In-play betting is the product that turned sports into a slot machine

Short-term Markets are Incredibly Volatile

Punters can use stats, historical data, and trends to help determine the winner of a game or how many goals or points there will be in it. Betting before a game or even during it, where the result will be determined by the final score, is arguably the purest form of betting with the lowest rate of volatility. 

Where things become much more random is in minute markets. Otherwise known as flash markets or interval markets, depending on the betting site you’re using, these are bets on things to happen in the next minute, five minutes, or 15 minutes. 

Short-term Markets are Incredibly Volatile

Taking a football match as an example. There are 75 minutes gone in a cup final. The favourite is leading 1-0. They could go on to assert their dominance or hit the other team on the counterattack and get a second, possibly even a third goal. Betting on them to score again in the game might have fairly skinny odds. In these short-term markets, there’ll be a much bigger price on them to score in the next five minutes. 

You back it, they score six minutes later. You were right in how you thought the game was going to pan out, but your bet lost. Much like on slots, where a player might opt for a game with a poor hit frequency purely because of the huge progressive jackpot on offer, bettors can be drawn in by bigger odds. It’s hard enough to predict what will happen in a sports event, let alone when. Flash markets can be hugely rewarding if you get things right, thanks to the inflated odds. But there’s a much bigger added element of randomness or unpredictability.

In-play Events Lead to Reactionary Bets

Similar to the scenario above, betting pre-game and in-play carries different emotional weight. A pre-game wager offers more of a chance to study form and decide if the prices represent value, which means that over a long period and multiple bets, things might even out (although single-match bets can still be unpredictable). But it’s different when you bet in-play. 

A rugby team that’s just had a player go to the sin bin for 10 minutes will generally drift. If that’s the team you fancy or have backed, you’re more likely to bet against them now, leaving you in a position where you’ve done a 180 based on what you had intended to bet on. 

The same goes for tennis players who lose their serve, American football teams that commit a turnover, an F1 driver during a pit stop, etc. Like a slot game where you land two scatters instead of the three you need for a bonus round, the next bet is often reactionary. 

In-play Events Lead to Reactionary Bets

Over the course of a full sporting event or a session playing slots, these things will balance out in the long run. Reacting to every minor event and betting accordingly can lead to wild misjudgments. 

Responsible Gambling is Key

Whether you choose to bet in-play on sports or slots at an online casino, responsible gambling is hugely important. With in-play betting, much like slots, it can be easy to lose track of yourself. There’s always another market, another game somewhere in the world that's about to go in-play, there’s always a new slot to try in the lobby. 

In-play betting offers bettors the chance to chase losses in a way pre-game betting doesn’t. If you bet on the winner of a game and lose, the game is over. Losses can’t be chased. With five-minute markets, there’ll be another shortly. Always have a budget in mind and bet within your means.