What does Draw No Bet mean?

Draw No Bet is a common betting market offered by bookmakers. It’s relatively popular with punters who are not fully confident on one side winning as it returns the stake should the match end in a draw. Basically, you will be backing one team to win and your bet will win if they do and you’ll have your stake refunded as cash if it ends in a draw. You’ll find that Draw No Bet markets have lower odds than when just betting on one side to win as you’re given some insurance with the draw refund.

Let’s take a look at an example of a ‘Draw No Bet’ bet.

Above are two markets for the Nottingham Forest v Fleetwood football match. As you can see, the odds on Nottingham Forest to win the match are 1.61 but the odds on Forest Draw No Bet are lower at 1.25.

If we were to place a £10 bet on Nottingham Forest Draw No Bet, these would be our returns based on all possible outcomes:

• Nottingham Forest Win: We receive back £12.50 (we make £2.50 profit)
• Nottingham Forest Lose: We lose our £10 stake (we’re down £10)
• The match ends in a draw: We receive back £10 (we break even)

When placing a ‘Draw No Bet’ bet, the only outcome where we can lose money is if the other team wins.

If we were to place a £10 bet on Nottingham Forest just to win in the standard 90 minutes market, these would be our returns:

• Nottingham Forest Win: We receive back £16.10 (we make £6.10 profit)
• Nottingham Forest Lose: We lose our £10 stake (we’re down £10)
• The match ends in a draw: We lose our £10 stake (we’re down £10)

As you can see, in order for our bet to win, Nottingham Forest must win. Every other possible outcome results in a loss for us.

Let’s compare the returns of betting on the 90 minute market to the Draw No Bet market based on a £10 stake on Nottingham Forest.

	Nottingham Forest Win	Fleetwood Win	Draw
90 Minutes Market	£6.10 Profit	£10 Loss	£10 Loss
Draw No Bet Market	£2.50 Profit	£10 Loss	Break Even

 
And below, the returns based on a £10 stake on Fleetwood Town.

	Nottingham Forest Win	Fleetwood Win	Draw
90 Minutes Market	£10 Loss	£45 Profit	£10 Loss
Draw No Bet Market	£10 Loss	£27.50 Profit	Break Even

 
Betting on the Draw No Bet market provides a safety net should the match end in a draw. However, a loss is still possible should the other team win and your returns will be less than if you had bet on the 90 minute market if the team you back does win.

If you’d like to learn more about betting markets and matched betting, you can join MatchedBets.com today. A membership costs just £1 for 14 days and you’ll have access to a range of matched betting training material as well as hundreds of profitable betting offers.