Draw no bet (DNB) is a bet on one team to win in which your stake is refunded if the match ends in a draw. If your team wins you are paid at the DNB price. If the scores are level after normal time you get your stake back, and if the other team wins you lose it.
You can work out what a DNB bet should pay from the three 1X2 prices. Set the draw aside: with illustrative prices of $2.50 home, $3.25 draw and $2.95 away, the home side's fair DNB price is 1 + 2.50 / 2.95 = $1.85. The gap between that and the price you are offered is the bookmaker's margin on the bet.
How a DNB bet settles
With an illustrative $100 on Team A DNB at $1.80:
| Result after normal time | What happens | Return | Profit or loss |
|---|---|---|---|
| Team A wins | Paid at $1.80 | $100 x 1.80 = $180 | +$80 |
| Draw | Stake refunded | $100 | $0 |
| Team B wins | Stake lost | $0 | -$100 |
The refund is what you are buying, and you pay for it with a lower price than the same team carries in the 1X2, where a draw loses. That is the meaning in the name: if the match is drawn, there is no bet.
The draw that counts is the score when normal time ends. In NSW, the rule book for authorised bookmakers, the Bookmaker Declared Betting Events Betting Rules, takes a soccer result at that point unless you and the bookmaker agree otherwise when the bet is made (clause 5.2.7.3). A cup tie level at 90 minutes therefore refunds a DNB bet, even if your team then goes through.
Pricing DNB from 1X2 odds
There are two prices to know: the fair price, with the margin taken out, and the price you get if you build the bet yourself from the 1X2 market.
The fair price
Take 1 / price for each result, then scale the three by their 104.67% total so they add to 100%:
| Result | 1X2 price | Implied chance | Fair chance (implied / 1.0467) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Team A (home) | $2.50 | 40.00% | 38.2% |
| Draw | $3.25 | 30.77% | 29.4% |
| Team B (away) | $2.95 | 33.90% | 32.4% |
| Total | 104.67% | 100.0% |
A DNB bet sets the draw aside, so its fair price is the two win chances added, divided by your team's chance:
- Team A: (38.2% + 32.4%) / 38.2% = 70.6 / 38.2 = $1.85
- Team B: 70.6 / 32.4 = $2.18
With proportional margin removal the draw cancels out, which gives a short cut: fair DNB = 1 + your team's price / the other team's price. Here 1 + 2.50 / 2.95 = 1.847, about $1.85, and 1 + 2.95 / 2.50 = $2.18. Other ways of removing the margin bring the draw back into the sum, so treat the short cut as an estimate. To test it, enter the three 1X2 prices in the fair odds calculator and compare its four methods.
Building the bet yourself
You can make a DNB bet from two 1X2 bets: put enough on the draw to return your whole stake, and the rest on your team. For $100 on Team A:
- Draw stake = $100 / 3.25 = $30.77, which returns $30.77 x 3.25 = $100.00 on a draw.
- Team A stake = $100 - $30.77 = $69.23, which returns $69.23 x 2.50 = $173.075, about $173.08, on a Team A win.
That is a DNB price of $1.73, the same as 2.50 x (3.25 - 1) / 3.25 = 1.7308. Built this way, the bet carries the margin on the draw as well as the margin on Team A, which is why it sits so far below the fair $1.85.
Comparing the prices you can get
Say one bookmaker's own DNB market shows $1.78 for Team A and $2.08 for Team B. Another bookmaker's Asian handicap 0 line shows $1.80 and $2.05. Both pairs are illustrative, and each adds up to about 104.3%.
| Way to back Team A with a refund on a draw | Price | Against the fair 1.8475 (1 + 2.50 / 2.95) |
|---|---|---|
| Built from the 1X2 prices | $1.73 | 1.7308 / 1.8475 - 1 = -6.3% |
| Bookmaker's DNB market | $1.78 | 1.78 / 1.8475 - 1 = -3.7% |
| Asian handicap 0 | $1.80 | 1.80 / 1.8475 - 1 = -2.6% |
In a completed match all three pay, refund and lose on the same results, so the only question is the price (a called-off match can split them, as the next section shows). Here the level handicap returns $180 per winning $100, against $173 for the bet you build yourself.
Risk: Betting involves risk. A price closer to fair lowers what the refund costs, but a DNB bet still loses the whole stake when the other team wins, and there is no guarantee of profit. See responsible gambling for limits and support.
Draw no bet vs Asian handicap 0
An Asian handicap of 0, the level line, gives neither team a start. A win pays, a draw is a push that refunds your stake, and a defeat loses: DNB under another name. The quarter lines either side of it are different bets, and they are easy to confuse with it:
| Result | DNB or handicap 0 | Handicap -0.25 | Handicap +0.25 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Team A wins | Win | Win | Win |
| Draw | Stake back | Half lost, half back | Half wins, half back |
| Team B wins | Loss | Loss | Loss |
One rule book can split DNB from the level line. Under the NSW rules, if a match is called off and the governing body declares an official result, bets are settled on that result. The exception is bets that depend on the number of goals, handicap bets included, which are refunded (clause 5.2.7.2).
