Live betting is something like traveling to the Far West about 150 years ago: An exciting adventure, a trip to the unknown, full of amazing opportunity but also full of extreme danger. You can make a fortune, but you can lose your entire bankroll in the blink of an eye. The answer to the question "how to win on live betting" is discipline and self-control.
Live betting’s extreme popularity from the first moment it was offered to punters is based on the belief that it’s easier to beat the bookies if you bet when a sports event is taking place, as you can watch the action in real-time and make more informed decisions.
In fact, live betting is even harder to handle. Having all these odds dancing in front of you every second is tempting, so you have to adopt a fully professional approach and a good live betting strategy. That is not easy, of course, and is proved by online bookmakers’ revenue from live betting. It is far bigger (nearly 60%) than the traditional pre-game markets.
In live betting (or in-play betting, or in-running betting, as some online bookmakers call it) you place your bet after a sports event has started and could place consecutive bets till its conclusion. All bookies offer a huge variety of in-play bets for multiple events. Football, basketball, tennis and horse racing still remain the most popular markets.
Basic Strategies in Live Betting
Whatever live betting strategy you choose to follow (you’ll read lots of them below), don’t forget the basic rule: NEVER place bets to regain losses. Live betting is the most tempting way to “recover” after a lost bet, but if you follow this, the most probable scenario is to increase your losses. In-play betting needs a lot of preparation, a lot of focus and a lot of patience.
In order to win on live betting, don’t place many in-play bets at the same time. Focus on one or two, watch carefully and wait for the right moment to bet. If you have many in-play bets at your slip, you lose the right momentum. Your bet is a matter of luck rather than capability.
Before placing your bet the right way is to actually watch the match you’re interested in. Don’t just lean on “Match Live” statistics with all that “Dangerous Attacks” and “Off Target shots” that may give you a totally wrong picture. The best scenario is to choose online bookmakers with a lot of live streaming events and focus on them only.
In order to win on live betting, you should do your homework. For example, analyzing stats is a powerful weapon: If stats say that a specific team scores nearly 40% of goals in the last 15 minutes of a game, this is what you have to do. The best live betting strategy is to keep your own stats, but there are plenty of bet stats websites to help you.
Positives of Live Betting
👍 Live analysis: The most basic is that in-play betting allows you to watch what’s going on in the match right before you place your bet. Watching the action even for a couple of minutes before deciding when to bet could be more crucial than whole hours of research and stats reading.
👍 Value betting: It’s far easier to find value in an in-running bet. A favorite offered at 1.30 odds pre-match could be found at 1.80-1.85 at halftime, but in theory, it has the same possibilities of winning the tie. In addition, deciding to back an Over 2.5 goals bet, the odds offered after just a few minutes of play are much higher and keep on rising as the playing time passes without a goal. If you’re patient enough to wait for the right moment, you’ll find a bet in extremely valuable odds.
👍 Covering pre-match bets: The cash-out, offered during in-running bets, is another weapon for you to make your bankroll look safer. If you’ve placed a pre-match risky bet (putting money on the underdog, for example) and they take the lead, you could “close” your bet with profit, no matter the final score.
👍 Countless opportunities: You can place in-play bets almost 24/7 nowadays, as almost all online bookies offer a huge variety of bets in many different sports. If you think you’re a live betting specialist, you have no time limit to prove your ability.
👍 Use more than one bookmakers: Last, but most important of all. As there’s a hard rivalry between various online bookmakers, odds in live betting could be a lot different. In fact, some bookies adjust odds based on different algorithms, so you will notice far higher differences in odds than the pre-match bets. Use more than one bookies, compare odds and choose the highest available in order to win on live betting.
You can benefit regardless if you’re a single-bet punter or you prefer parlays. Having, for example, four active accounts on online bookmakers you can choose the highest odds available every time. This means you gain at least a 10% increase of your total odds, so eventually, your gains should be increased by a similar percentage. This is extremely crucial for your total bank at the end of the season.
Negatives of Live Betting
👎Limited time: When placing a live bet, you feel all the time that somebody is chasing you. You don’t have enough time to manage your feelings, calculate profit and loss and focus on a new strategy. If you’re stressed, you risk on taking the wrong decisions.
👎Live betting addiction: Having a lot of in-play games in front of you, with odds and matches dancing all over, could be harmful for you. Don’t stick on your screen for ages, taking one bet after another. You must limit your time and your number of bets instead.
👎Same match persistence: Don’t exaggerate loading the same match with a lot of bets, especially when you lose one and you insist on something (for example, who will score the next goal). Don’t let your ego guide you, accept loss and focus on another match or, better for you, skip betting.
Conclusion
The best way to claim long-term profits in live betting is to rely on a specific betting strategy. There are plenty of them for you to choose, from those addressing to risk-averse punters, to more conservative and speculative ones. There are almost as many strategies as there are people using them. Whatever the strategy, the top priority of a punter should be not to maximize the profit, but to minimize potential losses.