Microbetting Explained: Which Online Sportsbooks Have It?

Microbetting, sometimes called flash betting, is a subtype of in-play betting. Licensed online sportsbooks have offered in-game wagers since day one after the fall of PASPA, but microbetting is a more recent development in the legal US market.

How Microbetting Works

Microbetting is like in-play betting but revolves around short-term, in-game props. Whereas standard in-play wagering involves waiting until the game has started to bet on the final score or winning team, micro-betting is all about ultra-short-term props.

An example of a regular in-game wager would be waiting until the end of the first quarter to bet on the winning team at updated odds.

In contrast, an example of a microbetting market would be betting on whether the next play in an NFL game will be a pass, rush, or punt. Similarly, a microbetting market could involve predicting the outcome of the next play: will it result in yards gained, yards lost, an incompletion, touchdown, or turnover?

Expert tip: microbetting is like in-play wagering combined with prop bets.

Another way to think of it is that microbetting markets always revolve around the most fundamental question, “what will happen next?”

Microbetting examples:

Online Sportsbooks With Microbetting

All mainstream, brand-name sportsbooks offer microbetting online today.

Business-to-business company Simplebet has recently emerged as the go-to technology provider in the legal US online betting business, so users will find that most major sportsbooks offer similar microbetting markets.

However, there are still subtle differences in the microbetting offerings between sportsbooks and not-so-subtle differences in welcome offers, betting bonuses, and overall quality.

Below are overviews of the microbetting options at each of the most prominent US online sportsbooks.

DraftKings Microbetting

DraftKings Sportsbook launched microbetting markets after partnering with Simplebet in 2021. Players can find DraftKings’ microbetting markets by opening any game’s betting menu and visiting the “Flash Props” tab.

Now, DraftKings offers live betting play-by-play, pitch-by-pitch, and more during NFL, MLB, NBA, and college football games. DraftKings has the most granular microbetting markets in the industry today, even offering wagers on the speed of the next pitch during MLB games.

In summary, DraftKings offers the most microbetting markets of any online sportsbook by far. Add to that DraftKings’ longstanding reputation and widespread availability, and you have an easy pick for BettingUSA’s top ranking on this list.

• Read more: DraftKings Sportsbook Review

FanDuel Microbetting

FanDuel was one of the first operators to partner with Simplebet, initially to power FanDuel’s NBA InPlay contests. The free-to-play contests are available for every NBA game each season and are open to fans in all 50 states. In each contest, players receive 2,000 tokens to use on mock microbetting markets and win prizes at the end of each quarter based on their results.

However, FanDuel hasn’t significantly expanded its real money microbetting markets since. Players can find point-by-point wagers on some tennis matches, but FanDuel comes up short compared to the competition in this regard.

For example, during a recent college basketball game, FanDuel lacked microbetting markets, while DraftKings offered continuous wagers on the next field goal type.

• Read more: FanDuel Sportsbook Review

Caesars Sportsbook Microbetting

Caesars Sportsbook launched microbetting markets for NFL, NBA, NHL, college basketball, and college football games at the end of 2022 after partnering with Simplebet.

The Caesars Sportsbook app still doesn’t match DraftKings in volume of microbetting wagers, but it is quickly catching up and will soon become a contender for the number one spot.

• Read more: Caesars Sportsbook Review

Bet365 Microbetting

Bet365 uses Simplebet technology to offer microbetting markets on the NFL, MLB, NBA, college basketball, and college football. The Bet365-Simplebet deal dates to September 2022 and will continue to expand Bet365’s microbetting markets with additional in-game options and micro-parlays.

Bet365 is an underrated microbetting operator because its straightforward interface belies a powerful and fast-moving platform. Bettors who prioritize low latency and responsive software should consider Bet365, especially as it grows its US presence.

• Read more: Bet365 Review

Betr Microbetting

Betr is the only sportsbook dedicated exclusively to microbetting, and it places an extreme focus on simplicity. As a result, not all bettors will find Betr right for them. However, it’s an excellent app for fans who want an easy way to bet on sports without the hassle of understanding betting lines or navigating complicated interfaces.

For instance, Betr does not use traditional sports betting odds or a standard layout. Instead, Betr asks in-game questions like the outcome of the next play and displays the payout odds as multiples (e.g., pick this answer for a 3x payout).

• Read more: Betr Review

What Is The Appeal Of Microbetting?

Microbetting is for bettors who need action. It’s a much more hands-on approach to sports betting and provides quicker resolutions.

Consider an NFL fan betting drive-by-drive on a game in a sport that averages 154 plays per game. That’s a lot of betting opportunities for just one type of microbetting wager involving play outcomes. Add to that other opportunities to place short-term bets on propositions like whether a particularly long field goal attempt will succeed.

And as Simplebet COO Mark Nerenberg once explained in an interview, the big US sports are especially well-suited for microbetting. The frequent pauses in football, baseball, and basketball create conditions ripe for microbetting markets.

In baseball, fans can bet on the next at-bat. In basketball, they can bet on the next free throw. And even in sports with longer stretches between pauses, like hockey and soccer, fans can bet on the next player to score or the outcome of an upcoming penalty shot or kick.

Microbetting yields immediate gratification for bettors and increased wagering handle for sportsbooks. Almost every online sportsbook has expanded its microbetting menu recently, and one (Betr) has already made microbetting its primary focus and main selling point.

Microbetting Disadvantages Worth Noting

Microbetting is undeniably fun, but it has several disadvantages worth noting.

Microbetting Responsible Gambling Issues

Microbetting is a high-risk form of wagering from a responsible gambling standpoint. Anyone who struggles with chasing losses or spending more than intended should avoid sports betting altogether, but microbetting is especially risky in that regard.

Case in point: A study that surveyed more than 1,800 Australian bettors in 2018 found that 78% of respondents who bet on micro events “met criteria for problem gambling.”  

Even bettors with healthy gambling habits need to pay extra attention to their expenditures and time spent wagering when they get into microbetting. The speed and instant gratification aspects make microbetting a form of betting fans need to treat with respect.

Winning Micro Bets Isn’t Easy

Bettors should also note micro bets are no easier to beat than standard sports wagers. It’s true the oddsmakers have less time to set efficient lines, but that also gives bettors less time to identify positive expectation wagers.

In addition, the vigorish on micro event wagers can be much higher than usual. That’s because sportsbooks don’t have as much time to set the odds and want to protect themselves from sharp bettors.

Latency Can Be a Problem

Latency, or the lag between what happens on the field and what viewers see on the screen at home, puts bettors with slower streams at a disadvantage and is annoying if the sportsbook has already put the odds up on the next play while viewers are still watching the last play onscreen.

Additionally, there’s usually a delay between when the bettor submits a wager and the sportsbook accepts the bet. Latency is also a challenge in regular in-play betting, but it’s even more of an issue in microbetting, where bettors have even less time between events to submit their wagers.

That said, sports betting technology providers are rapidly improving on the latency aspect.

Microbetting FAQ