What are punters looking for when they dip into live sports betting? The first thing that comes to mind is picking winners.
However, that is ultimately not the main focus of season punters, who tend to look at things from a slightly different perspective as the main driving force behind selections.
It’s not just about picking out winners. Here is a guide to what you can do to help select the best in-play betting picks.
Finding In-Play Sites
The search for the best live betting odds can be challenging enough, but that’s only a small part of the puzzle. Placing a bet is like having a shot at goal in a football match.
It’s the end event after a fine passing move for example that has set up the opportunity.
For online betting, the foundations are laid in finding a bookmaker site good for live options.
With so many of those out there, here is what you should be looking for when choosing:
1. Number of markets covered
2. How fast your live bets are accepted
3. The betting limits set by a betting site
4. Bonuses and promotions available
5. Stats and features useful for live betting The criteria provided are taken from https://legalbet.uk/
Value Over Winners
Think about your selections in terms of value and not winners. If you have selected ten odds-on favourites and six of those won, despite the 60% success rate, you could be down in bankroll.
A winning bet record doesn’t necessarily mean long-term profit.
On the reverse, you could have a losing bet record of four wins out of ten and be in profit. With betting the same amount of stake for every bet in both scenarios, the latter is the one that is a better approach, because it targets a better Return on Investment.
Return on Investment
Anyone can go into a betting site and pick out odds-on in-play options.
But they still come with risk, because there is rarely enough profit from winning bets to cover even just a few losses.
So forget about the win/loss record for in-play bets and focus on making value selections. You want to squeeze out every last drop of potential profit that you can from a bet.
Value Bets
Find selections that have been underestimated by the bookmaker. It is something that takes a little bit of work but can be hugely beneficial. Figure out what chance an outcome has of happening in a sports event. Then convert that implied probability to odds. If the bookmaker has bigger odds than what your forecast suggests, then that’s a value bet.
Set A Strategy
You will be hard-pushed to find a punter who hasn’t been swept up in live in-play betting. Everyone has made an impulsive bet at one point or another. It’s human nature, and why you need an in-play betting strategy.
Set a plan of action. It could be waiting for a match to still be 0-0 after the first 20 minutes, before choosing an Over 2.5 Goals in-play selection, as your analysis has spotted a trend of a team involved scoring heavily in the second half of games.
A plan of action gives you set responses to know what to do in play. Do you want to wait until 10 minutes before the final whistle with the score at 0-1 to back Over 1.5 Goals, or push for the Draw in the match outright?
Cash Out
It’s not just about placing bets either, it is managing them. The Cash Out tool is your friend, so use it. Just don’t overuse it to cash out every single bet for a profit return, as the bookmaker isn’t going to like that.
Instead, use it in certain situations for value. That could be taking an early Cash-Out option when your underdog selection has managed to score the opening goal of a Premier League match, with still enough time on the clock for the favourites to come back and turn the tables.
Think Long Term
A big part of getting your in-play betting right is about mindset. Don’t just take individual bets on a single-term basis. Think long-term. Maybe study your bets over a week or a month, depending on your wagering volume.
Only a long-term view will give you an insight into how your betting is going. One bet could be ruined by a bizarre player error in a match, but that doesn’t mean your betting strategy was wrong.
In Conclusion
Have an in-play betting plan and don’t limit yourself to just one betting site. It’s common practice among punters to have an account at more than one for odds comparison. Create options of different platforms to play with bonuses and to look for the best odds on a given selection.
https://legalbet.uk/
Article written by Benjamin Mitchell
