Want to know how to start live betting? What are the best sports betting sites for in-play betting. We’ve got you covered with our live betting and in-play betting user guide.
How to get started with live betting and in-play betting, and your guide to the best live betting sites . Welcome to our dedicated live betting and in-play betting page where we give you the full lowdown on all things live betting. From starting on your live betting journey, covering what it’s all about and the features to look for, and moving on to a list of the very best live betting sites and how you can place an in-play bet. We’ve got you totally covered right here.
Live betting is where it’s at when it comes to modern sports betting. Before you could only place a bet on a sporting event up until the ball was set in motion or the starter’s gun fired. Now the start of the game opens up a whole new world of betting possibilities as sports bookmakers dedicate large portions of their site to live betting and in-play betting markets. Now you can place bets as the event unfolds in front of your very eyes, increasing the engagement you have with your favourite live sporting events. So without further ado, these are some of the top operators for your live betting experience. Bet365 Live Betting Welcome bonus: Up to €100 in bet credits for new customers Bet365 is one of the world’s biggest sports betting sites and, as you would expect from a giant of the industry, the live betting experience is right up there. When you land on the Bet365 site, the in-play offering is right in front of your very eyes. In fact, one small frustration is that it makes it a little bit more difficult to find the pre-match markets, such as in the dedication bet365 give’s to live in-play betting. It’s a small grumble, and the dedicated Bet365 iOS and Android betting apps just make things even better as you can place live bets comfortable on the go. Live streaming and depth of markets on sports such as football and tennis just make things even better. BoyleSports Live Betting Welcome bonus: Bet €10 get €40 in free bets (new customers) BoyleSports is one of Ireland’ biggest bookmakers and as you would expect, has a great in-play betting offering. Avail of all of the live betting features, including live streaming, on the dedicated BoyleSports iOS and Android betting apps. The live betting football and live betting horses options are among the very best around. Unibet Live Betting Welcome Bonus: €40 money back offer on your first bet + €10 casino bonus Unibet is another of Europe’s biggest bookmakers and another popular option in Ireland. The sheet depth of sports and markets available at Unibet is mind blowing, and this is one of the very best sports betting sites for live streaming. The dedicated iOS and Android apps make live betting a cinch with this leading operator. 22bet Live Betting Welcome Bonus: Make your first deposit and get a 100% bonus up to 122 EUR 22bet is a big European operator but not quite so well known in Ireland. Although there is no dedicated app, the sheer number of markets on both pre-match and in-play betting will pique the interest of Irish bettors. And often the odds on 22bet are as competitive, sometimes more so, than anywhere else. Fansbet Live Betting Welcome Bonus: Deposit and get 2 x €20 free bets A new sports betting site on the scene in Ireland and the UK, Fansbet is all about pumping money back into good causes and matters that are really close to fans’ hearts. The breadth of coverage is growing all the time, and although Fansbet is new to the scene, it’s live betting feature is one of its strongest aspects already. Casumo Live Betting Welcome Bonus: Bet €10 get €10 A lesser-known sports betting site, Casumo is a neatly presented and easily navigable site that puts much of its focus on live betting coverage. Sports that are popular in Ireland – namely football, horse racing, tennis and golf – all get great treatment and this could be a nice surprise to those who are unfamiliar with this site. Check it out for your live betting experience.
To make this list a betting site must excel in the live betting space. That means providing a comprehensive offering with responsive betting features and competitive odds, among other highlights. Having a dedicated betting app that facilitates the placing of in-play bets is a must because, in most cases, people are on the go when they want to place their live betting selections. The top live betting sites, therefore, understand that a top live betting experience is a combination of easy-to-use interfaces, plenty of in-play betting markets on offer, good odds and quick-and-easy placement of bets. The last thing a punter wants is to see their live bet fail to be placed because the operator couldn’t accept the bet quickly enough. That drives bettors mad!
