Live Betting Sites Australia

Live betting is a dynamic form of betting that lets you bet on events after they have started. With odds changing rapidly in front of your eyes, live betting is a whole different kettle of fish to pre-event betting, and demands punters to have their fingers on the pulse and their phones at the ready. Below, we take a look at how it works, where you can find the top live betting sites, and more.

Best Live Betting Sites

As the name suggests, live betting lets you bet live on events – that is, after they’ve jumped, tipped, kicked off or whatever it may be. Clearly this is very different to betting prior to an event, when odds stay relatively stable, and if they do fluctuate it’s not by all that much.

In complete contrast, live betting odds go up and down like a yoyo, particularly if it’s later on in an event. Think of a basketball game in the last five minutes – a quick three-pointer or two from one team and a couple of missed buckets at the other end can see one team go from a comfortable position to a very precarious one, and the odds will reflect that.

Live betting is also available with some betting sites on racing, which sees odds fluctuate even quicker than sports. For things like greyhound betting, which has really short events, you won’t find live racing markets, but for thoroughbreds and harness racing you’ll often be able to bet after the jump, with the odds reflecting how well-positioned a runner is relative to where it expected to be.

Live betting is available on a range of different sports at various betting sites, but it is worth noting that your selection will generally be a little more slim than pre-event. For live betting on Australia, for example, you’ll find markets like head-to-head, points totals, line bets and so on. But while you’ll still have a good range of choice, the hundreds upon hundreds of markets you might have pre-game won’t be there, with player props generally a notable absentee.

Live betting is not quite as straightforward as pre-event betting for a couple of reasons. For starters, the simple fact that event situations are literally changing as you’re scouring the live betting markets means that the odds change really rapidly, and by the time you actually place the bet they might have changed a little from when you saw odds you fancied.

In Australia live betting processes themselves exacerbate this, and is another major reason why live betting differs from pre-event betting. Rather than simply being able to click on a market, pop it into your betslip and place your bet, Australian rules and regulations dictate that it’s illegal to bet live online.

As a result, live betting sites will have a phone number that you need to call to place your bet. The actual process can vary a bit across different sites, but they do generally do a good job of making it as easy as possible to place your bet quickly.

Generally, if you click on a live betting market, you’ll receive a prompt to call a particular number, often with a code. Once you call the number, you’ll be quickly connected to an agent who will ask for the code, or in the absence of a code will simply ask you which market you’d wish to bet on. They’ll then ask for the stake you wish to place on it (bearing in mind you need to have sufficient money already deposited in your account), before telling you the odds that they have at that time.

Make sure to listen up at this point, because as mentioned, the odds can change quite quickly so might already differ from what you have on your screen. If you’re happy to go ahead with the bet, you simply confirm the bet and the agent will place it immediately. You’ll then see it in your pending bets virtually straight away.

Bear in mind that when live betting, you’re pretty much on your own. While things like AFL tips and NRL tips can be useful pre-game, once an event has started it’s your call, though reading and listening to commentary as a game goes on can still be useful.

Unfortunately, Australian law dictates that it is illegal to place live bets without doing so on the phone. There was a time where some live betting sites had a ‘click to call’ function on betting apps which enabled users to essentially just place live bets at the click of a button, but that was deemed against the intent of the law which prevents live bets being placed online, and came to an end in around 2016.

Though not every Australian betting site offers live betting, there are plenty that do, and those that have it available are generally among the bigger bookies who tend to have a wider range of markets to begin with. New betting sites, in contrast, won’t often have this feature available. Below, we take a look at some of the best live betting sites in Australia.

The range of sports and markets offered by live betting sites in Australia obviously varies, but there are a handful that you can be pretty confident that you’ll find with a bookie that does offer in-play betting. These are some of those sports and leagues, as well as the kinds of markets you’ll find for each of them.

