Live betting
Placing bets while an event is in progress, at odds that the bookmaker recalculates continuously from the live state of play.
Live, or in-play, betting lets you trade a match while it happens. Prices are generated by models fed with the score, time remaining and in-game data, and markets close briefly after key events such as goals, breaks of serve or map wins. Most bookmakers apply a bet delay of a few seconds to protect against courtsiding and other latency advantages.
The maths of a price move
Tennis, illustrative. Pre-match, Player A is 1.70 (implied 58.8%). Player A is broken early in the first set and the live price drifts to 2.40 (41.7%).
- The market has moved about 17.2 points of probability on one break.
- A €50 bet at 2.40 returns €120; the same stake before the match would have returned €85.
Whether 2.40 is generous depends on how much one break really matters at that level and on that surface. On fast courts with big servers, a single break is worth more than on slow clay.
Costs
Live markets typically run wider margins than pre-match and often have lower limits. Streams can lag the data feed by several seconds, so the price you see may already be out of date. Bet acceptance can fail if the odds change while your slip is pending.
Esports
Live markets on esports are common: next map winner, live map handicap or first to a set number of kills. The rule is the same: work out the implied probability and compare it with your own estimate before clicking.