So what is this ‘live betting’ exactly. Surely all betting is live as you are doing it at that moment, right? Well, not exactly. Here’s all you need to know about what live betting (also known as in-play betting) really is. The difference between live betting (in-play betting) and regular (pre match) betting. So what is the difference between live betting (also known as in-play betting) and regular betting (also known as pre-match betting?). Well, as you can imagine, the clue is in the name. Live betting means that you are placing a wager on a game or event that is unfurling at that very moment. Pre-match, or pre-event, on the other hand, means that the sporting event you wish to bet on has not begun yet. So what difference does this really make? Well, we can consider a football match as our example. A way in which bookmakers have evolved over recent years is the way that they are able to offer dynamic odds on an event, meaning that the betting site can process any number of variables at any given moment and still offer up a fair reflection of an event occurring. What that really means is that, while odds used to be static – the odds on Manchester United winning are this and the odds on Liverpool winning are this – sports betting sites can now offer odds that evolve depending on how the game itself is unfolding. So, let’s consider Manchester United have a player sent off in the opening five minutes. The game remains nil nil, but clearly the odds on Manchester United winning the game will have now risen because they will play the rest of the game with only ten players. Now bookmakers can quickly amend their odds to reflect the current reality. In fact, it used to be that you couldn’t even place a bet on a sporting event after the event had begun. We are now at a stage in the evolution of live betting (also known as in-play betting) where the odds are almost constantly changing and you can not only bet on final event outcomes but more temporary occurrences, such as a goal being scored in the next ten minutes or which team will score next. Why choose live betting? If it’s not already apparent, why would you want to choose live betting instead of the more traditional style of betting before the event starts? Well, there are plenty of reasons, starting with the fact that live betting offers up lots of new betting choices once the event has actually begun. So in this way, betting sites have been able to more than double the number of betting options that they provide, not to mention increase the depth in markets. But that’s not all. Live betting also allows sports fans to engage more with the event they are watching. For example, a boring game of football can be livened up pretty quickly with a quick in-play bet on who will win the next corner, for example. And then there is the fact that many conventional bets can become redundant pretty quickly. For example, if you have placed a bet on one team to win but then that team have a plyer sent off after five minutes, the chances of you winning that bet are now pretty slim. Likewise, you may place a bet on a player to score a hattrick, only to see him or her injured in the first minute. What live betting can give you is options – options that are dynamic in the fact that they reflect the state of the event at that moment, not what it was before it had even begun. Cash Out 💰 One more element of live betting that attracts countless punters is the ‘cash out’ feature which nearly all live betting sites worth their salt now offer. ‘Cash out’ means you will have the option to accept your winnings before the event has actually finished. So, for example, you bet on Liverpool to win the game, and the Reds score two in the first ten minutes. In normal circumstances you would have to wait for the remaining 80 minutes to be played before your bet is won, providing the other team doesn’t come back, of course. But what many betting sites now offer is the chance to ‘cash out’ the ‘winnings’ from this bet, even if it not actually won yet. In this case of Liverpool, the amount you could cash out wouldn’t be too far off of what the maximum winnings would be. But if you placed a bet on Liverpool to win and the game is still 0-0 after 75 minutes, you could still ‘cash out’. Now in this case, the amount you ‘win’ would most probably amount to less than your original stake, because of course there are only 15 minutes left in the game. But what cash out allows is the chance to redeem something from a bet that could be a lost cause. The point is, you don’t really know if ‘cashing out’ is the right thing to do. What if Liverpool scored in the final minute? It’s just another added thrill to the betting experience. Some live betting sites also offer ‘partial cash out’, which allows you to withdraw some of your initial stake, but leave some of the bet ‘alive’. This is just another possibility that many punters love with live betting. Have a look around to see which bookmakers offer partial and full cash out options.
