Live/In-Play Betting

In a relatively short time, live betting walked the way from being just an experiment to becoming a big business, a feature that no self-respecting online bookmaker could afford skipping. Traditional horse racing betting still offers a good deal of wagering options including bets that are placed days or weeks before a certain event and also some wagers on the eve of the race. However, for today’s pampered punters it is increasingly rare to consider the straight Win, Place, and Show bets attractive enough, so they invariably look for more challenging options. Fortunately for them, we live in modern times where technological progress pushes many areas forward, including in-running betting.

This way of wagering allows horse racing enthusiasts to place an abundance of various bets throughout the race thus being able to react to what is currently happening and amend their initially planned wagers according to the latest information available. While you can do some preliminary research, with live betting, you have to make immediate decisions and this is by no means an easy task when it comes to a fast-paced sport like horse racing.

Peculiarities of Live Horse Betting

As regards betting platforms that have included in-play horse racing betting, they all work in a similar way. Although this is also true for other sports, when it comes to betting on horses time is really crucial. You need to process the information extremely quickly, as the odds of the competitor (s) you are tracking can increase or drop down significantly in less than a minute.

If for any reason, according to the morning line odds a certain horse is the clear favorite but you have watched its last races and doubt it will have enough power to retain its initial rush, better hurry up and place a lay bet before betting odds start to change. Another possible situation is a horse deep into the pack to be able to realize a final sprint and rearrange the leaderboard in the last second. If you can foretell this early enough and place your Win bet on that particular horse on time, you probably will enjoy a huge payout.

Keep in mind that there is always some time delay between your placing of a bet and its actual confirmation. When punters make an in-play wager they must wait for a couple of seconds until receiving a notification that the bet has been made. That is how bookmakers ensure the odds on offer validly reflect the progress of the event. In fact, in-play horse racing betting is a kind of competition between the operator’s trading strategy and the skills of online gambling enthusiasts to keep up with the rapid unfolding of races.

Among the different types of horse racing events, those involving jumps will most likely see the biggest odds fluctuations. Not only are the races longer, which sometimes leads to the tiredness of horses, but also the obstacles predispose to more mistakes, and hence a sharp change of favorite.

Cash Out and Partial Cash Out

It goes without saying that both the full and partial cash-outs give punters a greater degree of control and also the opportunity to minimize the adverse effect of some unexpected events. There may be all the prerequisites for the horses listed in your Pick 4 bet to win their races. However, the weather can sharply worsen and rain to soften the track. You may have the opportunity to cash out before the fourth race and thus save yourself from loss in case your horse of choice does not perform well on a wet track. Bettors opting to use a ‘cash out’ facility also experience a delay between pressing the cash out button and receiving confirmation that the transaction has been processed.

As regards partial cash-out, it enables punters to decide how much of their stake to cash out and how much to leave till the bet is settled. Imagine you wager $10 on two events within a Daily Double to return $40 and the first bet turns out to be successful. You have the choice to cash out $10, putting your initial stake on the bank and leaving the other $10 on the second horse to return $20 if your prediction is correct. Our example covers the quite simple Daily Double bet type but it is also beneficial for big costly accumulators. You can take out a small percentage and cover your initial stake plus a little sum but leave the greater part running to eventually reach a huge payout without worrying about exhausting your bankroll.

Keep in mind, however, that cash-out odds are usually not that lucrative. The possible return is not so tempting if the race has just started or even before the horses are out on the track. The longer you wait before initiating a cash-out, the more beneficial the odds will be. On the other hand, with each passing second, it becomes more and more probable for the bet to turn and you end up with empty hands.

Live Streaming

Another feature that goes hand in hand with in-play horse racing betting is live streaming. The implementation of live broadcasts is one of the factors that have contributed to the rise of online betting platforms in recent years. A couple of decades ago, horse races were only shown live in brick-and-mortar betting premises. Fortunately, this sought-after element of online sports betting is no longer an exception and most of the prominent gambling brands have included it in their portfolios. Moreover, punters do not need to pay any additional fees for watching the exciting horse races. As you can see from the below picture, in most cases, you will be asked to log in to your account before gaining access to the live broadcast.

Live streaming allows betting enthusiasts to feel the spirit of the event because they see what is happening on the track with their own eyes. For example, by watching the first race of the day, you will get an idea of how the rest of the day is expected to go. Imagine that the meteorological forecast before the race was for cloudy weather, but on the screen, you see that it is starting to rain.

This will change your betting strategy for the day, won’t it?

Final Words

It takes quite a long time and lots of effort until you gain the proper skills for a successful in-play betting experience. If you are patient enough, however, these have the potential to pay back quite well, so go for it.