The Best “Live Betting” Sites in Nigeria
There are over 20 legal bookmakers in our country. We want to make it easier for bettors to find the best live betting sites in Nigeria. We’ll offer advice on how to pick a bookmaker that has a good online betting product, highlighting the most important main details. We’ll elaborate the live betting strategy and specifics of what goes into it.
List of Best Nigerian Live Betting Bookmakers: April 2024
The largest choice of bets. The most detailed line for all events. Fast reception and calculation of rates. A large number of video broadcasts. There are various useful additional options.
The average choice of rates. A detailed line is rare. A long reception and calculation of rates is possible. There may be no video broadcasts.
Very limited choice of bets. Likely to have slow updates and payment of bets. No live streaming available.
What is Live Betting?
It is placing a bet whilst the game is still in progress, (so during the game). The odds are renewed live, they change almost constantly depending on the present situation, if nothing else the time to go before the match ends will always be changing, but there are other variables too. This way of sports betting is often considered more exciting and interesting for a bettor than a prematch bet. In 2022 the majority of bets placed in Nigeria were done so “live”.
Bookmakers accept live betting on all the major sports like football, basketball, tennis, table tennis, ice hockey, volleyball, E-sports, boxing, martial arts, horse racing. There’s a wide range of sports to choose from. For example, you can check the Bet9ja live service. Besides, they offer an interesting Bet9ja registration bonus.
There’s a typical example of an “In play” section pictured on the screenshot above. The competitions filter is in the upper part of the page with a list of betting options shown in real-time below. The sports are ranked according to their popularity amongst bettos usually. This is why live football games are placed above all others.
You can find general information about an event in the “In play” section, i.e. names of teams, current score, odds on the main markets. You can see all the markets available on the page of an event you choose. Bookmakers normally divide them into separate categories for easier navigation. For example, they can be divided into results, totals, handicaps, statistics and so on. Video streaming is available for some games, however it’s quite a rare thing here in Nigeria.
Advantages of Live Betting
Live bes have the following advantages:
- You’ve got more information. You can only rely on statistics and analytics when you place a prematch bet. When you make a bet live you can see how the game is progressing in reality so you have a better chance to evaluate the outcome.
- New betting markets. These are the markets usually omitted by bookmakers pre-match. They’re connected exactly to events that are about to happen during the game. For example: Team to win in the next 15 minutes: home/draw/away. Or it can be What happens next: free kick or throw in.
- You can cover a prematch bet. Live betting provides you a chance to cover and partially reimburse the prematch bets that are potentially about to lose due to the game scenario. For example, you bet on a home team before the start of a game. After the kick-off an away team started to play way better increasing their chances to win. In this case you can make a bet live opposite to the one placed in pre-match. So you will have a chance to cover the losses (completely or at least partially). What you are doing is closing out a bet before the event itself is actually over. This is sometimes called Cashing out, and may be useful sometimes to decrease risk.
The Best Live Betting Site In Nigeria
Almost all the Nigerian bookmakers offer in play betting. Our task was to define the best bookmakers for live betting. You can find them in the table below.
Please note, that not live bets often don’t count towards a promotion. Make sure to read Betking bonus terms and conditions as well as T&Cs of other bookmakers before you start betting.
Top 3 Live Betting Sites In Nigeria
# | Bookmaker | Bonus | Min Bet | Website |
1 | 1xBet | First deposit bonus up to ₦100 000 | ₦30 | Registration |
2 | BetKing | Accumulator bonus up to 225% | ₦100 | Registration |
3 | Bet9ja | First deposit bonus up to ₦100 000 | ₦50 | Registration |
Types of Live Bets
Here you can find information on the most common types of “in play” markets. They are displayed on the websites of every bookmaker.
Traditional Bets
Traditional Bets are the live markets that resemble the prematch ones. These are final results, totals, handicaps, particular score. Unlike proposition bets, traditional bets are the ones connected to the final result of an event to some extent.
Proposition (or Prop) Bets
These are the markets on the events that occur during a game but do not affect the final result directly. For example, Team to score the next goal or Total of yellow cards shown in the second half.
Parlays
These are where a bet slip includes at least two events. The odds are multiplied by each other and as is standard a bet wins if all the predictions are correct. If at least one of the bets loses a parlay loses, too. This type of bet is also commonly called an accumulator.
Live Betting Odds
Odds in real-time depend on three main factors:
- The odds that were set in prematch.
- The real-time situation in a game.
- Time left until the end of a game.
Example #1
Let’s take a Premier League football game for example. Brighton and Hove Albion visit Manchester City. Pre-match odds are the following:
- Manchester City to win — 1.37.
- Draw — 5.94.
- Brighton to win — 8.40.
The bookmaker believes that there will be many goals scored in this match as the odds are at 1.73 for the total being over 2.5.
Example #2
The bookmaker believes that there will be many goals scored in this match as the odds are at 1.73 for the total being over 2.5.
The game kicks off. Brighton scores the first goal in the 12th minute, 0:1. The away team that was considered an outsider is winning now. The bookmaker has renewed the odds.
- Manchester City to win — 1.76.
- Draw — 3.85.
- Brighton to win — 5.20.
The odds on total over 2.5 have decreased and now are at 1.34.
