Live wagering aka in-game wagering is fun because it presents money-making opportunities with lines that weren’t possible pre-kickoff. Live wagering is becoming more and more popular as more sportsbooks keep offering them to the public. In situations where your team jumps out to an early lead against-the-spread, the opportunity arises to then bet the opponent to cover an inflated number. You may have a -3 favorite who jumps out to a two touchdown lead. In that case most books will adjust the live-line to something along the lines of the opponent being a +17 underdog.
When this happens you want to realize that you have a pretty good opportunity to win two bets while also downsizing your initial risk at the same time. That’s a beautiful situation to be in, let me explain.
Take Week 17 in the NFL last season for example – Chargers @ Broncos. Chargers were +10 and that’s who me & my clients were on. The Chargers took the lead early in the 4th and went up 20-17. At this time the live-line for Denver became a PK. Right now there was a choice – sit down and leave the comfortable Chargers +10 play alone or try to make more money. I tried to make more money.
The live line just created a window for me to cover two bets at the same time: Chargers as 10 point dogs and the Broncos as a PK. If the Broncos won by any amount less than 10 I just won my Chargers bet + the Denver PK bet. If the Chargers covered and the Broncos lost then I’d win the Chargers bet but lose the Denver bet. In no case could I lose both bets. Some people who play these “middles” would bet the Broncos for the same amount as their original bet but I like taking it for anywhere from 20-50% of the original bet. In this case I took the Broncos PK for 40%.
Peyton Manning had just come back for the first time since his injury and, even though he was playing awful prior to the injury, something about this situation just said that Denver would pull the win off. They did and won 27-20. Both bets won – Chargers +10 and the 40% play on Denver.
It helps to have a feel for the game before you place a live-play. Watching the game live…sober…not on Gamecast…gave me the feel I needed to justify making the play on the Broncos. I tweeted another in-game play in the playoffs when we were on Carolina -1.5 and they were up 31-0 over the Seahawks, I said to take Seattle at +25. Seattle came back and lost 31-24 and both plays won. Knowing that Seattle wouldn’t quit and the momentum of Peyton’s return (plus having a feel for the game before kickoff) really justified those live plays.
If you have a good feel for a game then solid live-plays will come to you, otherwise I recommend passing up the opportunity and saving your money for the next play.
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Disclaimer: This site does not endorse wagering in places unless otherwise legal. Spread Investor is not responsible for any financial transactions that take place after reading any content on this website.
