The ultimate guide to the best in-play betting sites in the UK in 2025

In-play betting has revolutionised how bettors engage with sports, allowing them to place wagers as the action unfolds. No longer limited to pre-match bets, UK punters can now take advantage of real-time odds and dynamic markets.

If you want to explore the world of in-play betting, you’ve come to the right place. In this guide, we’ll break down how live betting works, highlight its advantages, and pinpoint some of the best in-play betting sites available in the UK. Read on to find out more.

In-play betting: The best bookies to bet live

Many online betting operators offer in-play options, but not all in-play betting sites are created equally. See below for a list of what we consider to be some of the best in-play betting sites, looking at everything from the Bet365 promo code to the Kwiff welcome offer.

In play betting site	Welcome offer	Sign up
Bet365	Bet £10, get £30	CLAIM OFFER
Betano	Bet £10, get £30	CLAIM OFFER
Betfred	Bet £10, get £50	CLAIM OFFER
Betway	Deposit £10, get £10	CLAIM OFFER
William Hill	Bet £10, get £60	CLAIM OFFER
NRG Bet	Bet £20, get £10	CLAIM OFFER
Ladbrokes	Bet £5, get £20	CLAIM OFFER
Coral	Bet £5, get £20	CLAIM OFFER
Kwiff	Bet £10, get £30	CLAIM OFFER
Matchbook	Bet £50, get £50	CLAIM OFFER

Bet365

Considered by many to be the king of the online betting world, bet365, perhaps unsurprisingly, is absolutely one of the best in-play betting sites. It may even be the best.

The website features a slick and unique design that provides smooth navigation for desktop and mobile users. The in-play section, which is well stocked with a wide variety of sports and betting markets, is easy to locate and use.

Bet365 offers a high level of live-streaming for in-play fixtures. It’s great that Bet365 features a little streaming icon on the main list of in-play games, showing which can be viewed and which cannot. The in-play stats offered for each individual event are impressive, too.

Betano UK

New to the UK market, Betano launched for UK players in May 2024 and quickly made an impact. With a strong Betano sign up offer and sponsorship of two major UEFA competitions, the brand is actively positioning itself as a leading name in sports betting.

From an in-play perspective, the offering at Betano is quite pleasing, particularly from a football standpoint. The market range for in-play football bettors is excellent, while the odds are often right at the top of the market too.

For sports besides football, once we move away from the most popular, such as tennis, the level of choice does dwindle a bit, but that’s not uncommon. The layout of the games running at any given point is very good, allowing players to look at different markets for various games without clicking on a specific fixture. From a range of sports points of view, there’s little wrong with Betano’s in-play product. Oh, and it looks great too, so we’re definitely talking about one of the best in-play betting sites here.

Betfred

Another highly trusted UK betting brand, Betfred also offers players a rather extensive range of in-play betting options, all of which are available via desktop and mobile platforms, both of which are well-designed and highly functional.

Visit the Betfred in-play section to see the available sports listed horizontally as icons across the top of the page. What’s really good about this is the fact that there’s a little red number next to each sporting icon, indicating the number of live events taking place for that sport at any given time.

Clearly, one of the best in-play betting sites available to UK players right now, I also like that you can click on the ‘Watch Live Now’ section, which shows the betting options for events that can currently be live streamed. This is a nice touch.

Betway

If you’re a UK bettor, then it’s likely that you’ll have come across Betway in recent times. The shirt sponsor of Premier League football club West Ham, betway is a hugely recognisable brand, so it’s not surprising that this ranks as one of the best in-play betting sites.

Great for in-play football betting, Betway allows users to bet on a variety of live events via an easy-to-use and well-designed in-play section. The main page lists the number of ongoing events for each sport, and the live streaming icons show which events can be watched.

For popular sports, the market choice is also great, though the odds don’t often come out as the best in the business.

William Hill

Another of the big-name UK betting brands, William Hill is a popular choice amongst online bettors, many of whom like to bet inplay, many of whom would likely class William Hill as one of the best inplay betting sites.

