Live sports betting has grown in popularity almost to overtake putting in wagers on NFL odds before a contest starts. There are many bettors who prefer waiting to see how a game plays out for a quarter, a half, three innings (in baseball), a period (in hockey), etc., before they decide on who to bet on.
Of course, there are pros and cons of live betting. One of the major pros is that a bettor isn’t locked into a wager that could’ve had odds change greatly with an early injury. Then again, the injury being on the team you wagered against would have increased your chances of winning the bet.
Understanding live betting does involve a learning curve; therefore, here are some of the best ways to take advantage of live sports betting.
Monitor the Odds Changes
Mobile apps update live odds nearly every second. Basketball lines can fluctuate on a pass-by-pass basis, so it’s best to monitor these odds on your phone with one eye on the other on the game.
Much like with the stock market, you have to know the right price to ‘buy in’ for live sports betting. If an NFL team gets down a TD, they can easily make that deficit back up the next drive – if they’re down 20 in the 3rd quarter, not so much (and the odds will reflect it).
Live Bet on Games You are Watching
The odds through a mobile sportsbook will always update slightly faster because they are either a) getting a live feed directly from the game or b) having an agent on-site watching the contest live.
Therefore bettors will never get an edge putting a bet in on a game they are watching on TV when they see a long pass in the air or a deep drive of a ball to the outfield. That’s because this play already happened 5-15 seconds ago in real-time.
Live betting on games you are actually watching still has its advantages, though. You can see how gameplay is going, how severe a certain injury is and if a player will return, if a star basketball player is getting into foul trouble, or if a starting pitcher is beginning to show signs of tiring.
Hedging Opportunities
There are ways to guarantee profit on a bet when utilizing the live sports betting feature. This is tricky, but there are situations such as needing the last leg of a parlay to hit or betting on the opposing team when the team you wagered on gets out to a decent lead.
Most people will hedge a parlay bet before the game starts to get the best odds, for example, having a possible $200 payout on a $50 bet and betting to win $50 on the opposing team, so at least they don’t lose money on the day.
What live betting offers the opportunity to do is hedge in-game, even when they didn’t do it in the pregame. If the last leg of a parlay winner is tied late in the 4th quarter, some people like to put in a hedge bet considering without it, and the situation is either losing $50 or winning $200 with no in-between. Sweating out the other parts of the parlay was a lot of work, so it’s best to get something out of it, even if it’s just the original wager amount.
Bet Quickly
There is a little bit of patience involved in live betting, but at the same time, these odds are often changing by the second. If a team you are going to live bet on has a 3rd and 5, their odds could legitimately go from +175 to -115 right after they pick up the first down. The same goes with a basketball team right before hitting a three-pointer or a baseball bet just prior to a player drawing a walk on a 3-2 count.
Live betting can not only be fun, and it’s been proven to be very profitable.
