Betting In-Play

Updated: September 27, 2026

In-play betting, also known as live betting, has become a mainstay betting option at sportsbooks across the Internet. Live betting is essentially traditional sports betting on steroids. It allows bettors to wager on sporting events in real time and offers up-to-the-second odds on every sport under the sun.

The live betting market has grown rapidly in recent years, with many sportsbooks now offering live betting on every game. Live betting has also expanded into lesser known sports, even those with extremely small markets. And with the advent of mobile betting, live betting has become available to anyone in the world with a mobile connection.

The Basics of Live Betting

Live betting markets are not listed next to the traditional markets, but on a separate page with live betting software.

Other than the fact that you're betting on events as they unfold, placing bets on a live betting platform is no different than placing regular bets on sides and totals. Bettors simply select their bet, enter the amount, and click "Confirm" or "Submit" on their bet slip.

Live betting is a rapidly changing market. Every play has the potential to change the odds offered, and they are constantly moving based on the status of the game.

Live Betting Markets

The bets available to players in Live Betting vary depending on the sport they're interested in betting on and the sportsbook they've selected for in-play betting. Some sportsbooks will offer a large list of markets for live betting, while others will simply have adjusted sides and totals.

Generally speaking, the more stoppages during a particular sport, the more betting markets available. For example, live baseball betting allows you to bet on the outcome of each at bat, the score during each inning, and a host of other propositions. Football live betting has odds on the outcome of each drive and even the outcome of each play.

Of course, other sports such as basketball, hockey, and more may have expanded betting options in addition to adjusted sides and totals. Live betting is available at some sportsbooks for every sport in the world. The betting options offered are only limited by the imagination of the oddsmakers and the betting software.

Live Betting Tips

As mentioned above, live betting options will vary greatly. However, one area that bettors need to carefully consider, aside from the available markets, is the odds offered. Many sportsbooks will juice up their live betting markets much more than the standard -110 or -115 odds offered on most proposition bets.

For this reason, it's one of the markets where shopping around for the best odds is most important. Line shopping is something that some people forget about when it comes to live betting, but betting with live odds that are significantly worse than what you can find at another sportsbook will cost you a lot of money in the long run.

Live betting can also be a tool used by bettors to get a price that wasn't available in traditional pre-match betting odds, giving bettors the ability to hedge their pre-match bets.

Take for example a moneyline wager on an NFL contest:

For example, New England was -170 to beat Buffalo, but those odds were too rich to consider before the game started.

As another example, let's look at an NBA game. Let's say we took the L.A. Clippers over the Golden State Warriors on the money line at +250, but after the first quarter, the Clippers are losing by double digits and looking ragged. We can then take the Clippers on the point spread or money line to hedge our bet and reduce our losses.

There is value in hedging via live betting, but bettors must be careful when doing so for several reasons. First, if they have a strong price that beats the closing line, they're giving up a lot of equity by hedging their bet. Second, there is always the risk of hitting the middle of the line when betting the point spread. Thirdly, due to the tendency of live betting markets to often be over-exuberant, the bet may not be +EV.