The days of making a bet and waiting until the game is over to see if you win are over. Now you can on things right before they happen in games. In-game wagering is usually called live betting. You need a live betting strategy just like you need a handicapping strategy to wager before games start.
Live betting adds an extra layer of excitement while watching games. And if you use a good strategy, wagering live can add to your profits. However, without a good strategy, it is going to drain your bankroll.
Here’s some information about how to place live bets and where you can wager in-game. Then, you’re going to learn how to create your best strategy.
What Is Live Betting?
In-game or live betting is exactly what it sounds like. You can place bets after a game starts on a wide range of things. The simplest wagers are on adjusted point spreads or moneylines. Live point spreads and moneylines work like the wagers you place before games start. However, these aren’t the only ways to wager live.
Some live betting is proposition-type wagering. You might bet on the next player to score or get a rebound. Or you can bet on the next player to strike out or get a hit. Or you can place a bet if the next batter is going to strike out.
Options are only limited by the in-game bets offered by your sportsbook.
Where Can You Live Bet Sports?
You can live bet on sporting events in any sportsbook offering in-game wagers. While you can make live bets in some retail sportsbooks, the easiest place is in online sportsbooks.
Sportsbooks set lines for games, and the lines aren’t always the same from sportsbook to sportsbook. The same thing is true for live betting lines. Additionally, every sportsbook offering live betting lines doesn’t offer all of the same wagers.
You can get started with one online sportsbook. However, a smart strategy is using multiple online sportsbooks. If you sign up for an account at multiple online sportsbooks, you can compare in-game betting lines before you bet. Additionally, when you have multiple online sports betting accounts, you qualify for more promotional bets and sign-up bonuses.
Check out where sports betting is legal to see if you can make legal wagers. Then, sign up for at least two or three online sportsbooks to start making live bets.
What Sports Can You Live Bet?
The sports you can wager on live depend on the sportsbooks where you have accounts. For most sportsbooks, live bets are available for the major sports.
NFL Football – The NFL rules the United States gambling market. Every sportsbook offering live betting has NFL live bet lines.
NCAA Football – NCAA football is also popular with bettors. Most sportsbooks offering college football in-game bets only have lines for popular teams.
NBA Basketball – NBA live betting is available in most sportsbooks offering live wagers. And the NBA offers one of the most profitable in-game bets. You can learn more about this in the basketball section below.
NCAA Basketball – NCAA basketball isn’t as popular as the other major sports until March Madness. But some sportsbooks offer live betting on games with popular teams.
MLB – Live bettors have 1,000’s of opportunities during the MLB season. Baseball is one of the most popular sports in sportsbooks offering in-game betting.
Soccer – Soccer, which happens to be called football everywhere except in the US, is by far the most popular worldwide sport. However, it’s not as popular with US bettors as other sports on this list. Sportsbooks still offer lines for soccer games. And some sportsbooks offer live bet options for soccer.
Handicapping Live Bets
You need a handicapping system or strategy when you make live bets. Some sports bettors spend hours handicapping games to make bets before the game starts, and then get bored and make random live bets.
Making a live bet without using handicapping or strategy is a bad idea. And it’s usually going to cost you money.
Live betting is designed to take advantage of fans who want to bet during games. But smart sports bettors using strategy can use live betting for additional profit.
If you want to be successful in live betting, you need to have a plan. And your plan needs to be based on proven handicapping methods.
Handicapping live bets is a lot like handicapping bets made before games. You need to watch players and games and use past statistics to predict what’s going to happen during games.
Watching games live before betting requires switching from fan mode to handicapper mode. What are the odds of the bet winning compared to the line? Your goal is still finding value, just like when you handicap to bet before games.
Every live bet is unique. And you have to make fast decisions. When you have to make betting decisions quickly, it’s easy to make mistakes. You have to prepare as much as you can before the game. And then you use what you see during the game to make adjustments.
In addition, each live betting sport is unique. The best strategy is to focus on the sport you know the best. And don’t start live betting until you learn how to win consistently on best placed before games.
Football Strategies
When you start live-betting football games, focus on the adjusted point spreads and moneylines. You should have experience making these bets, so they’re the easiest to make.
It doesn’t work as well in football as in basketball, but one strategy is making an adjusted point spread bet at halftime. If one team is up by a lot of points, the value is often taking the adjusted points on the trailing team.
And if the favorite in the game is down at halftime, is there any reason you see in the gameplay that makes you change your mind? If the favorite is down at the half, a moneyline bet on them is often a good value.
Betting on individual plays and performances is dangerous. It’s not dangerous because you can’t handicap them. It’s dangerous because the sportsbooks rarely offer in-game odds that have value on these bets.
Professional sports bettors rarely make football prop bets. They don’t avoid these bets because they can’t handicap them. They avoid these best because there’s no value. You have to look at live football wagers the same way.
Injuries play a big part in football. A key injury early in a game can shift the value. Live betting gives you a way to hedge your bets made before the game.
Here’s an example:
You bet on the home team before the game. The home quarterback goes down with an injury early in the game, destroying your value. You make a live bet on the other team to reduce your exposure. When something like this happens, you’re in a position to lose money. But you can reduce your loss by hedging in-game.
Learn more about NFL wagering and college football.
Basketball Strategies
Live betting basketball games can add a lot of profit to your bottom line. However, you have to use good strategies. Sportsbooks learn where they’re vulnerable to smart in-game bettors and make adjustments.
For years it was fairly easy to make certain live bets in basketball games and make a profit. In games where one team had a large lead at the half, you simply bet on the adjusted point spread on the other team for the second half. You didn’t win every bet, but you won more than enough to make a profit.
The sportsbooks figured this out and started adjusting their halftime lines. But there’s still some value in this strategy for smart sports gamblers. Basketball teams who trail by a lot at the half almost always narrow the gap in the second half. The winning team lest up and plays more of their subs. But you still have to handicap the odds for the second half to see if there’s available value.
Focus on live point spreads in basketball. Once you learn how to handicap point spreads, start learning how to handicap other live wagering options during basketball games.
Our NBA guide has more. Learn more about college basketball betting.
Baseball Strategies
Baseball is one of the hardest sports to handicap for live betting. The odds offered by the sportsbooks are almost always stacked against you, no matter what you bet on.
However, if you’re making a profit handicapping baseball games, you can find some value on in-game wagers. The trap most baseball bettors fall into is wagering because they get bored instead of betting only when they identify value. Baseball is boring for many bettors. But you can’t afford to bet just to create excitement. Fans bet for fun, and winners bet for value.
The best strategy for live baseball betting is using what you know about individual players. Make adjustments based on what you see in the game.
Here’s an example:
The first two times at the plate, a hitter makes solid contact but hits right at a fielder. It looks like he’s on today, but he starts 0-2. If you receive decent odds, betting on a hit in his third at-bat can offer value.
Or, a hitter looks slow today and a flame-throwing reliever comes into the game. A bet on a strikeout can offer value.
You have to use every trick at your disposal to find value, or you’re going to lose money live betting on baseball. Read about different MLB wagers here.