So what is this ‘live betting’ exactly. Surely all betting is live as you are doing it at that moment, right? Well, not exactly. Here’s all you need to know about what live betting (also known as in-play betting) really is.
The difference between live betting (in-play betting) and regular (pre match) betting.
So what is the difference between live betting (also known as in-play betting) and regular betting (also known as pre-match betting?). Well, as you can imagine, the clue is in the name. Live betting means that you are placing a wager on a game or event that is unfurling at that very moment. Pre-match, or pre-event, on the other hand, means that the sporting event you wish to bet on has not begun yet. So what difference does this really make?
Well, we can consider a football match as our example. A way in which bookmakers have evolved over recent years is the way that they are able to offer dynamic odds on an event, meaning that the betting site can process any number of variables at any given moment and still offer up a fair reflection of an event occurring. What that really means is that, while odds used to be static – the odds on Manchester United winning are this and the odds on Liverpool winning are this – sports betting sites can now offer odds that evolve depending on how the game itself is unfolding.
So, let’s consider Manchester United have a player sent off in the opening five minutes. The game remains nil nil, but clearly the odds on Manchester United winning the game will have now risen because they will play the rest of the game with only ten players. Now bookmakers can quickly amend their odds to reflect the current reality. In fact, it used to be that you couldn’t even place a bet on a sporting event after the event had begun.
We are now at a stage in the evolution of live betting (also known as in-play betting) where the odds are almost constantly changing and you can not only bet on final event outcomes but more temporary occurrences, such as a goal being scored in the next ten minutes or which team will score next.
Why choose live betting?
If it’s not already apparent, why would you want to choose live betting instead of the more traditional style of betting before the event starts?
Well, there are plenty of reasons, starting with the fact that live betting offers up lots of new betting choices once the event has actually begun. So in this way, betting sites have been able to more than double the number of betting options that they provide, not to mention increase the depth in markets.
But that’s not all. Live betting also allows sports fans to engage more with the event they are watching. For example, a boring game of football can be livened up pretty quickly with a quick in-play bet on who will win the next corner, for example.
And then there is the fact that many conventional bets can become redundant pretty quickly. For example, if you have placed a bet on one team to win but then that team have a plyer sent off after five minutes, the chances of you winning that bet are now pretty slim. Likewise, you may place a bet on a player to score a hattrick, only to see him or her injured in the first minute. What live betting can give you is options – options that are dynamic in the fact that they reflect the state of the event at that moment, not what it was before it had even begun.
Cash Out 💰
One more element of live betting that attracts countless punters is the ‘cash out’ feature which nearly all live betting sites worth their salt now offer. ‘Cash out’ means you will have the option to accept your winnings before the event has actually finished.
So, for example, you bet on Liverpool to win the game, and the Reds score two in the first ten minutes. In normal circumstances you would have to wait for the remaining 80 minutes to be played before your bet is won, providing the other team doesn’t come back, of course. But what many betting sites now offer is the chance to ‘cash out’ the ‘winnings’ from this bet, even if it not actually won yet. In this case of Liverpool, the amount you could cash out wouldn’t be too far off of what the maximum winnings would be.
But if you placed a bet on Liverpool to win and the game is still 0-0 after 75 minutes, you could still ‘cash out’. Now in this case, the amount you ‘win’ would most probably amount to less than your original stake, because of course there are only 15 minutes left in the game. But what cash out allows is the chance to redeem something from a bet that could be a lost cause.
The point is, you don’t really know if ‘cashing out’ is the right thing to do. What if Liverpool scored in the final minute? It’s just another added thrill to the betting experience.
Some live betting sites also offer ‘partial cash out’, which allows you to withdraw some of your initial stake, but leave some of the bet ‘alive’. This is just another possibility that many punters love with live betting. Have a look around to see which bookmakers offer partial and full cash out options.
.webp){kind=logo}
.webp)
.png)
.webp)
.webp){kind=logo}
.jpg)
.webp)
