How Live Betting Works: You Can Wager on Games After They Start!
By Loot, Professional Sports Bettor, Lootmeister.com
Live betting is a relatively new way to wager on sporting events. The way sports betting worked for decades was that you make a bet on the game and wait to see how it pans out. And that’s still an awfully-popular form of sports betting. But live betting has thrown a different spin on it–allowing you to bet on a game as it is taking place!
Just to avoid confusion, live betting also goes by names like in-progress, in-game, or in-running betting or wagering. There may even be other terms for it, as sportsbooks attempt to look unique during this trail-blazing time in the world of live betting. But by any name it’s all the same–the ability to bet on a game as it is taking place.
How it works is that a game begins with a certain set of odds. But as the game is being played, conditions obviously change, causing the original odds to also change. Maybe the favorite is doing better than what was anticipated. Or maybe the underdog is playing surprisingly good. Whatever the case, live betting allows you to take a stake on a game after it starts. You can add bets to your previous stance or switch positions altogether.
It works a little different depending on where you are betting. In an online book, you would simply log on to the site’s live betting section and make bets from your account. In a brick-and-mortar sportsbook, you would have to pre-pay for a live betting account and then place your wagers either with your mobile phone or by using touch-screens provided by the house. One thing to remember is that you don’t have the privilege of taking your time. When odds are posted, you better be ready to act. If you take too long, you miss the boat.
It’s a rapid-fire form of sports betting. Conventional sports betting is a more calculating endeavor. You see a game and then you ponder the game, chart line movement, and handicap it fully. Then you make the bet, sit there for a few hours, and you either win or lose. With live betting, the point spread may change 100 times in a basketball game. And to find an advantageous spot, you have to almost frantically hunt for a bet, updating every 30 seconds and perhaps double-barreling bets. Live betting has a way of taking a calculating form of betting like sports betting and giving it the feel of a fast-paced table game.
The sportsbook uses a computer to form lines as the game is played. There is an algorithm that uses thousands of past results to form probabilities. For example, if a 3-point favorite in a football game is down by 7 halfway through the second quarter, that has happened so many times that the computer can spit out the exact probabilities of either the favorite coming back or the underdog holding on to the lead.
The games all have a set of odds that were in effect right before the game started. Different variables surface and the playing field changes. The computer is able to quickly produce odds to accommodate for the changes in the game.
The one upside to this for potential live betting players is that there are simply things in a sporting event that will not be understood by a computer, which relies on past events to predict the future. While that can be effective, there are some things during a game you will notice that will escape the comprehension abilities of a non-human. This could include the elements of urgency and momentum, subtle signs that the landscape of a game is about to change, or that a star player is ready to explode and put his imprint on a game.
Some of those advantages are negated by the fact that you literally have no time to reflect on the bet you will be making. Everyone who goes into live betting comes from the conventional world of sports betting, where you had time to let your bets percolate in your brain before being forced to take a stand. There will be good opportunities in live betting. It’s just that you have no time to think about it.
Live wagering is something all sports bettors should at least try. Maybe it will be a good fit. Perhaps you have a really great sense of feel that can be used to exploit some weak lines in live betting. But it’s not for everyone, especially the bettors who prefer to reflect on their bets and let the passage of time help form their opinions. But as we look ahead to the future, live betting is a part of sports betting that figures to get bigger and bigger. Our favorite online sportsbooks offering live betting is BetOnline. Lots of offerings and a very user friendly format. Not to mention generous signup bonuses!