The following reasons have affected the odds. Brighton has scored but there’s enough time left until the end of the game for Manchester City to get back on level terms. The odds on the win of the home team have increased meanwhile the odds on the draw and on the win of the away team have decreased as possibility of such a final result are higher now. The odds on total over 2.5 have also decreased as the goal scored in the 12th minute means that the game is likely to contain many goals. Before there needed to be a goal once every 30 minutes for that bet to win, now there only needs to be a goal once every 39 minutes, which is easier to do and more likely.
Best football live betting sites
Live bets on football games can be made on almost the very same markets as pre-match, i.e. 1X2, double chance, handicaps, totals, both teams to score, particular score, halftime/fulltime. Many other options are added during the game. For example:
- Team to score next.
- Race to X goals.
- Team to score in X minute.
- Team to score in the next X minutes.
- Goal scored in the next X minutes.
There are many prop bets in live betting. Bookmakers offer a lot of markets, so you can bet, predicting whether an event occurs or not.
1xBet offers the best set of markets for football live betting among the Nigerian websites. There are between 100 to 360 possible in-play bets on the less popular leagues (Indonesian second division, Indian regional leagues) and over 800 live betting markets for the most popular leagues (English Premier League, La Liga, Bundesliga, Serie A, Ligue 1) offered by 1xBet. Besides, you can get the 1xBet new customer bonus.
Live Streaming
This is one of the general advantages that a bettor may use for live betting. Bettors can see with their own eyes what’s happening as an event progresses and take a decision to place a bet based on this information.
There are two types of streaming on the bookmakers’ websites:
Please note! Both options have a several seconds (up to one minute) delay from real-time. A bookmaker will learn that a goal was scored faster than you will see it watching a live game via bookmaker’s stream.
Live Betting Strategy
You can use some strategies for live betting that cannot be used pre-match. Here are few examples:
- Wagering on a losing favorite. The odds on the favorite to win are low in prematch. However, sometimes a weaker team can take the lead early on. The odds on the favorite to win are now higher because they need to score a minimum of twice rather than once. If the game has a long way to go though and you think they are capable of that then this is a great time to back them.
- Goal scored in the last minutes. They’re pretty common in football. A losing team tries to level the score whatever it takes, or a winning team relaxes. The odds on total over are at least at 2.0 on average after the 80th minute.
- Frontrunner to win an opponent’s game. This is a strategy for tennis live betting. You need to choose a match with an obvious frontrunner facing an obvious underdog. Then you bet on a frontrunner to win the game with the opponent’s serve. Some bookmakers even offer markets for separate serves within a game.
- Catch-up on a frontrunner to win the quarter. This is a strategy for basketball. In this case a bettor makes a stake on a stronger team to win the quarter. In case the frontrunner loses the first quarter, the bettor makes the same stake on the second one and so on. The advantage of the strategy is that the odds are likely to be higher for the quarter than for the full time.
We remind you that although all these strategies can help you to make bets more reasonably they don’t guarantee winning.
Is it possible to make money on live betting?
We believe that live betting and betting in general can’t be a way of making money for normal players in the long run. You should bet for entertainment, and expect to pay a price for that. It’s the same as going to a restaurant or to the cinema. In both cases you spend your money. You enjoy your food, a movie or, in case of betting, you enjoy the emotions, and the excitement.
People do win by making bets but only a few bettors can say they win over a long period. Of course, it’s always a joy to beat a bookmaker. But it’s harmful to make this the general motivation for why you are betting. We strongly recommend you consider live betting to be just a hobby.
Is live betting legal in Nigeria?
Yes, there are over 20 bookmakers that legally accept live bets. Their websites are officially licensed by the National Lottery Regulatory Commission (NLRC) or the Lagos State Lotteries Board (LSLB). You can see the list of the licensed bookmakers on the websites of these organizations. You can also find the information about licenses on a bookmaker’s website’s main page. It is usually placed in the footer.
1XBET, BetKing, and Bet9nja mentioned above have licenses to operate in Nigeria officially. Match.Center does not recommend illegal websites.
Live Betting in Nigeria FAQs
How does Live Betting work?
Bookmakers renew the odds real-time during a game. The adjustment depends on initial chances, current situation, and time left to the end of an event. A bettor evaluates the situation and places bets at the odds offered.
What are the benefits of live betting?
You have a chance to evaluate the situation, so watching a TV broadcast is the main advantage. You receive the fresh information to analyze. There are many types of prop live bets that are not offered in prematch. Check the Merrybet offers to find out if live bets count.
Which online bookmaker is the best for live betting?
The experts of Match.Center consider 1XBET to be the best live betting website in Nigeria. This bookmaker offers a wide range of markets and sports. A free video stream is provided for a large number of events.
Is it possible to get a welcome bonus to use live betting?
Nigerian bookmakers offer the first deposit welcome bonuses of around 100 000 naira on average. The bonus money may be used for live betting more often than not but always read the exact T&Cs yourself before doing this. You can also use In Play betting for other promotions. Check the 22bet Friday reload bonus, for example.
Is it safe to place live bets in Nigeria?
Yes. Legal bookmakers obey the law. However, you should keep the financial risks in mind. Most people will lose in the long run and this is just a fact. This is why you should only bet for fun and never gamble with more than you can afford to lose.