How does live betting in Australia work?
Live betting is the most thrilling way to bet on your favorite sports, allowing you to make informed betting decisions as the action unfolds. In-play betting means that you have the opportunity to place bets after a game has started, with the odds changing in real time. However, something that I need to make really clear here is that online live betting in Australia is not legal at all under the Interactive Gambling Act. That means that if you’re looking to find a betting platform that allows you to place bets online during an event, you won’t find it, but that doesn’t mean that you can’t get involved in the excitement. There are a few sportsbooks that will allow bettors to place in-play wagers over the phone, so you’re not entirely limited to pre-match betting.
Our top three sites for placing in-play bets in Australia
So now that we’ve cleared up any confusion around whether live betting in Australia is allowed, let’s talk about other types of bets that you can place. There are a few sportsbooks that allow you to place in-play bets over the phone. This of course, isn’t the same as live betting online, but it does allow you to react to player performance and other factors that can influence match outcomes. I've compiled a list of the top three sportsbooks that offer this, so let’s take a look at how they compare.
PlayUp: Place in-play bets on the go
At PlayUp you have the opportunity to place bets over the phone on live events across racing and sports, including soccer, esports, cricket and basketball. The list of available events to place in-play bets on is by no means extensive, but it will suit the majority of casual bettors. To find live events, simply head to the PlayUp homepage, click the ‘live betting’ tab at the top, and the available sporting events will load up. You can either filter the events out using the sport categories or scroll down until you find the game or match that you’re looking for. You’ll also see the available betting markets too, and fans of
football betting
can enjoy placing in-play wagers on the World Cup Qualifying on up to 20 markets. Once you’ve found the market and odds you’d like to bet on, go ahead and call the listed number. Make sure that you’ve got your username to hand as you’ll need to quote it to confirm your bet.
One downside of PlayUp is that they don’t offer live streaming; however, they do offer a very user-friendly mobile app, which is ideal if you’re looking to place in-play bets while out watching the action unfold with fellow sports fans. The app interface is very simple, with the majority of things you need right there on the homepage, making it very beginner-friendly. It’s available for most smartphones and tablets; however, Android users should keep in mind that the app isn’t available to download from the Google Play Store. Instead, you’ll need to download it directly from the PlayUp site. Or if you’d rather not do that, you can just load PlayUp into your mobile browser and enjoy all the best features.
Betr: Live stream horse racing events
As soon as you land on the Betr homepage, it becomes very clear that
horse racing betting
is their biggest focus, and honestly, we’re not mad about it. To the left, you’ll find racing-specific tabs like ‘Today’s Racing’ and ‘Next Up Racing’ to quickly find upcoming events. If you’re unsure whether the races you’re looking for are covered, just click the ‘All Racing’ drop-down. Or I can just save you some time and tell you that yes, it’s covered since I’ve never found a race yet that Betr didn’t offer. If you’re the type of bettor who likes to stack up multiple wagers, then you may find the same race multi particularly appealing. With this, you can combine two or more runners from any Australian thoroughbred and greyhound race to win or finish top 2, top 3, or top 4.
Placing in-play bets over the phone is available at Betr - remember, this is different to live betting in Australia - across a select range of sports and markets, although admittedly, not as many as you’ll find at the likes of bet365. There’s a ‘Live Betting’ tab that can be found on the right hand side of the screen and the whole process is pretty user-friendly. To place an in-play wager simply call up the number listed on the site and state your desired bet, along with your account details. You can access live streaming via Racing.com using your Betr account login, but as the name suggests, this is only available for horse racing, not other sports.
bet365: Enjoy live streaming across racing and sports
Fans of in-play betting are definitely going to be keen to check out bet365 as it has a huge number of sports available, including cricket, international football (soccer) leagues, tennis, and horse racing. Fans of
NBA betting
will also be pleased to hear that bet365 offers live betting for Australian users on basketball games. Many of these sports markets also come with live video feeds and commentary. Just remember that you can’t live bet online in Australia, so you’ll need to place bets over the phone if you’d like the place wagers as the action unfolds. To get access to these live feeds, you’ll just need to ensure that your account balance isn’t at zero and you have an active wager already placed - these are pretty achievable requirements, which makes bet365 a favourite among in-play betting fans.
