This has been one of the fasted growing areas within sports betting since the advent of the mobile betting era, over 10 years ago now in Europe. Bookies were quick to realize that betting volumes could increase significantly if people had the convenience of betting live while they watched the game. In-Play betting has exploded since and is already a huge part of the American mobile betting market, despite its infant state.
The advantages of In-Play betting are fairly obvious and include-
- Become more vested in the game and its outcome as you watch it live
- Put your own analytical skills to the test, is what you are seeing live reflected in the bookie odds?
- There are some unique ways to profit on In-play betting, some of which are listed below
The disadvantages of In-Play betting include-
- Normal odds variance between lines gets even more extreme as the lines and odds regularly change during games at a rapid rate. Unless you are careful, you will be giving up even more of your ‘edge’ than you bargained for
- The process of placing a bet in play can be frustrating. The bet cannot be placed frequently while the odds are changing in the background. This is common to all sportsbooks and their mobile apps
- Cash Out options can sometimes be a wise choice. However, the extra margin the bookies take on these options often render them a bad financial decision
Some examples of profitable In-Play betting strategies
- 2 attack minded teams mean the Over is high for an important game. However, it is immediately clear they are both being defensive in how they start. It might be wise to quickly bet on the Under
- The favorite starts poorly, not dominating as we expected. Before anyone scores, the underdog odds do not reflect their real chances in the game
- When a golf tournament ends up as a 2 or 3 man shoot out towards the finish, the emotions of the betting public can quickly result in very positive EV betting opportunities. A bunkered approach by one player results in their odds drifting out to maybe double than before the shot. Meanwhile, the opposing player shoots to say 25 foot and becomes a very poorly priced favorite. However, golf probabilities will tell you that the 2 players are most likely to make par. This creates many in play opportunities, including getting all players at very favorable positive odds as their fortunes go back and forth. The savvy bettor will end up winning regardless of which player actually takes the prize.
