Live Betting: Pros and Cons

 

Live betting definitely has its positives and negatives. Let's take a look at some of them.

Key Points

– Live betting is fun and is a great method of hedging poorly executed pregame bets.

– Betting in-game can be tricky for some bettors that find it too fast.

Live Betting - Is it Good or Bad?

It’s the hottest trend in sports betting right now. Live betting, also referred to as in-game or in-play betting, offers the ability to wager on a game that is already in progress. And it is all the rage.

Like anything on the cutting edge, live betting has its pros and cons, its advantages and disadvantages. There are some things that will make bettors love live betting. There are others that will make a bettor pull his hair out.

It’s all a matter of perspective. If you have yet to place a live bet, you might want to see what all the fuss is. Be prepared though for the good and the bad.

Pro: The Fun & Excitement

Betting on sports is fun and exciting. Betting on a game while it is being played is like fun and excitement on steroids!

Nothing beats the anticipation of watching your bet play out in real time. The fun only magnifies when you win. In-game wagers take sports betting to a whole new level.

MUST READ: BETTING MLB ALTERNATE LINES

Con: It’s Too Fast

Live betting works like this. Betting odds will usually change whenever there is a stoppage of play. That can be fairly often in an NBA or NHL game. The same for an NFL or college football game.

Speaking of college football, we wrote a great article recently. It was an inside look at the 2022 college football season. Go get ready! It’s just around the corner.

For some bettors, the odds and lines updates are just too fast. They don’t have time to process what has happened and make a good betting decision.

In-game bettors have to be ready to pull the trigger quickly. That can put a lot of pressure on a bettor and some will find it to be too much.

Pro: More Information for Live Betting

Before a game starts, there is only speculation. Once it starts, the bettor has real-time information on how a team is playing. The bettor can see how the home team feeds off of the crowd or how the road team is having difficulties because of the crowd.

Bettors can use this live feedback to make a better betting decision. Oftentimes, live wagers will make an average bettor seem like a genius.

Con: No Planning

For bettors that like to plan, there really isn’t any of that when it comes to live bets. When placing conventional bets, it’s easy to develop a plan and stick to it.

With live bets, bettors don’t know what is going to happen next. In-play betting is more of a wide open free for all in many cases.

There are bettors that don’t like to work that way. They would rather have their plan and stick to it.

Pro: Soft Live Betting Market

If you have ever wondered why the limits for live bets are lower than conventional bets, it’s because your global sportsbook doesn't spend as much time with the live markets.

Sportsbooks spend their time focusing on the markets where they make the most money. Those happen to be the traditional moneyline, point spread, and totals markets. These bets are more popular and therefore command more attention from oddsmakers.

The live betting markets are softer which opens the door for bettors that are able to take advantage of some strong value live bets.

Con: Addiction

This could be a good thing…as long as you’re winning. Live betting is so much fun and offers so much excitement that it can become addicting.

For most though, it’s not a good thing. Bettors need to understand where live betting fits into their overall betting strategy. Like anything, it’s fine in moderation.

Pro: Perfect for Hedging

There is simply no better way to hedge bets than with live betting. There are times when bettors make a bad pregame choice. In-game betting allows a bettor to hedge against a loss.

There are many great examples of hedging, but the 2018 AFC title game offers one of the best. Go look at our sports scores.

The Kansas City Chiefs were a 3-point home favorite over New England. The Patriots scored near the end of the first half to take a 14-0 lead.

The pregame line flipped all the way from the Chiefs -3 to the Chiefs +6.5. The smart bettor jumped on this line and hedged that pre-game bet with one on the Chiefs at +6.5. Surely, KC was going to make a game of this.

The Chiefs did come back only to lose in overtime 37-31. The pregame bet lost, but the live bet was a winner. At the very least, the bettor was able to minimize his losses with the in-game wager.