When you buy through affiliate links in our content, we may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. Learn One of the most popular betting markets for mitigating risk is the draw no bet. It’s a market that can be accessed across multiple sports, and used frequently by shrewd bettors to remove the draw outcome from markets, such as the moneyline.
We’ll explain the full concept of how the bet works, provide real-world examples, show you how to place the bet, and include in-depth betting strategies.
What’s the Draw No Bet Market?
The draw no bet changes three-way betting markets, such as the moneyline, and adjusts them to two-way markets by removing the draw (tie) as a result. You can xheck out the top online sportsbooks to wager on your favorite game. When betting on this market, if a game ends as a draw, the stake’s returned.
Soccer’s the most commonly associated sport with a draw no bet. It adapts the 1×2 market, which is a home win, away win, or draw, and changes it to a home or away win. As stated above, the stake will be refunded if a bet is placed on a home or away win, and the game results in a draw.
The odds for the market reduce quite significantly over a 1×2 bet. The risk you take as a bettor is vastly reduced as you can’t lose with a draw result, whereas, with a 1×2 bet, if you wager on the home or away win, a draw plus the opposing result would mean there are two ways your bet can lose.
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Draw No Bet Real-World Example
So what exactly does a draw no bet mean? The best way to explain is to walk you through a real-world example. We’ve included an international soccer game between Brazil and Argentina.
Before we look at the draw no bet odds, we want you to note the odds for the 1×2 market, which on Bovada is the “win” column. This game is close in the betting, with two evenly-matched sides. Brazil’s a slight favorite to win at +135, with an Argentina win, and the draw priced at +205.
At the bottom of the image are the draw no bet odds. These are now vastly reduced as we remove one of the possible results from the game. Brazil is priced at -145 and Argentina at +120. Remember, if it’s a draw, we get our stake back.
The table below highlights the returns from a $100 bet across all three results.
| Result | Odds | Returns on $100 bet |
| Brazil win | -145 | Total = $168.97 ($68.97 profit) |
| Argentina win | +120 | Total = $220 ($120 profit) |
| Draw | N/A | $100 stake returned |
It’s important to note that this market isn’t the same as a double chance. This is where you have two selections that can win from various combinations. These combinations include:
- Home win and away win
- Home win and draw
- Away win and draw
This bet includes the draw as a result of all three combinations. The draw no bet removes the draw for both results and refunds stakes.
Which Sports Have the Draw No Bet Market?
Tie no bet markets are more common than most people think with US-focused offshore sportsbooks. Many bettors don’t know about it because of the lack of association with the NFL, NBA, and other US-based sports, even though some sportsbooks promote this market.
Below, we’ve listed sports where the draw no bet is most common.
Soccer
Most soccer matches have access to the draw no bet market. This sport has more coverage than all other sports combined, and it’s rare to see a sportsbook that doesn’t offer the market.
The example above is from a Premier League game between Manchester City and Liverpool. You can see the main betting markets from the “Win” column, and the draw no bet odds listed below. It’s worth seeing how much the odds change here, as it’s quite dramatic.
We also want to draw your attention to the bottom market, listed as draw no bet – first half. This is where your bet is only linked to the first half of the game, and markets are settled at half-time. The process is the same in that you’re betting on one team to be ahead at halftime, and you’ll get your stake refunded if it’s a draw.
Ice Hockey
Ice hockey is one of few US-based sports with much traction in the tie no bet market. You only need to scroll to see its popularity, with markets often tagged right at the bottom, compared to soccer, where it’s the first after the three main markets (spread, moneyline, and totals).
Its lack of popularity is because ties or draws aren’t really a thing in the US. Games will go to overtime and only in extreme circumstances will the game finish in a tie.
To adapt to this, the bet’s linked to regulation play. So the result is the one at the end of the third period, regardless of if there’s any overtime.
The example above is from a game between the Calgary Flames and Montreal Canadians. Again, the bet states regulation time, so this is saying that if it’s a tie at the end of the third period the bet will be returned, regardless of the result after overtime.
It may occur that you’ve bet on the Calgary Flames at -145 for a draw no bet, and the game ends in a tie before Calgary wins in overtime. If this happened, your stake would be refunded as the market’s settled in regulation time, even though the Flames technically win the game.
Cricket
The draw plays a big part in cricket, most notably with Test and First Class games. But this market allows us to remove the draw result and concentrate on a win for either of the teams.
Not all cricket games will include the draw no bet. T20 and 50-over formats usually play to a result, which includes a super-over where needed. However, like ice hockey, there may be sportsbooks that allow you to get on regular time markets, but these are rare.
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Why Place a Draw No Bet Wager?
The draw no bet wager is vastly overlooked. The odds on the market are low, which results in a lot of bettors looking elsewhere for value. But it does have its place, and here are a few reasons why you might want to consider using this market.
1. Reduce Risk
Bets are reduced from a three-way betting market to a two-way, thus decreasing the risk of using these bets. Removing the draw makes it one less result you need to dodge, as we know the stake will be returned.
