It’s been a while since I last stopped to reflect with you. You know that the day to day of sport and sports betting prevents us from having those educational sessions that we hold more frequently from time to time, but I like not to miss the appointment with a certain frequency, and this time I come with a recurring theme that we haven’t talked about so many times: live betting. As you know, they are not my favourite type of betting, or at least I don’t usually recommend them when you start betting, but what is clear to me is that you should always try them, take them into account and, above all, enjoy them once in a while. There is nothing like using live betting when it comes to enjoying sport in a different way.

The other day I had a visitor at home. Some friends came over after a long time without seeing each other, and as we always have the TV on, the Real Madrid match came up in the middle of the conversation… and of course, as they know me, they tempted me to bet on it. I told them that my intuition told me that the match wasn’t going to be too flashy, but they still insisted. And I thank them for it… because we had a great time and I won! And I thought I’d share with you: What are the most important factors to take into account when placing live bets?

I say this because, as far as I remember, we have already gone over what live betting is, what live betting involves and we have analysed the most important betting markets within this modality, but I have never told you some details that are well worth having engraved in your head every time you pick up your mobile or tablet and start betting live.

Injuries, injuries…. be well-informed before betting

This is something you should always do, in any sporting event or match you are going to bet on. Also if we are going to do it before it is played, but of course, if it is for live betting, it is essential. It is not the same to bet in favour of a team that arrives without a single injured player, as it is to do so knowing that they have two, or three, or five important absentees; just at that moment, their supposed superiority on paper may be equalised on the field, and then our initial criteria will be affected. It is very important to be aware of all the news about a match before placing live bets.

Rotations are all the rage these days… and they are a disservice to us if we are not aware of them and place our bets live.

So when you imagine Real Madrid or Barcelona beating any team that is theoretically inferior, if you don’t know if they’ve rotated six or seven starters, or if they have a lot of players out, it’s quite possible that the result you had in your head will fall apart completely. And then, of course, you’ll get nervous and start to want to recover by practising ‘counter betting’ live… and that’s when the bad afternoons of losses begin.

The eternal theory of ‘needs’

We have already explained it once, and we do it again because it usually works better than many people think: usually, theory wins out over practice but in the long term, and betting live that tendency for the big ones to always win out over the small ones suffers more than if we always bet before the events. A very simple example: you want to bet in favour of the big teams in matches against smaller teams, or your favourite tennis player, who you know is a ‘Top’ on the circuit, and who is playing against an unknown. Sure, you imagine an easy win or a quick three-set match with a clear score, but if it turns out that they are not key matches or it is not a decisive tournament in the calendar, your team or your player may not be able to give their best.

The point is that need is a question of feeling and mentality, and mentality will define the type of match we see.

The theory of need says that those players and/or teams that are most in need of winning, or getting some kind of result, always tend to perform better. This theory works very well, for example, in two-legged play-off matches, when for example a team needs to win by a lot of goals to come back. You know that it is difficult for them and that they will probably not make it through, but you have an intuition that, as they will attack a lot and their opponents will defend a lot, they will probably win that particular match.

Nothing is what it seems when betting live

Continuing with the theory of needs and theoretical favouritism, we must bear in mind, therefore, that the fact that it is clear to us that one team will beat another does not necessarily mean that this victory will come easily or on a clear scoreboard. On the other hand, a match can be affected by a thousand factors during the game that make it change completely, and what we had planned in our heads can go completely wrong.

An early goal from the opposing team, a sending off, a penalty or simply the timetable or the weather are factors that can alter the result.

That is why we must be very quick in our heads and be very attentive when watching a match when placing live bets, and know how to anticipate what can happen. If suddenly there is a sending off, or a key player on our basketball team is substituted through injury, we need to be able to sense how that will affect the goals total of the game, who will score the next goal, or how the score will be tightened up. It is a competition against ourselves and our ability to predict what will happen, knowing that every game is a different story.

Keep an eye on promotions

Beyond knowing the odds of an event well, knowing how both teams are coming in and then being sharp when placing live bets, if you want to make a good profit you should always be well prepared to take advantage of any kind of eventual advantage that may come your way. Sometimes there are special promotions or specific markets that receive bonuses whenever you place live bets. So don’t stop watching the odds and markets even at half-time.

Be prepared to lose

It sounds harsh to say, but it’s true. Betting live is always going to be more difficult than betting before an event, most of the time or unless you are a real expert in this type of practice. That’s why we need to set a budget, be aware that if we lose a bet it will be difficult to recoup those losses, and focus on enjoying ourselves rather than trying to counteract a losing bet.

It is very common to start winning by placing live bets and then the event starts to change from how we imagined it, and from then on, our ‘virtual match’ falls apart.

These are the moments when we need to stay calm, because, as we say, every match is one way or another. If you see a player sent off for one of the two teams, it doesn’t always mean that the team with the numerical superiority will be the next to score. Keep in mind that there are surprises, and this way, in the long run, you will have fewer upsets.