Live AFL

As one of the biggest sporting leagues in Australia, it’s no surprise to see AFL right at the top of the list when it comes to live betting. As mentioned earlier on, you won’t find as wide a range of markets for live betting as you would for pre-event betting, so don’t expect to see the 6-700 markets you get with some AFL betting sites prior to the first bounce.

But that certainly doesn’t mean that there isn’t plenty to choose from. You won’t be able to bet on your standard player props once the game has started, but there’ll still be all the match and team related markets you’d expect – head-to-head, line, total match points, team totals – as well as plenty of individual quarter markets. Some live betting sites will also have some player-related markets such as ‘to kick the next goal’.

Live NRL

Anywhere that AFL isn’t popular in Australia, you can be pretty confident that rugby league is – looking at you, Queensland and New South Wales – and in those parts of the country in particular there is a huge interest in betting on the NRL. Like with the AFL, many betting sites will offer in excess of 500 markets for individual games.

That number won’t remain after kick-off, but you will again have plenty to choose from when betting live on the NRL. From head-to-head and line betting through to points totals, the range of live markets for NRL is as extensive as for just about any league, with their equivalent of ‘to kick the next goal’ being ‘next tryscorer’, which is also available with some live betting sites.

Live Soccer

Soccer might have a reputation for being not as popular in Australia as it is elsewhere, and while it is true that it’s a long way down the list for many lovers of other ‘footballs’, it remains the sport with the most participation in the country – so it’s safe to say it’s not exactly forgotten about! With an enormous number of different leagues around the world there is an absolute plethora of soccer betting markets available with every betting site, and this extends to live betting sites too.

Unsurprisingly, the range of markets for soccer does depend a lot on what league we’re talking about. Looking for live betting markets for the English Premier League? No issues – you’ll find plenty. But if you’re wanting to bet live on something a little less popular, it might only be available with certain live betting sites, and when it is your choice of markets will generally be limited to just a handful.

Live NBA

The NBA has grown massively in popularity in Australia in recent times, and this has clearly extended to betting given the amount of airtime the league gets in betting advertisements. There are so, so many markets available, with hundreds out there per game and often up to 10 or 12 games per day for more than half the year, but once games tip off there is still plenty of interest in these games.

Live betting on the NBA is particularly interesting given how quickly these games change. The high-scoring, three-point-centric nature of the modern league means that things can change very fast in the NBA, and the odds chop and change like in few other sports as a result.

The types of bets that you will find on live betting platforms closely resemble typical betting markets – they’re just a little thinner. You won’t find as many betting options once a game has kicked off, with many pre-game markets removed, but the most popular types as well as a couple of live betting specific markets will come up. These are some examples of what you can expect to find.

Head-to-head

As it is prior to an event, head-to-head betting markets will be front and centre on live betting platforms. This will be available for virtually every live betting sports event that you come across.

Line betting

Line betting is another popular bet type for live events. This is where you’ll likely notice the difference in odds for live betting; while both teams pre-game might be paying $1.90 at the line before it starts, for live betting a couple of cents will likely have been sliced off.

Points totals

Points totals, like line bets, are relatively easy to adjust as the game goes on and as a result you’ll virtually always find these available for sporting events on live betting sites. Again, you’ll see that the odds for over and under have dropped a little relative to pre-event.

Next goalscorer/tryscorer/wicket/set

While most player props get the chop once a game is underway, you’ll often find ‘Next’ markets on live betting platforms. Clearly the specifics of this depend on what sport it is; for live betting on AFL you might find next goalscorer, NRL you’ll have next tryscorer, cricket you will often have next wicket, while for tennis betting you might have next set winner.

Win/place

For racing, your selection is a little more simple. Clearly it would be a little complicated to place exotic bets on runners mid-race, so your options will be limited to on the nose win bets, and sometimes place bets.

As we round out this review of live bookies on Australianbettingsites, we take a look at some of the most frequently asked questions punters have about live betting.