Lee J 2021-12-11T06:06

Keeping an eye on the ball with football betting in-play

Keeping an eye on the ball with football betting in-play

Jumping into football betting in-play will present more wagering opportunities for punters and it allows for some flexibility. In this guide, we explore football betting in-play, how to do it and some tips to get the most out of the action.

Live football tips lead the way

When you place a football bet on a pre-match market, that bet is set in stone. Let’s say from the Premier League in England you have backed Chelsea to beat Everton with a pre-match single bet.

But just 20 minutes into the match, Everton have pulled out to a 2-0 lead and Chelsea are down to 10 men having received a red card. So in a short space of time that pre-match wager on Chelsea is likely to be dead in the water.

Getting the most out of in-play betting

But with live in-play betting, there is a potential chance to consolidate some of the losses. Once Everton had gone 1-0 up in the match, their chances of winning immediately increased. So the in-play odds on them winning the fixture would be shorter after than at kick-off.

But let’s assume that backing Everton to win the match with an in-play bet, still offered big enough odds to cover the lost stake from the pre-match Chelsea To Win bet.

Once Everton had gone 2-0 ahead, the soccer odds on them would have diminished even further. So the key is catching the markets at the right time. It’s utilising scenarios as they unfold during a match that really opens up the world of football betting even further for punters. Let’s explore hedging with another example match from the UK.

Using Live betting for hedging

There are many different strategies for in-play betting, but a simple one is hedging, which is playing both sides of a market.

  • Bet: Liverpool To Win with a 50 unit stake at 1.69 decimal soccer odds
  • Scenario: Liverpool are 1-0 ahead
  • In-Play: Arsenal drift to 7.16 in-play odds to win
  • In-Play Bet: Arsenal To Win with a 9 unit stake
  • If Liverpool win that’s 34.40 profit minus the 8 unit stake on Everton
  • If Everton win that’s 55.44 profit minus the 50 unit stake on Liverpool

As you can see, if Arsenal had turned the game around and won, a bigger profit was collected from that bet. But it was just enough to cover the losing stake on the original Liverpool pre-match bet.
 

As you can see, if Arsenal had turned the game around and won, a bigger profit was collected from that bet. But it was just enough to cover the losing stake on the original Liverpool pre-match bet.
 

There are ways to calculate how much the second bet needs to be to hedge, and simply using a betting calculator is the quickest. Depending on your betting preferences you may simply be alright with only putting enough stake forward on the second bet to cover half of the first stake.
 

There are cons to hedging in football betting. Naturally, by placing a second bet you are, in one way or another, eating into any potential profit. The other factor is the Draw outcome in the match. If that were to happen in this scenario, both stakes would be lost.

Watching the odds

As major events happen in a game, you will naturally see dropping odds in the markets. That’s an obvious reaction by the bookmakers to things like goals being scored. Bookmakers prep their lines well ahead of time and so they are well formulated.

The live in-play actions are almost on the fly, so there could be more wiggle-room for punters to find value bets. The accuracy in the odds that the bookmaker offers with live markets may be a little below that of the accuracy of pre-match odds.

Note that any live stream of a match you are watching is subject to a slight time delay, so the bookmakers are always ahead of the game.
 

One more tip

Keep emotions out of live in-play betting and always go with your head. It’s easy to get wrapped up in a fixture that you are watching and put more bets down. Because in-play betting happens quickly, it means that there is the potential for a quick turnover in bets. Always, keep a track of your finances.

Free football betting predictions in-play

There is a lot to explore for in-play betting and it certainly offers a dynamic approach to a sports bet. You are also able to watch a bet live in-play in case you wanted to cash out (settle) that bet before the final whistle.

But where to start with making football betting in-play selections? How about free football betting predictions?
Houdini Predictions have a unique feature of offering live football tips. These are completely free, high-quality, well-researched football betting tips to try and nudge punters in the right direction.

So if you are watching a game that is creeping towards halftime and wondering what betting move to make in-play, take a look at the free in-play tips at Houdini Predictions, check the soccer odds and see if that fits into your plans.