William Hill offers a wider range of sports for in-play betting than many other operators, which is what makes it one of the best in-play betting sites.

There’s also decent market depth to be found by in-play bettors at William Hill, though the website isn’t the most user-friendly. It’s quite packed and not the easiest to navigate, which is a bit of a disappointment, though if you can look beyond that, then you shouldn’t be too disappointed with the betting options.

NRG Bet

Certainly not one of the big boys, NRG Bet is a lesser-known brand in the United Kingdom, but perhaps we shouldn’t ignore this operator solely because of that. The lack of a welcome offer is disappointing, but if we focus purely on the in-play offering, then NRB Bet comes out quite favourably.

The website is well designed overall, featuring an eye-catching, unique colour scheme. The in-play betting options are very solid, with more than acceptable market depth.

Ladbrokes

Founded well over 100 years ago, Ladbrokes is one of Britain’s oldest betting companies, but is it one of the best? Well, of course, that’s a matter of opinion, but it’s definitely one of the best in-play betting sites for recreational bettors, make no mistake about that.

There’s lots for in-play bettors to choose from at Ladbrokes, and they’ll make their choices on a nicely designed, highly functional, and easy-to-use betting site, which makes the in-play betting experience nice and smooth.

There are lots of sports available, all of which are clearly laid out on the main inplay page. Each sport features a handy number next to it indicating the number of events that are currently live within that sport. There’s also really good market variety, which is never a bad thing, plus there’s a reasonable amount of live streaming.

Coral

In an online world full of in-play betting sites, there’s plenty to like about Coral. If you’re a recreational bettor looking to use a simplistic yet stylish in-play betting platform and you aren’t too worried about always taking the best odds, then you ought to be more than happy with what you’ll find at Coral.

For tennis and football, Coral’s in-play package is particularly good, as not only will you find all possible matches to bet on, but the market depth offered is very pleasing too. Even for some of the slightly more niche betting sports, such as snooker, there are several markets to choose from, which is not always the case when it comes to in-play sports betting.

Kwiff

The Kwiff website is clear, easy on the eye, and user-friendly, resulting in an in-play section that is simple to locate and use.

Sadly, Kwiff doesn’t offer in-play bettors as many sports as some other sites featured in this article, but there’s still a decent amount. Unlike many in-play betting sites, they do not offer in-running betting for horses, which is a bit of a downside.

For most sports, though, there’s a nice selection of markets available. We also found that the odds were competitive with other sportsbooks for the most part, though you couldn’t exactly say that they offered the highest price in the industry.

Matchbook

The only exchange betting site on this list, Matchbook definitely rates as one of the best in-play betting sites, that’s for sure.

The betting options at Matchbook for inplay bettors aren’t quite as plentiful at say a top-end site such as bet365, but thanks to the peer-to-peer nature of exchange betting, the odds are certainly very competitive, which is a big selling point and something that is not easy to overlook.

William Hill in-play football betting

One of the best in-play betting sites, despite not having the most straightforward or easy-to-use platform, William Hill offers loads for in-play football bettors; there’s no denying that.

For starters, you can bet on virtually any professional football competition imaginable, with William Hill often being the first to offer more niche leagues. If I think back to 2018-2019, I was interested in USL Championship betting. I can remember William Hill being one of the only UK betting operators to offer this league, especially in-play.

In addition to great league/competition depth, William Hill offers many in-play markets to football bettors, especially for big games. For example, when it comes to Premier League or Champions League games, there are typically more than 100 markets available to in-play users.

Betway in-play betting

Betway also offers a respectable in-play football betting package, while the guys at Betway offer loads for other sports.

As mentioned above, desktop and mobile users should enjoy in-play betting at Betway as the platform is very user-friendly, making for a trouble-free in-play experience. There are some great live-streaming options, and while the market depth is certainly competitive, there can be no doubt whatsoever.

The positive layout extends far beyond the main in-play page, too. For example, open the list of markets and odds for an ongoing football match, and you’ll see some well-positioned stats and other useful information about the match, all of which is easy to view and digest.

