Most of us are familiar with the moneyline bet. Requiring you to pick the winner of a game, moneylines usually have one outcome with positive odds and another with negative odds to represent the favorite and the underdog.
Moneylines are common in sports like American football and basketball that usually don’t end in ties. After the game, payouts are straightforward – the winner gets their stake back plus their winnings, and the loser walks away with nothing.
But what about sports where ties are much more frequent? Like … soccer?
That’s where draw no bet markets come in. If you want to bet on soccer and other sports that commonly feature ties, read on to learn more about the draw no bet meaning. We’ll define a draw no bet market, provide examples, and even discuss a few other unorthodox types of betting lines.
A ‘draw no bet’ is a moneyline wager for which there is no action if the match ends in a draw Getty Images More on Draw No Bet
What Is Draw No Bet?
A ‘draw no bet’ is a moneyline wager for which there is no action if the match ends in a draw. Regardless of the team they take, bettors will get their money back if a tie happens. This safety net results in draw no bet markets giving slightly lower payouts than if you simply bet on a three-way moneyline.
There’s no sport that ends in a draw more frequently than soccer, so that’s where you’ll most frequently find draw no bet odds. Sometimes, you can find these odds for other competitions like boxing or American football that rarely end in a draw outcome, or something like basketball, which will always have a winner.
Even if a league doesn’t or rarely has ties, you can make a draw no bet wager that settles based on the score at the end of regulation.
Draw No Bet Market vs. Three-Way Moneyline
A draw no bet market allows you to bet on whether Team A or Team B will win. If the game ends in a tie, a push happens (meaning all bettors get their initial stake back).
If you participate in a three-way moneyline, you can bet on whether Team A or Team B will win OR if the game will end in a draw. The ability to bet on a tie happening makes the bet riskier, as you won’t have the safety net of a tie happening if you predict one of the teams to win. If a draw happens in a three-way moneyline, only those who bet on a draw to happen will walk away with their stake (and their winnings, of course).
Since the risk is lower as a draw will trigger a refund of your stake, a draw no bet option is ideal for somewhat risk-averse bettors.
How and When to Use Draw No Bet
A draw no bet is ideal to use when you feel strongly about a team but believe that the game will be close. For instance, you could be completely correct that Liverpool will be the better team by about a goal, but a fluke strike or goalkeeping error could lead to a draw. If that’s the case, you’ll be happy you took the worse odds and placed a draw no bet wager to protect yourself from this type of randomness.
Make a draw no bet by finding an online sportsbook that supports this bet market. You’ll especially want to do your research if your desired draw no bet is for a sport that less commonly ends in ties.
Draw No Bet Odds Market
As is the case for any other type of bet, check as many online sportsbooks as possible when you’re playing a DNB market. You never know if a competitor will offer better odds for your team than the numbers you’re already looking at.
Since this type of bet removes the potential of losing if there’s a draw, there’s a decrease in variance. The upside isn’t quite as high as moneyline betting, but the risk is lower.
However, the payout will be better than something like double chance bets, where you’ll win if either your team wins or a draw occurs. Instead of one successful outcome, one failing outcome, and one neutral outcome, double chance bets have two successful outcomes, so the risk is even lower and the payout decreases proportionally.
Which Sports Markets Can Draw No Bet Be Used In?
Soccer is the most common market to feature draw no bets, but this option can also be available for:
- Boxing
- American football
- Basketball
- Racing
- Cricket
Let’s talk about a few examples of draw no bet odds.
Soccer Draw No Bet Market
If Liverpool is playing Manchester City, you might want to back Liverpool. A Liverpool win means you’ll receive a payout, but you won’t lose any money in case of a tie between the two rivals.
Liverpool’s traditional three-way moneyline might be something like +150 while their draw no bet wager would be around +100. Your payout wouldn’t be quite as high with the draw no bet wager, but the risk is lower since your stake would be refunded if the teams tie. If Liverpool wins, you win. If Manchester City wins, you lose just like you would with a regular moneyline.
Hockey Draw No Bet Market
In hockey, it’s not quite as common to play a draw no bet wager since it’s not a true three-way market. But, it can be a betting option at certain times. Because these games often end in overtime, you can place a draw no bet wager based on the result at the end of regulation.
For instance, if you place a draw no bet wager on the New Jersey Devils against the New York Rangers, you’ll win if the Devils can win in 60 minutes and lose if the Rangers come out on top in that timeframe. If the game is tied at the end of regulation and goes into overtime, your total stake will be refunded.
American Football Draw No Bet Market
Lastly, let’s take a look at American football. Games actually can end in a draw, but the probability is much lower than it is in soccer. Not many bettors will look for a DNB wager on an NFL game, as the odds are so similar to the moneyline odds, if not identical.
How to Calculate DNB Action
Here are tips for calculating draw no bet action:
Draw No Bet Wagering in Sports Betting
Calculating the odds for a draw no bet wager is one of the most interesting processes in online gambling since it’s the only one that doesn’t use intuitive direct probability. A moneyline wager is based on the probability that a team wins, adjusted by the vig, while a double chance bet takes into account the likelihood of two outcomes.