Read that way, a bet listed as a handicap of 0 is refunded while a DNB bet on the same team is settled on the declared result. How your bookmaker classes each market is set out in its terms.
DNB vs double chance
Double chance covers two of the three results in one bet: 1X wins if Team A wins or draws. On a draw it pays out, where DNB only refunds. With the margin kept, 1X from these 1X2 prices is 1 / (0.4000 + 0.3077) = $1.41. With $100 on each:
| Result | Team A DNB at $1.78 | Double chance 1X at $1.41 |
|---|---|---|
| Team A wins | $178 back, +$78 | $141 back, +$41 |
| Draw | $100 back, $0 | $141 back, +$41 |
| Team B wins | $0, -$100 | $0, -$100 |
Both lose the whole stake on a Team B win. DNB fits a view that Team A will win but could be held to a draw; double chance fits a view that Team A will not lose.
When draw no bet makes sense
Price the bet with your own chances, not the market's. Say you rate Team A at 41%, the draw at 27% and Team B at 32% (illustrative). Your fair DNB price is (41% + 32%) / 41% = $1.78. Here is the expected value per $1 of each way to back Team A:
| Bet | Price | Expected value per $1 |
|---|---|---|
| 1X2 Team A | $2.50 | 0.41 x 2.50 - 1 = +2.5% |
| Asian handicap 0 | $1.80 | 0.41 x 1.80 + 0.27 x 1 - 1 = +0.8% |
| Bookmaker's DNB | $1.78 | 0.41 x 1.78 + 0.27 x 1 - 1 = 0.0% |
| DNB built from the 1X2 | $1.73 | 0.41 x 1.7308 + 0.27 x 1 - 1 = -2.0% |
The refund is never free: here it turns a +2.5% bet into one worth at best +0.8%. What you get in exchange is a narrower range of results. Per $100, the 1X2 bet ends +$150 or -$100, while the level line ends +$80, $0 or -$100.
Three decision rules follow:
- Take DNB when the draw is a real chance in your view and the price at least matches your own fair DNB price.
- A DNB you build from the 1X2 beats the straight 1X2 bet only when the draw at $3.25 has a higher expected value by your numbers than Team A at $2.50. The built bet is a mix of those two bets.
- On a heavy favourite, hold out for a price close to fair. With illustrative 1X2 prices of $1.30, $5.50 and $11.00, the favourite's fair DNB is 1 + 1.30 / 11.00 = $1.12, so $100 at fair wins $100 x 1.30 / 11.00 = $11.82. At $1.10 it wins $10.00, so a price under 2 cents shorter gives up 1.82 / 11.82 = 15.4% of the profit.
Risk: Betting involves risk. Expected value is an average over many bets, your own chances are estimates, and a DNB bet can still lose the whole stake. There is no guarantee of profit. See responsible gambling for limits and support.
Edge cases: extra time, abandoned matches and multis
- Extra time and penalties. A tie level after 90 minutes refunds the bet whoever goes through, because the NSW rules settle soccer when normal time ends. Bets on who progresses are different, and extra time and penalties sorts the markets.
- A match called off with no official result. Bets not decided when play stopped are refunded (clause 5.2.7.1), and a DNB bet stays undecided until the end.
- Multis. Your bookmaker's terms decide how a drawn DNB leg counts. Suppose they treat it as void and count it at $1.00. Then a $20 multi with a $1.78 DNB leg and a $1.90 winner returns $20 x 1.00 x 1.90 = $38.00, against $20 x 1.78 x 1.90 = $67.64 had the DNB team won.
- Bonus bets. If you place a bonus bet on DNB and the match is drawn, the bookmaker's terms decide what comes back. A bonus bet that loses pays nothing.
Online bookmakers set their own rules for all of these, so check your bookmaker's terms before you rely on any of them. Soccer betting lists the other match markets that settle on 90 minutes.
Mistakes that cost money with DNB
| Mistake | What it costs, on the illustrative prices |
|---|---|
| Building DNB from the 1X2 when a DNB market or level line is on offer | $173 back per winning $100 instead of $180 |
| Treating Asian handicap -0.25 as DNB | A draw returns $50 of a $100 stake, not $100 |
| Expecting a win in extra time to count | The stake comes back instead of $178 at $1.78 |
| Judging DNB against the 1X2 price | $1.78 looks poor beside $2.50, but the fair comparison is the $1.85 fair DNB price |
| Assuming a drawn DNB leg wins a multi | Counted at $1.00, the two-leg multi returns $38.00, not $67.64 |
Working out DNB from Terminal prices
A fair DNB price needs all three 1X2 prices from one bookmaker's market. B337's Terminal lays out each bookmaker's soccer head to head, line and total prices in columns side by side, with the best available price on each selection picked out, so one bookmaker's three prices sit together in its column.
Because prices are read on a repeating cycle, a figure on screen can trail the bookmaker's own, so confirm it in your account before betting. A free account opens a limited view of the Terminal with live odds.
Risk: Betting involves risk. The refund on a draw does not protect you from a defeat, prices move before your bet is accepted, and there is no guarantee of profit. See responsible gambling for limits and support.