Betting on sports is certainly no new phenomenon.
Whether Chelsea will notch up another finals appearance at Wembley or even who will win the men’s and ladies’ singles at Wimbledon, people have speculated on the result for generations.
But, like so many aspects of life today, it’s an activity that has been quite transformed by the internet.
In the pre-online days followers of sports were pretty much limited to placing bets in advance of sporting events.
Today, on the other hand, there’s in-play betting. This allows you to make a whole array of different wagers when an event is already in progress.
Why bet in-play?
There are plenty of reasons why in-play betting has taken off to the extent that it has.
The first of these is, quite simply, that it makes watching all kinds of sports more involving and enjoyable.
That’s because an already exciting event becomes heightened still further if you have money riding not just on its outcome, but also on occurrences within the game itself.
We’ll go on to list some of the kinds of bets you can make shortly after going through the why and how of the matter.
Another key reason why in-play betting is so popular is that it is often based on sounder information than simply trying to predict who will win before a game or tournament has even started.
You’ll be seeing which team or player is looking in the best form, as well as getting a general feeling about what’s going to happen in the ensuing action.
The fact that you can get some very good odds when placing in-play bets means that it all adds up to a very compelling list of reasons to make them.
How to bet in-play
The first step is to find a site recommended by in-play sports betting experts.
There are a number of review sites out there that will provide a list of many of the leading ones, often giving them a star rating too.
It’s also here that you’ll be able to see and compare the welcome bonuses that they are offering to new players in the form of free bets and other incentives.
Then it’s simply a question of finding the event that you want to bet on, seeing what kinds of in-play options are available, and away you go.
As to how the odds are calculated in the ever-shifting action, this is something that is increasingly being done using algorithms driven by AI.
Constantly reacting to the events as they happen, it also means that getting the timing of a bet right can make a big difference to the potential rewards if successful.
The kinds of bets you can make
Football is probably the most popular of all the sports for in-play betting, thanks to the many events you can try to predict.
These range from the number of yellow cards shown by the ref to who the next scorer of a goal will be.
Different sportsbooks offer different options. So it’s generally a question of checking a few out to see which bets they are offering.
Other more surprising sports that present multiple in-play betting options include golf.
In this you may be able to bet on events that include the number of birdies a player will achieve in a round or even whether there’s going to be a hole in one.
The shifting fortunes, and many possibilities, in a typical round of golf do make this a surprisingly good sport for in-play betting.
The strategic approach
As you might expect, successful in-play betting is usually a question of getting the timing spot on.
Often, the skill is to balance the odds you are getting with the time remaining in the sporting event during which the predicted outcome can occur.
Another tip is to look for sporting events where the underdog enjoys some early success.
It generally means that the favourites will still be the predicted winners, but at much more favourable odds than you would have been offered before the start of the match.
It can also be a good idea to have a number of in-play bets running concurrently.
So if one doesn’t come off you could be helping to cover your losses with one that does.
In conclusion
So in-play betting is definitely a way to make watching your favourite sports even more exciting.
But be strategic in your approach if you want to make it a success.
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