On the other hand, draw no bet odds necessarily remove one outcome.
The likelihood of each team to win is a big part of draw no bet odds, but not identical, as the lessened risk due to the removal of the draw option must be accounted for. The general formula for doing this for a given team (we’ll call them Team A) is as follows:
(1-(1/draw odds)) x Team A odds to win
Note that it’s easiest to perform these calculations using decimal odds rather than American odds. For instance, if a draw has odds of 3.2 while Team A has odds of 4.7, the formula would be:
(1-(1/3.2))*4.7, which comes out to 3.23, leaving Team A with +223 odds for their draw no bet wager. To calculate draw no bet odds from three-way bet odds, you do need to be able to convert American odds to decimal odds and back, which is easily doable with several online converters.
As far as calculating your payout given existing DNB bet odds posted by a sports betting site, it’s simple and works just the same as a moneyline. Minus odds mean you need to bet more than you want to profit, like betting $150 on a line of -150 to profit $100. Plus odds mean the opposite as you’ll profit more than your stake if you win, like winning $200 on a line of +200 after betting just $100.
Draw No Bet Common Mistakes
Playing this type of bet when a home or away win is drastically more likely than a draw could be a big mistake. For instance, if a draw is only about 5-10% likely, you could be better off playing a double chance and accepting slightly lower odds in exchange for a chance to win rather than push in the event of a draw.
As is always the case with any bet market option, making a long-odds, highly-risky bet in hopes of covering a loss is rarely a wise decision and could put you in an even deeper hole with betting sites.
Types of Sports Betting Methods Explained
Let’s talk about a few different popular betting market types with which you can bet on an event’s outcome
Draw No Bet
As we’ve discussed in this article, a draw no bet wager is one that hits if your team wins, loses if your team loses, and triggers a simple refund of your stake if the two teams draw or, in some cases, go to overtime.
Betting Exchange
Betting exchange is a type of free market betting where you place bets against other bettors rather than against a sportsbook. It’s an interesting way to play because you can bet against an event happening rather than for it to happen.
For instance, if Manchester City has +145 odds to win the Premier League despite sitting in third place, many sportsbooks might not allow you to simply bet that City won’t win the league. With betting exchange, that type of approach often will be possible.
Handicap Betting
This is also known as betting on spreads, with the “handicap” referring to the disadvantage placed on the better team. If there’s a line of -1, the better team is “handicapped” by a point, goal, or run, so essentially, they start the contest losing 1-0 in regards to your bet.
This number is usually going to be or closely resemble a projected margin of victory for the favored team, so whoever surpasses expectations wins. If the game ends with that exact margin, it’s a push, and nobody wins; all stakes are refunded.
Double Chance
A double chance is what it sounds like; a chance to win given two different outcomes. Like draw no bet wagers, these are most commonly found when betting on soccer matches, which often have three-way markets.
In a match between Team A and Team B, you have three choices to bet a double chance; Team A win or draw, Team B win or draw, and less commonly, Team A win or Team B win. These bets are relatively easy to hit in many cases, so the payout is lower than a moneyline or even a draw no bet wager. But, they can be great for a risk-averse player or a novice bettor looking to get their feet wet.
Accumulator Bets
Also known as parlays, accumulator bets allow you to pull together multiple wagers for the chance at an elevated payout. Of course, you’ll be accepting elevated risk as well. This betting strategy compounds the odds of all of the individual bets to calculate your potential payout. If you get any of your legs wrong, the entire bet loses.
Away No Bet
As the name suggests, these wagers are similar to draw no bet markets, but with these, the void is triggered if the away team wins. You can make your wager on either the home team winning or a draw, and whichever one you don’t choose is the outcome that would be a loss for you.
Draw No Bet Meaning FAQs
Learn more about the Draw No Bet meaning by reading these FAQs:
How do players benefit from draw, no bet betting?
Players benefit from these wagers as the risk is greatly decreased since you’ll receive a stake refund if there’s a tie.
Are draw no bet markets only for new players?
Absolutely not! These wagers are a great way for new players to bet since the risk is so much lower than moneylines, but even experienced bettors have access to these markets.
Is draw no bet worth it?
As is the case with any bet type, a draw no bet can be worth it. The odds just have to be appropriate, and it must be assessed on a situation-by-situation basis.
What is the difference between draw no bet and double chance?
Both of these bet types are less risky than moneyline wagers, but double chance bets allow you to win if two out of the three outcomes in three-way betting markets occur. A draw no bet would give you the chance to win if just one of the outcomes hits, while a tie would be a void bet (which is still much better than a loss).
What does draw no bet mean for sports betting?
Draw no bet means that if there’s a draw, your bet essentially never happened. It’s void, and your stake will be returned to you.
What type of bet is draw, no bet?
Draw no bet is its own type of wager, but it most closely resembles moneylines or double chances, although there are some key differences as we’ve described in this article.
