Best Bet In-Play Bookmakers

Betting is not one-dimensional, contrary to what someone who has never engaged with the scene would believe. You do not only bet on who's going to win a match or tournament. In-play betting is one of the several types of betting that have become very popular in recent years.

Today we will go through everything that you need to know about in-play betting and the best in-play bookmakers. We'll cover the meaning of the terms, different betting strategies, rules, and more. The more you know about betting, the better bets you can place. Here's everything you need to know about in-play betting and bookmakers.

What is in-play betting?

Even if you are not familiar with the term in-play betting, you may have heard the term live betting. They are the same thing, and it's also known as run betting. If you have noticed the pattern, it'll be clear what this betting type is. In-play betting refers to placing a bet while the match is going on, as opposed to pre-match betting. In pre-match betting, you place the bet before the game begins. To put it in the context of football, you can bet in-play even after the match has started and one team is down by one goal. In pre-match betting, you'd have to place your bet before the referee blows the whistle for the kick-off.

Pre-match betting vs in-play betting

Pre-match betting is quite different from in-play betting in terms of how odds are calculated and specific rules. In pre-match betting, you do not get the freedom that in-play betting offers. Let's take an example to better understand the differences and their implications.

Let's assume Chelsea is playing against Arsenal in a Premier League match. If you bet pre-match, you'll have to depend on the past performance of the teams and players. You'll also have to take into account which team is in a better form and is more likely to win that particular match. As you can guess, doing so is difficult. The chances are often very slim if you have to predict exactly which player will score the first goal and what'll be the final score.

In-play betting, on the other hand, is much more flexible. You have the freedom to place a bet after the match has started and you can see which team is playing better and has a better form. Here, you don't need to do much more than watch the game with focus. That does not mean there's no role of the team, player, and manager study in live betting. You'd still benefit from studying these things, but the freedom you get to change your mind mid-match is what makes in-play bets special.

But the freedom that in-play bets offer come at a cost. The odds in in-play betting are typically lower than that of pre-match betting. Carrying forward the previous example, if Chelsea scores an early goal, the likelihood of Arsenal winning dips. With that, the odds you get for betting on Chelsea also decrease. There are pros and cons to both betting methods, and it boils down to what you are comfortable with.

How are in-play odds calculated?

As we already said, in-play betting odds are generally lower than pre-match betting odds. But that's not always true, especially if betting in-play involves an event with a very low probability of happening. For example, you can bet in-play during a football match on who will win the next corner. Those of us familiar with football knows that a corner kick can happen just at just about anytime without concentrated efforts from either team. When you bet on something like that, the odds you get should be high.

On the other hand, if you are betting on which team is going to win the match, in-play betting has some advantages. You can bet after one team has scored or has shown dominant performance. Here, the odds you get would be much lower.

To put it in simple words, odds in live betting are calculated based on where the concerned match is going. If one team is ahead by two goals before the half-time, the chances of them losing are much lower. If you bet on the team to lose in spite of that, you'll get great odds. But if you bet on the other side to lose after having conceded two goals in the first half, the odds would be lower. Bookmakers calculate the odds of in-play betting depending on where the match stands and how the teams are playing.

In-play betting rules

The precise in-play betting rules vary depending on your bookmaker and sport of choice. However, there are some common threads across all bookmakers. One of the most common rules is to suspend the betting market for some time after a significant event in the match has happened. If a player gets a red card, for example, the odds would be readjusted to account for the change. In such cases, the betting market would remain closed until the bookmakers have calculated the odds. You cannot place a new bet in that window.

There is generally some delay in placing the bets during in-play betting. It can be as little as less than 20 seconds. The delay allows bookmakers to avoid mistakes and wrong bets. The bookmaker you choose will have specific rules about delays in live betting.

Bookmakers also have the authority to nullify a bet if it's accidentally placed after the outcome is known. It can happen due to time delays in broadcasting, insider information, or technical errors. In all these cases, the bookmaker can, at its own discretion, declare a bet void.

Odds can swing wildly in live betting, and bettors are generally told about it before betting. From here, you have two options. You can either automatically accept whatever the next odds are, or you can manually inspect the odds and decide whether your want to go for it.

Apart from these, your bookmaker may have specific rules regarding in-play betting.

How to play in-play bets

To bet in-play, you have to first make sure that your bookmaker offers the feature. Then you have to know whether the sport you opt for allows in-play betting. Almost all sports allow some form of in-play betting, and your bookmaker can come up with new stakes and bet types. Apart from these differences, betting in-play is not much different from betting pre-match. At the same time, you have to be updated in real-time about the match to bet live on it. Pre-match betting does not have any such constraints.

In-play betting strategies

Now we will discuss some of the best in-play betting strategies, but note that none of these strategies can be empirically proven to work. In the end, it's all a game of chance. However, these strategies can help you eliminate some of the variables that reduce your chances of winning even further.

Cash out: If you decide to withdraw your winnings before the match ends, you are cashing out from the bet. It's a common feature across bookmakers and many bettors take advantage of it. What cash out does is give you the freedom to choose when you want to go out of the bet. In-play betting, by definition, gives you the freedom to go into the bet whenever you want. That's why a combination of these two is the most freedom and flexibility you can get from sports betting.

Live stream: Live streaming is nothing more than betting as you go, that is, you place a bet after a significant event has happened in the match. To know precisely when the event has happened and what implication it can have, bettors choose to stream live and bet in real-time. However, due to the mandatory time delay of most bookmakers, the bet ends up being several seconds late from real-time. It's a great way to enjoy the game and bet on it at the same time.

Pulse betting: Pulse betting is fast-paced, exciting, and a lot of fun. It takes the concept of in-play betting to an extreme and allows bettors to stake on whether a team will score a goal within a given window. These windows range from 30 seconds to 10 minutes. The stakes of pulse betting are high, and so are the rewards. It's one of the most enjoyable and innovative takes on in-play betting and is widely loved.

Bookmakers with in-play mobile app

Mobile apps are the new go-to medium for bettors to place bets on their favorite sports. While there are many online sports betting platforms and casinos, not all of them have a mobile app offering. Here are some of the best bookmakers with in-play mobile apps:

·      BetBull

·      bet365

·      Betfair

·      BetVictor

·      Coral

·      Betfred

·      Unibet

·      Paddy Power

·      William Hill

Most of the leading bookmakers in the UK have a mobile app, and most of them support both IOS and android. We hope this guide will help you find a good bookmaker for in-play betting.