DJ Campbell and the beauty of In-Play

/ Jamie "The Pacman" Pacheco / 03 February 2011 / Leave a comment

Tange celebrated his winnings by splashing out on DJ Campbell's replica shirt

Jamie Pacheco recalls the days when the football bettor was a helpless soul who just had to hope for the best right up to the final whistle and how nowadays In-Play means power to the punter.

Back in the day placing a bet on a football match was a pretty straightforward process. You went into a bookies, you filled out your slip, you handed the cashier your hard-earned, you put the slip in a safe place and you went home to try and get the smell of cigarette smoke out of your clothes. You put the match on TV and you basically hoped for the best. Nails were bitten, cats were kicked, partners were shouted at and more often than not, betting slips were torn up and scattered round the living room in disgust.

It wasn't the losing that frustrated punters up and down the country; that's part and parcel of betting and you'll lose some just like you'll win some. The frustration was when you had placed a good bet which came very close to winning but didn't. You had been minutes, sometimes seconds, away from securing a nice, chunky winner but been denied at the death and there was nothing you could have done about it. Betting was a very black and white business back then, you either won or you didn't and predicting a 3-0 scoreline which was spoilt by a late fourth was no different to predicting that scoreline and it ending a goalless draw.

Then Betfair came along and nowadays you have plenty of options. The days of sitting back and hoping for the best are over, You can bet right up until the final whistle, In-Play we call it. You can also trade your position which means that you don't need your original selection to ultimately be a winner for you to profit, you just need it to shorten in price if you've backed it, or lengthen in price if you've laid it. You have the option to just lay off your stake so you won't lose any money whatever happens and win if your original selection proves to be on the money. Or you can decide to take a more conservative approach and ensure that whatever the outcome you win some money on it, even if it means reducing your profit on the first bet you selected. Alternatively you can completely change your mind during the course of the match and win even though the final outcome ends up being the complete opposite of what you had originally predicted.

Take Manchester United's recent 3-2 win over Blackpool. Ian Holloway's boys were available at [11.0] at the off and our friend 'Tange' (so named because he's such a huge fan of the Tangerines) decided that was a ludicrous price on his team who could beat anyone on their day. So Tange had a £10 bet and watched as Blackpool scored twice to put United under huge pressure and facing the prospect of suffering an embarrassing defeat against the newly-promoted side who had been long odds-on for the drop before a ball had been kicked in anger. But amongst the TV commentator's praise for his side and the euphoria felt by his fellow Blackpool-supporting mate 'Ginge', who was watching the game over at his place, he wasn't getting too carried away.

Manchester United after all were unbeaten in the league with more than half the season played and had come back from the dead before at Villa Park. So he decided to play it safe and he laid Blackpool at [1.2] for £100. He'd now only win £80 rather than £100 on Blackpool but if the Tangerines couldn't hold on he'd win £90 on the draw and £90 on United and his £10 liability had been wiped out. We all know what happened next. Being the die-hard fan he is, Tange would have preferred his team to win even if it meant he ended up winning more money on United but he's not a greedy guy and he took his winnings to the club shop the next day to buy Blackpool's away kit with DJ Campbell's name and number on the back.

These days Betfair offer between 300 and 400 In-Play football matches every week from the glitzy and glamorous Champions League and Serie A ties to the more obscure, such as Czech Cup matches and second division Greek games, many of which you can watch on Betfair Live Video.

So there's no excuse for not making money when the team you backed pre-match goes a goal up. And best of all, the RSPCA has reported less football-related incidents since the introduction of In-Play on Betfair.