Sometimes betting sites provide offers related to their live betting experience, which further attracts punters. Here are just some of the current offers on live betting. Unibet in-play free bet club: Opt in to this bonus and get a €10 free in-play bet when you place a minimum of five €10 in-play bets on football, cricket, darts and tennis Unibet in-play bet builder: Build multiple bets while the event of your choice is in play, which is not an easy-to-find feature. Fansbet Pulse Bet: Bet on a goal to be scored in the next 30 second, 1 minute, 5 minutes or 10 minutes and see your odds split into three time periods. If the goal goes in in the third period, you hit the jackpot.
How to use live betting football ⚽ Live or in-play betting is huge on football, and includes as many options as the pre-match style of betting – sometimes more. It’s fair to say that in-play betting has revolutionised betting on football as the live betting football market now exceeds the normal pre-match variety. There are so many markets to avail of, including placing bets on who will score (if anyone in the next 15, 10 or 5 minutes), who will grab the next corner and so much more besides. On the biggest matches, such as those in the Premier league and Champions League, the best live betting sites will offer so many markets that it can take a long time just to explore what options there are. Live betting was seemingly made for football. How to use live betting horses 🐴 Live betting on horse racing is a little more limited due to the speed at which the event unfolds. See the ‘winner’ odds evolve based on the current position of the horse in the race, and odds disappear as horses drop out. For longer events such as the Grand National this is a great chance to increase your prospects of winning as you follow the race live and consider the possibility of any of the remaining runners winning. After all, how often have you placed a bet on a huge hurdle just to see your horse fall at the first. Each way bets also receive the live betting experience and, although live betting horses doesn’t have the depth of markets that, say, football or tennis has, it’s still a great and more dynamic way to interact with the sporting event. How to use live betting golf ⛳ Due to its relatively slow nature, golf is another event which offers betting sites the opportunity to evolve odds to match the current state of play. But in-play betting on golf can even give you the chance to bet on a player birdying, parring or bogeying the hole they are currently playing, among many other live betting golf variations. So follow your favourite golf events and your favourite players and take the chance to bet on the very next shot a player will play, if the moment takes you. As well as the Majors, the best live betting sites provide the opportunity to bet on all sorts of PGA / LPGA and European tour events, the Ryder Cup and many others besides. How to use live betting tennis 🎾 Along with football, tennis is one of the most popular live betting sports, with options including betting on who will win the next set, game, and even point. In this way, every serve and point provides punters with an additional in-play betting option way beyond what the normal pre-match betting would provider. For this reason, live betting tennis has become one of the most popular in-play betting options and the number of markets that the best live betting sites offer is huge. So whether it’s Grand Slam tournaments or ATP / WTA Tour events that you want to bet on, your choices will be there. Some of the best live betting sites even offer up live betting on tennis on Challenger events, so there is nearly always a tennis match to live bet on.
Live betting is now an integral part of most sports betting sites’ products. And with most of the big sites now operating dedicated apps for iOS and Android, you can be sure that the live betting and in-play offerings will be at the front and centre of those apps. Bet365, BoyleSports, Unibet and Casumo all have dedicated sports betting apps which more than adequately cover their live betting services. In all instances, placing live and in-play bets on the go couldn’t be easier, and is essential to a successful, modern betting experience.
Placing a live bet couldn’t be easier. Here’s generally how it’s done: Once you have opened an account with the bookmaker, go to the list of in-play events on the site. These are usually found on the main screen and you can scroll down for options. Click on the in-play event you’d like to bet on, and browse through the markets available. When you have selected the market you want, and you are happy with the odds on offer, act fast because the nature of live in-play odds is that they change quickly. Click on the option you want to take and see this added automatically to your betting slip. In most cases, your betting slip will appear automatically on the screen with the option you have selected. Select the stake you wish to bet and see the potential return offered. Note that this return could ‘disappear’ before you have clicked on ‘confirm selection’. If this happens it is because the odds are in the process of changing. Keep an eye on your return to see how the odds have changed, and if you are still happy with the amount, then click ‘confirm selection’ Please note that it may take a few seconds to process your in-play bet – longer in most cases than placing a pre-match bet.
