One of the fastest growing segments of sports betting is live in-game betting. Technology has made this popular, and bettors, including football bettors, are embracing it more all the time. Basically, sports books offer a wide range of props based on the outcome of the next play in a game, or the next series of plays. You can make the bet and just minutes later the action is resolved, you have your profits, and you can make another bet.
Because we are football crazy in North America it’s no surprise that football is by far the most popular form of in-game betting. The range of options available is really vast. You can bet whether the next play will be a completed pass, and incomplete pass, a rush, or a turnover. You can bet on whether a team gets a first down on the current series, how much yardage they will gain, or if they will score a touchdown or field goal. You can bet whether a field goal will be successful, or what field position a team will be left with after a punt. You can even bet on the passing, rushing, or receiving yards of key players in a half or quarter. Different books offer different options depending upon how aggressive they are in the market, and books only choose certain game to over live betting in, but if it appeals to you as a football bettor then you can almost certainly find some action to make you happy.
Football is ideal for live betting because there is a pause between every play, but other sports work as well. Baseball is well suited, too – you can bet on the outcome of each at bat, for example. Basketball is also popular, and soccer and hockey are also available at times.
The important thing to remember if you are considering this type of betting is that it is very different from everything else you do. If you try to approach it in the same way as you would any other football bet it just isn’t going to work at all. Despite that, there are some very good aspects of these bets, and others that are really detrimental. Here are two pros and two cons of live betting:
Pro – Sports books don’t have much time to make odds. The less time oddsmakers have to set odds, the less likely they are to be able to set a perfect line. That’s why halftime betting can be attractive in many cases, and it’s especially true here. Oddsmakers have to set lines in an instant, so they generally rely on templated odds – using the same things they have used in the past in a given situation. There are many times, though, when that’s not accurate with what is happening in a given game. If football bettors can spot those situations then they can bet into very attractive odds.
Con – You don’t have much time, either. You have less time to make your bets than the bookmakers do in creating their odds, because you have to react after the odds are set. The very short time frames obviously make it very difficult to do any meaningful analysis right at the moment. This type of betting, then, relies more on instinct and an overall understanding of the game than others. When wagering in this manner, you also need to be able to quickly understand what things you see mean, and what the impact of them will be.
Pro – Multiple opportunities to leverage the same opinion. If you have a strong feeling that there is a mismatch in a football game – the defense just isn’t going to be able to stand up to the run, for example – then you really only have one opportunity to take advantage of that opportunity in regular betting – you can bet the team to win. With live betting, though, you can act on that opinion again and again – every time the offense has the ball and are likely to run. More significantly, if the mismatch doesn’t materialize like you expected it to then you have the ability to adjust your betting – you can stop betting on the run game, or even bet on the other side if appropriate. Done properly, this kind of sports betting can dramatically increase your ability to profit from a strong opinion gained from your handicapping.
Con – Easy to get swept up in excitement. With so many betting options available all of the time it can be very easy to make bets that you don’t have an edge in. That can be absolutely disastrous for money management – over the long term you are sure to lose if you bet without the edge. It’s very important that you have a plan when you start to make these bets, and that you stick to it. If you like the run game matchup, for example, then you should only make bets that act on that mismatch. If the bet doesn’t have anything to do with that, and if you don’t have another good reason to bet it, then you have to have the discipline to avoid making a bet. You also need to make sure that you have allocated just a specific amount of money to live betting on a particular game, and that you have the discipline to stop when it is gone. Part of the reasons sportsbooks are rushing to offer more and more live betting opportunities is because they are wildly profitbale because they get more bettors making impulsive, lousy decisions than with any other type of betting. Be a disciplined football bettor at all times or you could pay dearly.
