One great feature about many online sportsbooks is that they allow you to bet on many sports live, in real time, while the event is taking place.  As the action progresses the odds change depending on how each player or team is doing and their chances of winning the game or match.

Live betting is a great feature because it enhances your viewing excitement because you are able to place bets while you watch events either live (through your mobile) or on the television!

How It Works

The online sportsbooks that do offer live betting will have a separate section of their sportsbook dedicated to the live events that you can bet on in real time.  As events happen in the game you will notice the odds change.  In tennis for example, the odds of which player will win the match change basically every single point.  For this reason you generally have to get your bets in quickly at the odds shown because if the odds change while you are placing your bet you will have to agree to the new odds prior to your bet being accepted.

Benefits Of Live Betting

The most obvious benefit of live betting is simply that it gives you more freedom in being able to bet on your favorite sports.  You are now able to place bets at any time throughout a game, rather than having to get your bets in prior to the start of the event.

Live betting also provides hedging possibilities for bettors who did bet before the game.  If the team you bet to win scores early in the game you can hedge your bet by wagering on the trailing team for a guaranteed profit.  Or you can cut your potential losses if your team is behind by betting on the leading team during the game.

Being able to watch how the game is playing out will also give you a lot of information that you can potentially use to make a profit betting live.  If you’re watching a tennis match and you start to see a player fatiguing your getting down on themselves with bad body language you can use this information and base your live bet on it.

Overall there are a ton of benefits to live betting and the only negative is that the bookies add some extra juice to the lines to counteract the bettors advantages of being able to bet live.  That being said, if there is too much juice for it to be a smart bet, simply don’t place the wager!

Live Betting Tips

Here are two live betting tips that should help you when placing your in-play bets online:

  • Bet Quickly – As mentioned earlier the odds will change often and it can be hard to get your bets in.  If you see a favorable line you need to pounce.
  • Be Watching – If you aren’t watching the game, either live or on television you should not be placing live bets.  Scoreboard watching isn’t good enough, because you will not have nearly as much knowledge as the bookies or other bettors who are watching the game.  Blind live bets are sucker bets and you will lose money over the long run placing these types of bets.

Best Live Betting Sportsbooks

Some of our recommended online sportsbooks have great live betting software including Bovada.lv (great for Americans) and BetOnline.ag.