Double Chance – Betting Explained

Occasionally, bookmakers may reduce the 3 outcomes for a football match to 2, by what is known as ‘Double Chance’ betting, where a single price is offered on a win or draw. If the backed team wins or draws, the bet wins; if the team loses, so does the bet. With double chance bets there is no possibility for the draw. The win/draw odds will always be shorter than for both the individual win and draw odds, because the chances of either outcome occurring are greater than for each one separately.

A Double Chance bet is an interesting alternative to picking out a market option which covers just one outcome. The Double Chance is popular in soccer betting, because as long as you can assess a match option in which a team is fairly unlikely to lose, then you can cover yourself on the other two options, a win and draw, by combining them into one bet.

So a Double Chance bet is essentially a Win/Draw option on a team, which will pay out a winner, as long as the team backed in the bet doesn’t lose. The bet would be paid out a winner if the backed team won or drew. This is a good way to spread your coverage on an outcome if you can’t quite decide between the backed team drawing or being good enough to take a win. This is a particularly useful option for backing stronger teams playing away from home.

Because a punter will be combining two outcomes of the possible three available in a soccer match (Win/Draw/Loss) into one bet, then naturally the odds at which a Double Bet can be taken, will be lesser than either a straight bet on a Win or a Draw. The basic sum of this is that you have increased your chances of winning the bet, therefore the odds offered by the bookie will be less than the individual options.