Sports like soccer see around 25% of games end in a draw. By using a market like this, you drastically reduce the risk of your bet losing.
2. Protect your Stakes
If in the game you’re betting on there’s a good chance of a draw, you can protect your stake from this result. For example, let’s say you’re betting on a soccer game where you think Team A will beat Team B, but the next most likely result is the draw. Placing a draw no bet allows you to cover the bet, and protect your stake.
3. Trade Big Favorites In-Play
When big pre-game favorites fall behind, the draw no bet comes into its own for live betting. The odds for the favorite to win will lengthen, but given they were a short-priced bet pre-game, the chances of them getting back into the game are still high.
By betting on the DNB market, you cover the draw bet, and still get value from the favorite to win. The odds for the win are likely higher in-play than pre-game, creating value from what would otherwise be very short odds.
How to Place a Draw No Bet Wager
To show the process of placing a draw no bet wager, we’ve used the BetOnline sportsbook as a guide. This will highlight the steps you need to take to create an account, make a deposit, and place a bet.
1. Open an account with BetOnline
Open the BetOnline sportsbook and click the green “Join Now” button at the top of the page. This opens the registration process, where you enter your account information, including name, address, phone, email, username, and password. You must verify your account via email once this is complete.
2. Deposit funds
To place a bet, you need a funded betting account. Log in with your account details and click the “Deposit” button at the top of the page. Choose one of the payment methods linked to your account and make a deposit.
3. Choose your sport
Once your account is loaded with funds, head back to the sportsbook and choose a sport to bet on. You can use the menu down the left to see all the available sports and then make a pick from that.
4. Place the bet
Within the sports menu, choose the game you want to bet on. For the draw no bet market, you will need to open up the markets for that game to find the bet. To add selections to the bet slip, click the odds, and within the bet slip, enter your stake. Confirm your pick and your stake, then click “Place bet.”
How are the Odds and Payouts Calculated for a Draw No Bet Market?
As a default, most US-based sportsbooks represent betting odds in an American style. This format has positive and negative numbers, representing the amount of money you can win and the implied probability of the bet.
Positive numbers are usually attached to the underdog and represent the profit from a $100 bet. For example, if you have odds of +245, then for every $100 you wager, you make $245 in profit.
Negative numbers are attached to the favorite. This represents the money you need to wager to make a $100 profit. For example, if the odds were -130, you’d need to wager $130 to make a $100 profit.
There’ll be markets for the draw no bet where both are negative numbers. When this is the case, the favorite is the lower number of the two. So, a market with odds of -120 and -140 means the -140 is lower and, therefore, the favorite.
Let’s run through a quick example of how this’ll work. We’ve used a game from an international fixture between Columbia and Brazil. Here is how payouts are calculated for a $100 bet.
| Result | Odds | Returns on $100 bet |
| Columbia win | +143 | Total = $243 ($143 profit) |
| Brazil win | -175 | Total = $157.14 ($57.14 profit) |
| Draw | N/A | $100 stake returned |
How to Calculate Draw No Bet Odds When There’s No Dedicated Market
When we look at what the draw no bet means in sports betting, one of the frustrations is that not all games host the market. As a workaround, there are ways that you’re able to create your bet using multiple bets within the moneyline (win) market.
Before we jump in, you may find that this strategy pays slightly bigger returns than the standard market, so it’s worth testing, as we’ve seen odds as much as 10% higher using this process than the standard DNB market.
We need to start by looking at the 1×2 market as we’ll back either the home win and draw, or away win and draw. The goal is to spread the stake across the two to create an even return.
The game we’ll use is between Poland and the Czech Republic. We’ve switched to decimal odds to work out our odds, as it’s easier to work through the calculations like this. From the 1×2 market, they’re as follows:
- Poland to win = 2.40
- Czech Republic to win = 3.05
- Draw = 3.05
To work out the draw no bet odds, we need to use the following formula:
- Home draw no bet odds = (1 – (1/draw odds)) * home odds
- Away draw no bet odds = (1 – (1/draw odds)) * away odds
This would result in the following odds:
- Poland DNB = (1 – (1/3.05)) * 2.40 = 1.61 (-164)
- Czech Republic = (1 – (1/3.05)) * 3.05 = 2.05 (+105)
If there were no odds for this game on the draw no bet market, we could compare them to see which is better value. This’d mean any price under 1.61 for the home win with DNB, and under 2.05 for the away win with DNB would offer less value, meaning this process will get a bigger return.
Let’s assume we want to bet on Poland with draw no bet. Our maximum stake for the bet is $100. This is how you’d split the draw bet.
- Amount staked on the draw = total stake/draw odds
- $100 / 3.05 = $32.79
Now we need to know how much to bet on the win.
- Poland to win = (total stake – draw stake)
- Poland to win = $100 – $32.79 = $67.21
So, to get effective odds of 1.61 over the two results, we now know that we must stake $67.21 on Poland to win, and $32.79 on the draw.
