Double chance betting

Double chance betting is a type of match betting in which a single price is offered for either a win or a draw. A double chance bet will win if the team you back wins or draws, and lose if the team loses.

Double chance betting gives you a better chance that a bet will pay out than betting on a straight win, but the tradeoff is that the odds will be lower than for regular match betting.

How does double chance betting work?

A double chance betting market offers odds on combinations of results for a football match. Instead of choosing one of three possible outcomes (team A winning, team B winning or a draw), you bet on a combination of two possible outcomes.

There are three possible “double chance” options:

• team A or draw
• team B or draw
• team A or team B.

In each case, only one of the outcomes has to be satisfied for a bet to pay out. The downside of double chance betting is that because the risk of losing is lower, much lower odds are offered.

Manchester City plays Fulham in the FA Cup. A bookmaker offers the following selections in its double chance market for the match:

• Manchester City or draw
• Fulham or draw
• Manchester City or Fulham.

You decide to back the match producing a result, but you’re not sure which team will come out on top. So you place a bet on Manchester City or Fulham. If either of these sides wins the fixture, the bet will pay out. If the match ends in a draw, your bet will lose.

When to use double chance betting

Double chance betting isn’t a good option for any unbalanced fixture that has produced a strong favourite.

In this type of match, you’ll get very little value on any of the double chance options featuring the favourite as a possible winner.

However, if you suspect that the underdog could achieve a win or hold the favourite to a draw, double chance betting is a useful way of covering both possibilities with a single bet. The best time to use double chance betting is when you’re dealing with evenly weighted contests in which one team appears to have a slight edge but a draw looks like a real possibility.

Double chance betting tips

• Back the underdog: Unless you’re happy picking up minor returns by placing bets that include the favourite, you’ll want to use this market to back the underdog. A bet on the underdog will usually offer the best odds, and the draw option acts as a hedge.
• Research teams’ head-to-head record: Some teams consistently draw with one another. If the relevant teams have scored a high number of draws in their recent fixtures and have a head-to-head record peppered with draws, the double chance betting market is a more viable option for earning a payout than a straight back bet on the draw in the match betting markets.