Live soccer betting strategy: How to price a match in-play

- What is live soccer betting?

- Live soccer betting strategy example

- How to develop your live soccer betting strategy

What is live soccer betting?

Live (also known as in-play) soccer betting is simply the act of betting on a soccer https://thesportingbase.com/recently-retired-footballers/ match when it is “live” (once the match has begun). While it has been popular for a number of years, it is now growing in popularity at a rapid rate and live markets now take much larger volume compared to pre-match markets.

The ability to bet on a soccer match once the game has kicked off is nothing new. Live markets have been available at bookmakers before betting even made its way online – it is believed the first live bets on a soccer match were placed in the early 1990s. However, since then, bookmakers have enhanced their live betting offering to the point where, for some bettors, it can offer more appeal than the pre-match alternative.

How does live soccer betting work?

The speed at which a game of soccer is played means bookmakers often expend a lot more resource into trading markets once the game starts compared to before a ball is kicked. While data is key to shaping efficient odds before the match starts, it becomes even more important when tracking thousands of data points during a short passage of play to ensure the odds offered are an accurate reflection of what might happen in the next few seconds, minutes or even 60+ minutes later into the match.

If you’ve never tracked live betting markets while watching the same game on television, you may be surprised to find that the markets can tell you what has happened much quicker than what you see if on your screen. While there is obviously a delay in the picture provided to your television, the reason the bookmaker is able to react so quick to on field events is through the use of data.

If you have enough money to access more data and get quicker feeds than a bookmaker, you probably have more profitable ventures to explore than sports betting.

This data can be transmitted via several individuals, known as “watchers” at the match, sending information directly from the stadium to the bookmaker. It could be a “no-delay” feed or stream used by the bookmaker to help trade the markets in accordance with live events. Depending on who you bet with, it could also be handled by a specialist third party provider (likely using one or both of the aforementioned methods) employed by the bookmaker.

Despite the tools the bookmaker has at their disposal, they are still unable to offer markets for the entirety of the match. This is why bettors will see the betting markets being suspended during certain periods of the match. This could be before something is likely to happen (a significant event like a goal, penalty or red card) or immediately after while the bookmaker analyses what’s happened before reposting lines that better reflect the new state of the match.

In-play soccer betting: Always start with the basics

Live soccer betting will appeal to bettors for all number of reasons. It adds another layer of excitement to the viewing experience for casual bettors. Providing you are willing to put the work in, it also provides an opportunity to expose and exploit the bookmakers’ mistakes that may occur as a result of the required increase in speed at which markets are traded.

As with any sport, market or type of bet, the approach to finding value remains the same whether it’s a pre-game or live bet. Find a way to make more accurate calculations for the likelihood of something happening or not and compare it to what the bookmaker offers you with their odds. If you are consistently more accurate, you will be able to take advantage in the long run.

If you have enough money to access more data and get quicker feeds than a bookmaker, you probably have more profitable ventures to explore than sports betting. If instead you want to work to assess the potential value of the available odds and try to react quicker than the rest of market when there is positive expected value, being able to calculate your own live odds is a good place to start.