookmakers to quickly profit in cases where player’s bets lose, so in a way this is a win-win situation. Today you can’t imagine a decent sports betting site, without a good live betting offer – having a wide range of sports and markets available for live betting is what attracts most punters today, well and of course good odds for those markets.
If you are familiar with sports betting in general, even as a beginner – live betting will not require any specific introduction. It works exactly the same as traditional pre-match betting – you place a bet on a selection of your choice accepting the odds offered by the bookmaker at that time, if you bet wins, you will get paid based on the odds and if it loses, you will lose your stake, that’s it.
There are some differences though, which make live betting so appealing to sports fans around the world and we will look into some of those differences below.
LIVE BETTING MARKETS
The main and likely most significant thing, which differentiates live betting from pre-match betting is the number of available markets. Live events have a lot more different markets to offer, which are simply impossible to offer in pre-match, to give a good understanding of what we are talking about, here are a few examples of such markets: Next Team to Score, Next Carded Team, Next Point Winner, Time of Next Corner. There are 100s of live markets across various sports, some betting site also offer their own exclusive live market, which you will normally not find anywhere else. In addition to that it is important to keep in mind, that most markets, that were available for pre-match betting are also available when the game in live.
ODDS MOVE FREQUENTLY
As you may be aware, traditional pre-match odds move as well depending on a number of different factors, which may potentially affect the final outcome of the game. For example, if it becomes apparent the several key players from a football team will not participate in the game – that team will be considerably less likely to win and the odds will change to reflect that. The same applies to live betting, however on a much more frequent basis – there is always something happening in an ongoing game and all of it can affect the probability and likelihood of different outcomes, which will in turn cause odds to change quite frequently.
WHAT MAKES LIVE BETTING BETTER THAN PRE-MATCH BETTING?
As we already covered above, there are several major differences between pre-match and in-play betting and these differences are actually what makes live betting better and potentially more profitable.
First of all, the overall variety of betting markets in live games is significantly bigger, when compared to pre-match betting and that means more opportunity to bet and eventually win. Live betting is usually fast-paced, which will allow you have a number of bets placed and settled while the game is on, so even if some of your in-play bets lose, others might win, allowing you to profit in the long run.
Secondly, frequent odds changes can actually allow you to have an advantage over the bookmaker. As we already mentioned live betting involves frequent odds changes and that requires bookmakers to react quickly as well. Normally there are entire teams of professionals, that monitor live odds and make sure, that they are correct, however they can’t always be right and if you are watching the game yourself it is likely, that you can make a better judgement and place a smart bet with good odds.
Lastly, what we would like to mention is that often live betting is simply more fun, especially when you are watching your favorite teams play – having the opportunity to place bets as the game is at its peak will spice up your everyday betting.
LIVE BETTING SITES WE RECOMMEND
When it comes to actually choosing a betting site, which is good for live betting, there is a number of different factors to consider, such as: the overall number of available sports, market variety, bet settlement speed, additional features (cashout, bet editing, etc.) and others. Here are a few live betting sites, that we recommend and use here at TOPBETTINGSITES.NG ourselves.
Melbet | Best welcome bonus
- 200% welcome bonus
- Live streaming
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- Lots of promotions
Melbet is a reliable online sports betting website loved by thousands. Players from Nigeria are welcome here, receiving a 200% deposit bonus up to ₦100,000.
OUR RATING – 9.7/10
WELCOME BONUS – 100K NGN
Paripesa | Exceptional mobile gaming experience
- Mobile friendly
- Odds boosts
- 1000’s of live games
- 100% welcome bonus
- Nigerian betting site
Paripesa is an international brand, who acquired a valid Nigerian license and are happy to welcome all Nigerian sports fans on their NG-specific site.
Booster99 | Biggest welcome bonus in Nigeria
- 250% welcome bonus
- Odds boosts
- Nigerian license
- 1000’s of live games
- Offers for active players
Booster99 has the most generous welcome offer among Nigerian bookmakers. All new players can get a 250% bonus up to ₦500,000 for their first deposit.
OUR RATING – 9.0/10
WELCOME BONUS – 500K NGN
LIVE BETTING AND DIFFERENT SPORTS
Initially live betting was something available mostly for most popular mainstream sports and leagues – now sports betting sites do whatever they can to maximize their offer and include any sports, which can potentially be covered live. Still the most popular ones, which you can find on mostly any betting site are: football, basketball, ice hockey, tennis, e-sports and volleyball. Be sure to carefully read bookmaker reviews if you are looking to find a betting site with the best selection of games rom your favorite sports.
LIVE BETTING TIPS FOR BEGINNERS
Initially live betting was something available mostly for most popular mainstream sports and leagues – now sports betting sites do whatever they can to maximize their offer and include any sports, which can potentially be covered live. Still the most popular ones, which you can find on mostly any betting site are: football, basketball, ice hockey, tennis, e-sports and volleyball. Be sure to carefully read bookmaker reviews if you are looking to find a betting site with the best selection of games rom your favorite sports.
As you can see, there are lots of reasons to consider trying live betting and there is a number of things you can keep in mind to minimize your potential loss and manage your money wisely. Below we would like to share a couple of our favorite live betting beginner tips, which are easy to apply in your day-to-day betting.
Let’s say we have a football game and you placed a bet on the home team to win – now as the game progresses it becomes apparent, that the home team isn’t doing that well and will most likely lose. You can place another bet to back the away team, this way even though you will still take a loss – you will be able to minimize your loss.
The same thing can be applicable in a slightly different scenario – let’s take the same example, you placed a bet on the home team to win and this time by the end of the first half you can see, that the home team is actually better, than their opponents. You can still place a small bet to back the away team and this way you will secure your position – if your original bet wins, you will still profit and if it loses you will slightly reduce your loss.
There are obviously a lot more strategies you can use to increase your potential winnings and manage your risk, however since this is a beginner’s guide we decided, that this will be enough. You can read about other strategies and tips separately.