Our profits would look like this:
- Home win = (home stake * (home odds -1) – draw stake)
- Poland win = ($67.21 * (2.40 – 1) – $67.2 = $26.89
- Draw win = (draw stake * (draw odds – 1) – home stake)
- Draw win = ($32.79 * (3.05 – 1) – $67.21 = $0.01
| Result | Profit |
| Poland win | $26.89 |
| Czech Republic win | -$100 |
| Draw | -$0.01 |
It takes a little work, but this is a great way to access the market if the betting site doesn’t already have it. It can also create significant value if the numbers exceed the draw no bet market advertised.
What Happens with a Draw in a Draw No Bet Market?
When a draw occurs in the draw no bet market, the bet’s refunded. The concept behind this bet is that it removes the draw as a result, which can be used to the bettor’s advantage with sports, such as football or ice hockey.
For example, if you’ve placed a DNB wager on an ice hockey team to win, if after the third period the game’s tied, the stake’ll be refunded.
Draw No Bet Betting Strategy
The draw no bet is a vastly underrated betting market. There are tons of scenarios where this bet type can be used to find value. In this section, we’ve covered betting strategies that you can apply to increase profitability.
1. Combine into Parlays/Accumulators
The reduced risk when placing a DNB wager comes with a tradeoff, and this is in the form of odds. The odds for these bets are quite low as you’re essentially picking up two combinations from which you cannot lose. They can only profit.
We recommend combining multiple picks into a parlay or accumulator bet to create more value and return on investment. A parlay works by adding multiple picks into a single bet. The odds are multiplied together to get your odds, and the more picks you include, the higher the payout.
The parlay above, for example, includes three draw no bet picks from international soccer games. The odds for each as a single bet are low and aren’t worth placing as a single for most. But combined, the three create a nice return of 4.08 (+308), meaning a $100 wager will profit $308.
The only thing to note with a parlay bet is that any draws that occur will void the bet, and it will be removed from the parlay with the others remaining. The odds will be adjusted based on this. So, if Romania were to draw, they would be removed, and the odds would adjust only to include Poland and Slovakia.
2. Oppose Short-Priced Favorites
Finding value in opposing short-priced favorites can be tough. They’re short-priced for a reason, and that’s because they’ll almost certainly win. But sports can be unpredictable, and these favorites get beaten every once in a while.
Taking on the DNB market over a straight win for the underdog bet adds protection while not losing out on that big payday. With these markets, a draw would still be a shock result, so having that as a push, and the ability to cash in at long odds for a win makes a lot of sense.
The game above between Spain and Georgia is a great example of this. Spain has almost no price to win at -850, and even less value on the draw no bet at -5000. Georgia, on the other hand, is a rank outsider priced at +2100.
If we look at the DNB price, we still see a lot of value at +1200. These are insanely high odds for any team to win in a two-way market while still getting our stake refunded if they were to draw.
Don’t just place these bets for the sake of it. You need to find games where an upset might occur, and use the market accordingly from your research.
3. Target Teams with a High Draw Percentage
Targeting teams that draw a lot of games but are tough to beat is a killer combination. What we get here is insurance for the games they fail to win, but also the chance to profit from teams that are competitive in most games they play.
A good example of this would be a team like Newcastle United from the 2022/23 Premier League season. As you can see from the graphic, they won 19 games, with 14 draws (more than any other team that season), and just five losses.
We can dig a little deeper into the stats to find additional value. You’ll notice that the away form was not quite as strong as the home form in terms of wins. This is fairly common, but the number of games they lost was only one extra, which is rare.
This would allow us to target away games with higher odds than if they were playing at home. Due to them losing a similar number of games, we get increased odds for very little tradeoff in the likelihood that they lose and we don’t, at least, push the bet.
Another area to target would be the times they play teams against whom they’re the underdogs when they play away from home. Newcastle’s a strong team, but playing Manchester City, Arsenal, and Tottenham away would make them underdogs for the win. For reference, they won one, drew one, and lost one of these fixtures. This would mean only one of three losing bets on the DNB market.
Do you want the best priced parlay bets? Check out BetOnline.
FAQs
What is the meaning of draw no bet in sports betting?
How does draw no bet work in soccer betting?
What happens if I place a draw no bet wager and the match ends in a draw?
Can I use draw no bet in other sports besides soccer?
Is draw no bet a safer option for bettors than other bet types?
How do the odds for draw no bet compare to the traditional 1X2 market?
Can I place a draw no bet wager during a live match?
Are there any specific strategies for maximizing success with draw no bet bets?
Can I include draw no bet in combination bets or accumulators?
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Resources
- https://www.usa.gov/agencies/national-indian-gaming-commission
- https://www.nigc.gov/
- https://www.ncpgambling.org/
- https://www.zapcricket.com/blogs/newsroom/first-class-cricket
