What is an In-Play Bet?

Although punters have both new and old will understand the basic premise which is attached to football betting. Those same two groups may not necessarily be up to speed when it comes to in-play betting.

What is an in play bet I hear you ask. It is a bet that allows you to stake a wager during a live game and in doing so, you can potentially use the ebb and flow of any football match to your financial advantage.

No longer must you simply place a wager before kick-off and then have to sit through 90 nervous minutes. Now you can use live scores to gain additional insight before testing your betting acumen with the bookmakers.

Which means before the evolution of in-play betting, your offering would look something like this:

BEFORE WE BEGIN

An EFL Championship encounter with pre-match odds:

QPR 3.20
Draw 3.40
Burnley 2.30

Here we can see that Burnley are the favourites to win and if you wanted to follow the formbook, you would back the Clarets to win. While we can also assume that our faith has been repaid early on and the visitors have taken the lead.

An Early Goal Will Change The Game And The In-Play Odds

Should such a scenario unfold, this is where the in-play betting markets would become active, and the odds may change to something like this:

QPR 10.00
Draw 4.50
Burnley 1.33

Here we can see that Burnley’s odds to win have shortened, while there has been an increase in the other two options. However, Vincent Kompany’s men now have a one-goal head start in this live market.

This means that although their odds have shortened, backing them to win now looks more assured than it did before the referee got the game underway and with the insurance that comes their early advantage, you may be tempted to back them to hold on to the win.

Of course, the in-play market also offers the ability to reward those who like to go for broke. Just as you could back Burnley to hold on to their lead and return to Turf Moor, you could also see the hosts find their feet after the break.

For example, if you knew that QPR had a good home record and they only conceded a goal in the first 10 minutes, you would have every right to keep the faith and still back them to come out on top in the end.

ALL CHANGE PLEASE

Were you to do so when the West London outfit were a goal behind, it would offer a far greater reward than simply backing QPR to win before kick-off. Yes, it would be a far riskier bet but at the end of the day risk does equal reward.

Which is why in-play bet can certainly offer the opportunity to generate more profit. That is if you can hold your nerve and more importantly, predict which games are going to have the biggest swings before their conclusion.

A Change In Fortunes, Could Mean Plenty Of Change For You

However, it is not just the win/draw/win market where you can test your mettle in a live in-play environment. Another market where this can be tested is in terms of total goals and how many will be scored.

This market can be particularly helpful if you are actually watching a game live in TV or in attendance. Because when seeing how a game plays out in the first 30 minutes or so, you can usually sense whether goals are going to be at a premium or not.

Once again, we will go back to the EFL Championship clash between QPR and Burnley as an example. Although this time we are going to look at this from an over 2.5 goals point of view.

Over 2.5 goals – 2.00
Under 2.5 goals – 1.80

Before the game gets underway, we can see that the bookmakers believe that this game will finish with two or less goals scored in total. Admittedly they are not overly convinced but under is the direction that they are pointing in.

Say you were either a QPR or Burnley follower or someone who just wants another part of their weekend football fix, taking in the first 25-30 minutes should give you a huge steer as to how the game will pan out in terms of goals.

If the first half hour has been largely unentertaining, you may well feel that the chances of three or more total goals being scored in the next hour will be highly unlikely and your hunch is leaning a lot further towards under 2.5 goals come the final whistle.

While because of a lack of goals, the in-play market has reacted accordingly and after 30 minutes the odds now look something like this:

Over 2.5 – 2.37
Under 2.5 – 1.53

KEEP AN EYE ON IT

As you can see the over 2.5 goals odds have crept up and by the same token, the under odds have crept down. However, with a third of the game behind you, the chances of a maximum of two goals now looks more likely and with a head start of sorts, this is the bet you are better off placing.

Of course, you do not have to go to a game in person to back over/under goals in-play, you can just as easily use the live scores section of our website. With an array of stats to support what the current outcome is, it will help you make key decisions without having to watch it all unfold.

With Our Live Scores, You Don’t Have To Keep An Eye On The Game Itself

While the same in-play logic can be used on all number of markets. Why stop at the outcome or the number of goals scored? You can just as easily place an in-play bet on the number of corners or the exact final score itself.

Because in-play betting has completely transformed who punters place wagers and you have to say the transformation has been for the better. Especially for those who prefer to build their bankrolls over a long period of time.

What better way to use a team’s live advantage to your own advantage. That is exactly what you can do with in-play betting and if you are yet to try your luck when the game is underway, there should be nothing from stopping you now.