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All of these sportsbooks come highly recommend, and they all offer in-play betting (also called live betting) when events are available.

How do I go about in-play betting?

Simply fund an account at one of the bookies we've recommended and then check out the schedule of in-play betting events. Wait until one of your favourite sports comes up and watch the odds change as the match unfolds. When the odds look good to you, simply bet as normal by clicking on the odds and setting the stakes before confirming your bet.

What are the advantages of in-play betting?

In-play betting has many advantages, one of the best being that it makes sports betting even more fun! It's great to have a bet riding on an event from the start, but try watching football when you can place a new bet at any second - you will instantly feel the difference in the energy of the game.

There are more tangible benefits, however, such as better odds on favourites when they struggle early on. Punters often lose faith in the favourite if they stumble and you can sometimes get better odds in the middle of the game than you would have found just before it began.

In-play betting also tends to make punters spread their betting a little thinner than usual. This can reduce their risk of losses on any one result, and it also makes it easier to balance some bets against one another to make for win/win situations.

What are the disadvantages of in-play betting?

In-play betting can be a bit tougher to predict and you have to be quick to take advantage of the best odds before they stabilise at lower prices. It also tends to require more of your time, as you need to be paying attention to the event and odds if you want to make the best decisions.

In-play betting isn't really for professional punters other than for a laugh, either. Unless you are a rare one that can calculate the balance of a market within seconds or you have the software to do this, you'll be relying on guesses about the game to make your picks. The best punters simply look for ways to get an overall edge in the odds. The most profitable betting practices are about finding ways to get an edge for maximum expected returns rather than simply trying to pick the winners.

Okay, so which is really the best bookmaker for in-play betting?

We like Bet365, as it's fairly easy for the average punter to use for in-play betting, while providing enough extras to make the more serious bettors happy. Bet365 in-play betting even offers live video feeds of some events!

The very best punters will want to try their hand at Betfair, but we must advise against this for most players. The Betfair betting exchange is a great idea - it just requires more than a little analytical ability to take advantage of profitably.