Live sports betting has revolutionised the way that bettors get to engage with their favourite sports. Whether it’s a title-deciding Rugby Championship clash or the latest English Premier League match, enthusiasts can enjoy a huge amount of live betting options.
Betting live- in-play – not only creates more nuanced wagering opportunities for bettors, but it adds another great layer of excitement. Carrying through a live bet at best betting sites in South Africa, or waiting for opportunities to create one while watching a match, makes a player more invested.
But what are the best live sports betting markets to explore, where astute observation, quick thinking, and strategic decision-making can lead to profitable outcomes?
Match Winner
This is one of the most popular pre-match sports betting markets and it is also one of the most accessible for live sports. A strategy is to wait until after kick-off to make a match-winner bet. That way you are likely to get much better odds on your pick.
Patiently wait as the match unfolds to assess the momentum and performance of the teams. This is going to help you make more informed predictions. As a match ebbs and flows you can build towards making well-timed bets out of those opportunities.
Next Goal Scorer
Momentum in matches changes a lot. The home team may be on top through the early stages of a fixture. But then commonly the opposing away team, usually playing more conservative tactics, will start to work their way back into the game.
By looking for the attacking patterns, and the chances that are being created, you can look towards the next goalscorer or next try scorer markets. This can be approached by picking a specific player, or by simply selecting which team will score the next goal, try or point.
Totals
Totals are a very good live betting area to study. Again, this all boils down to you evaluating the flow of play in a match, gauging the attacking intent, and defensive resilience of the teams. If
things are just grinding along with few scoring chances, then targeting a low goal or points line for the match could be the way. Goals are not the only thing that can be strategized over in live betting, because there are also things like corners and card totals.
Handicap Betting
Another great market for live betting is handicapping. If a favourite in a football match has fallen behind early, then you could think about their ability to overcome that deficit. Could you then back them to cover a -0.5 handicap in-play, meaning that they’d have to come back to win by at least one goal?
Is there enough time left on the clock for them to come back and win by a bigger margin? Alternatively, you can assess whether you think the underdog that is leading can hold onto their advantage.
Player Performance and Special Events
You will see a lot of bookmakers pushing bets that are targeted towards individual player performances and special events in the match. Prop bets like the number of cards a player will receive, or whether there will be a penalty try awarded or not, are generally worth avoiding.
While special markets can be a fun aside, there is nothing in them that can be strategized over. Trying to pick how many assists a player will collect in a match, or whether the referee will flash a red card is a lot harder to gauge than backing a home team to win a match, because trends and stats can’t really help you narrow down strong picks.
Fast Markets
One of the newer features of live betting is fast markets. These are where you select what could happen within a set period of time. For example, from 10:00 to 14:59 of a Premier League match, you could pick whether there will be a foul, a penalty, a goal, a corner etc. These are interesting markets which could open some opportunities based on the flow of a game.
In Conclusion
Live sports betting presents an array of exciting markets where quick thinking, observation, and analysis are key. The match winner, next goalscorer, total goals, handicap betting, player performance, and special events markets offer ample opportunities to capitalise on in-game developments.
However, it’s important to remember that live sports betting requires some discipline and risk management too. It’s easy to get swept up in the emotions of a match and make rash bets.
Have a firm strategy in place for live betting, so that you know when a certain situation arises, like if a match is still 0-0 after 20 minutes, it’s a good time to play a match outright.