Coral inplay betting

As mentioned above, Coral is rated as one of the best in-play betting sites for several reasons. For starters, the welcome offer is suitable for small-stakes players, requiring just a £5 deposit, which is great for recreational players not looking to stake much.

Secondly, the platform, both for desktop and mobile users, is super easy to use. The in-play section is well-positioned and easy to find, and moving around it is far from difficult. I also like the stats layout for each sporting fixture, and there are plenty of live streaming options.

Another thing worth mentioning is the market depth for lesser sports. Not only are there lots of markets for users to take advantage of for sports such as tennis and football, but there are plenty for lots of the more niche sports too.

What is in-play betting?

If you’re reading this article and have gotten this far, then it’s likely that you know a little bit about in-play sports betting, but for those who aren’t too sure or need a little more information, let’s look at exactly what it involves.

OK, so what is in-play betting? Well, in a nutshell, in-play betting is the opposite of pre-match betting. Instead of betting on a sporting event before it begins, in-play betting allows bettors to place bets while an event is ongoing. For example, betting on a football match 30 minutes after it has kicked off or betting on a tennis match during the second set.

Live in-play betting

In-play betting is also known as live betting, and you can probably guess why. Live betting involves betting on a sporting event that has already begun.

Nowadays, there are many forms of live betting, or rather, there are many sports in which bettors can make live wagers.

On British shores, football and tennis are arguably the most popular in-play sports, with high-profile football matches generally winning the most betting volume.

When it comes to in-play betting, football is typically the sport with the greatest number of betting options, but there’s plenty to choose from in terms of markets and bets for high-profile tennis matches, too. Cricket is another very popular in-play betting sport.

Here’s a list of popular in-play sports:

• Football
• Tennis
• Cricket
• American Football
• Baseball
• Basketball
• Horse Racing
• Ice Hockey
• Snooker
• Golf

Now, let’s examine a few of the popular in-play sports in more depth. See below.

In-play golf betting

At a professional level, such as the PGA Tour or the DP World Tour, golf takes a substantial amount of time to conclude. Most events last for four days, which lends itself nicely to in-play betting.

The fact that golf isn’t too fast-paced or isn’t concluded quickly means that bettors have lots of opportunities to place in-play bets. For example, you may be watching an event and notice that after a shaky start on day one, a player rapidly improves, playing well on day two, thus prompting an in-play bet on that player to either win the event or finish in a certain position.

Typical in-play golf bets involve betting on the event’s winner or on players to achieve a certain finish, such as finishing inside the top 20 on the leaderboard.

Here’s a list of popular in-play golf betting markets:

• To Win
• Top 5 Finish
• Top 10 Finish
• Top 20 Finish
• First Round Leader
• To Make the Cut
• To Miss the Cut

In-play racing betting

Unlike golf, horse racing is a sport that takes far less time to conclude. Depending on the type of racing, races typically take anywhere between 1 and 5 minutes to run, meaning that it’s certainly not the most user-friendly in-play betting sport.

When it comes to in-play racing betting, otherwise known as betting in running, the odds move quickly, that’s for sure.

So why would you bet on horse racing in-running when you can study the form and bet before the race begins, as many bettors do? Well, some punters prefer to react to what happens during the race and bet accordingly, while others may be looking to get bigger odds. For example, if you fancy a horse that you know is slow to start, waiting for the in-running prices will likely give you bigger odds, increasing your potential winnings.

In-play tennis betting

Tennis matches typically last a couple of hours and can even last up to five hours. During this time, plenty happens, and matches often swing one way or another.

Like golf, though not on quite the same timescale, tennis is popular amongst in-play bettors.

Instead of pre-match, in-play tennis betting allows you to observe the match and react to what is happening live.

For example, watching the match unfold may lead you to notice things like a player picking up an injury niggle, whether a player is simply having an off-day, as well as other things.

In-play tennis bettors typically bet on match outcomes, the number of sets, which player will win the next game, or even the next point.

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