How Does Draw No Bet Work?
Draw No Bet is a popular protected sports bet which provides the punter with insurance against losing.
How Does Draw No Bet Work?
Well, basically a Draw No Bet market provides the chance to bet on a team to win a football match knowing you will get your stake money back if it ends in a draw.
Although the odds for this type of bet will be lower than just betting on a team to win in a normal win market, you have less chance of losing your money.
If you back the home team in a normal win market and they win, you win. However, if the game ends in a draw, you lose your money. Whereas, if you back the home team in the Draw No Bet market and the game ends in a draw, you get your stake money back.
This means you have insurance against last minute equalisers, poor refereeing decisions, and all the other things that frustrate you most Saturday afternoons.
Obviously, you will still lose if the team you didn’t back wins the match.
Here’s an Example
Using the World Cup Qualifier between Scotland and England, with odds from Bet365, here is an example of how Draw No Bet works.
For the purposes of this, we have used decimal odds instead of fractional which can be found on most betting sites. If you cannot find them on the site you are using, we have a good odds converter.
In the normal full-time win market, the odds on a Scotland win are 5.25. England to win is 1.70 and the draw is priced at 3.50.
This means that if you place 100 on England, you would get back 170 if they win. However, you would get a big fat zero back if the game ends in a draw.
The Draw No Bet option offers insurance against a draw, at lower odds.
In this market, it’s 3.75 for Scotland to win and 1.25 for an England victory.
If you back England using these odds you would get back 125 if they win using a 100 stake. That’s a bit lower than the return on a normal win bet, but with this bet you get your 100 back if it’s a draw.
What if My Bookmaker Doesn’t Offer This Bet
If, for some reason, the bookmaker you’re using doesn’t offer a Draw No Bet market, you can create the bet yourself.
To do this you divide your total stake by the decimal odds for the draw. Place that amount on the game to finish level and the remainder on your favoured team.
So, here’s how to back England to win against Scotland and create your own Draw No Bet using the odds above.
You will first need to divide your stake (100) by the odds for the draw (3.50), which, when you round up after the decimal point, gives you 28.60.
Place this amount on the draw and if the game finishes level, you will get back 100.
You’re then left with 71.40 to place on an England win. If they do get the victory, your return will be 121.38.
As said above, you will still get nothing back if Scotland win.
Other Alternatives
If your bookmaker doesn’t offer this bet and you don’t have time to work out the stake to create your own, there is another alternative.
Most bookmakers offer a double chance bet, where you back one team as well as the draw. Where to bet on football.
As you’re betting on two outcomes together, which would both give you a winning bet, the odds are again lowered. Using the match above, you would get odds of 1.18 on England to win or a draw.