Using Live Betting to Hedge Bets

Using live betting to hedge bets can save your sportsbook balance. But be aware, it needs to be done correctly.

Key Points

– Hedging is a strategy that has been around for some time and is even more useful now that bettors can bet on games in play.

– Live betting offers the perfect opportunity for bettors to hedge against a poor pre-game bet.

Using Live Betting to Hedge Bets

You placed a great bet. You spent time diving into the numbers and feel like this one is going to pay off big.

Then again…

Bettors can protect themselves against a loss or at least reduce the risk of a total loss by hedging their bet.

Hedging is not new, but the ability to hedge bets using live betting is something that is relatively new. Over the past several years, live betting has become the hottest trend in sports betting.

And, it has become the perfect way to hedge bets.

What Is Hedging?

To be clear, hedging is a strategy used by a sports bettor where he places a wager on the other side of a bet he already made. An example can help the explanation.

A bettor places a futures bet on the Kansas City Chiefs to win the Super Bowl at +6000. A $100 bet would pay out $6000 with your bookie.

When the Chiefs play the 49ers for the Super Bowl, the bettor decides to hedge the bet by placing $1000 on the Niners at +200.

The optimal result is that Kansas City wins. The bettor wins $6000 minus the $1000 bet for a profit of $5000.

Editor’s Choice: Betting 2022 NFL Win Totals

Should the 49ers win, the bettor wins $2000. Taking out the original bet of $100, the profit here is $1900. Not too shabby.

Without the hedge, if the Chiefs lose the bettor wins nothing and loses his $100.

Before we move on, last time we answered a question we get asked often. What is the truth about parlays?

Why Use Live Betting

Betting while a game is in play is the perfect opportunity to hedge against a pre-game bet gone bad. First, it’s important to use a sportsbook that has expanded live in-game betting options.

Imagine backing the Over in an NBA game. The pace is slower than usual and you find an equal or better opportunity on the Under in the third quarter. One team begins to pull away and the starters go to the bench.

The bet on the Over loses, but it’s protected with the live bet made during the game. At the very least, you don’t lose as much as you could have.

Another example of using live betting to hedge a bet is when you make a bet on a favorite to cover the point spread.

Live Betting to Hedge Bets

Your favorite is covering easily, but you take a look at the live odds and find the underdog getting way more points than at the beginning of the game. Your pregame bet saw the favorite at -4.5, but now the in-game line has the underdog at +10.

You could hedge against the possibility of a backdoor cover. The favorite eases up late in the game. Maybe they pull many of their starters and the underdog comes back and loses by four.

The initial pre-game wager loses, but your live bet is a winner. Live betting lines are continuously updated throughout the course of a game making numerous hedging opportunities available.

Live betting will continue to be the hottest trend in sports betting. One of the reasons will be the ability to hedge against earlier bets.

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