Several of the main bookie sites now seem to be switching their “bet x get y free” offers to require in-play betting. I’d guess this is because they can offer worse odds during the in-play betting and because they know it’s harder for us matched-bettors to be able to get a decent match.

However there are several tricks I use to be able to gain the most profit from this type of offers:

Get your bets in early  

In-play odds shift very quickly and will change dramatically as soon as a goal is scored. Because of this I find it far easier to place my bets almost as soon as the match has kicked off. This way I’m able to compare the odds before kick-off and decide what matched bet I’m going to place. Once the game starts the odds on the bookie site will drop slightly but will usually be close enough for a good match anyway.

 

Place your back bet first

Placing bets in-play will have a 5 – 10 second time delay before the bet is accepted. What you don’t want to do is place your lay bet first with a £200 liability only for one of the teams to score a goal right afterwards and the bookie odds to plummet. By placing your back bet first you’re only risking the amount of your back bet and not the potentially much larger lay bet liability.

 

Stick to Win-draw-Win and Correct Scores

Because odds move very quickly during the match it can be difficult to get your bets placed in time before the odds shift, forcing you to recalculate everything again. the Win-draw-Win and Correct Score markets usually have the highest liquidity which means the odds change slightly slower than some of the less popular markets.

 

Avoid 0 Correct Scores

Avoid any correct scores which involve 0 goals for one team. The reason being that if one of the teams suddenly scores before you can place your lay bet then the lay odds will with fly miles high or disappear entirely. If you stick to correct scores like 1-1, 1-2, 2-1 etc then it won’t make much of a different if 1 team scores before you can get your lay bet placed.

 

Accept higher qualifying losses

If you’re having to recalculate your bets after every single odds change or are always trying to find an 80% efficiency bet you’re going to be spending the full 90 minutes just trying to save 50p. Get your bets placed early and fast, even if it means a less than perfect match. Anything over £6 profit from a £10 free bet in-play is good enough value for me.

 

If you’re having problems, wait till half time

I don’t like waiting until half time because by then one of the teams may be 2-0 up and the odds are horrible to try and get a decent match. However, the odds also tend to stabilise over half time so if you’re struggling to find a decent match or the odds keep changing before you can get your bet placed then it may be best to wait until half time.