Live streaming is available on both the website and mobile app, so if you’re unable to watch the game but want to keep an eye on the action, this feature is fantastic. You can also turn on your notifications to receive live match alerts to stay up to date with how the match is unfolding and use real time updates to follow along. All of these fantastic betting features are available on their mobile app too, which can be downloaded to both iOS and Android devices. So you never have to worry about missing out on the action again! Simply live stream your favorite events and keep an eye out for in-play betting opportunities.
How to place an in-play bet
Since Australia has strict regulations around live betting, the process for placing in-play bets over the phone works a bit differently. It’s a little bit more complicated than it is in other places, but don’t worry, as I’m about to walk you through the entire process. Online sportsbooks in Australia offer in-play betting through what’s called the click-to-call method. This means that once you’ve decided what event you’re going to place a bet on, whether that be cricket or perhaps you prefer
greyhound racing betting, you’ll need to call the phone number that’s listed on the site to place your wager. As I said, it is a little bit complicated so to help you out, I’ve pulled together this handy step-by-step guide for placing in-play bets over the phone:
Step 1: Sign up to your chosen sportsbook
First things first, you’ll need to choose a betting site from the list above and go ahead and create your account. To do this, simply head to your chosen sportsbook using our links, complete the registration form, verify your account and you’re good to go.
Step 2: Make a deposit
You can’t place any type of bet unless you’ve got some funds in your account, so you’ll need to make your initial deposit. When it comes to payment methods, the options will vary depending on the site that you choose. Betr offers a decent range of options, including traditional debit cards as well as BPAY, PayPal, Apple Pay and Google Pay. With PlayUp you’ll be able to make a deposit using a variety of local payment options, including PayID, POLi, BPAY, EFT, as well as Apple Pay and debit cards. bet365 is slightly more limited in options, offering debit cards, PayPal, PayID and Apple Pay as a way of adding funds to your account. Across all of these sites, the minimum you can deposit is $10, and the maximum will depend on the method you choose.
| Betting site |
Available payment methods |
| PlayUp |
BPAY, POLi, Visa, Mastercard, bank transfer |
| Betr |
Visa, Mastercard, Bank EFT, BPAY, PayID, Apple Pay, Google Pay |
| bet365 |
Visa, Mastercard, Apple Pay, PayPal, PayID |
Step 3: Head to the in-play betting section
The next step is to head to the live betting section of your chosen sportsbook. This is usually easy to find via a ‘live betting’ or ‘live sports’ tab. Once here, simply scroll down the list of available odds until you find the market you’d like to bet on. Just keep in mind that since these are live odds, they will change in real time depending on how the game, match, or sporting event is unfolding.
Step 4: Get the code for your in-play phone bet
Once you’ve found the odds that you’d like to wager on, you will be given a code number that corresponds to these odds. This is super important as you’ll need to quote this code on the phone when you place your bet. This allows the betting site to know exactly what you’d like to back.
Step 5: Call and place your bet
Now all that’s left to do is call up and place your bet. Find the relevant phone number for the site and give them a call - some sites have live customer support agents while others will use an automated system. Call up, quote your betting code and place your wager. Make sure that you have your account username to hand too, as you will be asked for this.
And there you have it! All that’s left to do now is sit back and enjoy the game or event to see how your bet turns out.
Final thoughts on live betting in Australia
Just remember that online live betting in Australia is not allowed, however, there are a few sites that offer bettors the opportunity to place in-play wagers over the phone instead. To place an in-play bet over the phone, simply sign up to your chosen sportsbook, find the odds that you’d like to bet on, call the designated phone number, and place your bet. Keep in mind that live betting odds tend to change in real time according to how a match or game is unfolding, so it can take a bit of getting used to. If you’re looking for the best sportsbooks to place telephone in-play wagers, then PlayUp, Betr, and bet365 are all fantastic options with much to offer, including competitive odds, a range of sports and racing markets, and dedicated mobile apps.
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Live betting in Australia - FAQs
To make sure you get accurate and helpful information, this guide has been edited by
Nick Slade
as part of our fact-checking process.
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