What is Draw No Bet in football betting?
Draw No Bet (DNB) is a football bet on one team to win where your stake is refunded if the match ends in a draw. If your team wins, you are paid at the DNB odds. If the other team wins, you lose. Because the draw is removed as a losing outcome, DNB odds are lower than straight win odds.
How does a Draw No Bet bet work?
You pick a team, just like a normal win bet. The difference is what happens when the match is level after 90 minutes plus stoppage time.
Imagine a £10 DNB bet on the home team at 1.50:
| Final result | What happens | Amount returned |
|---|---|---|
| Home win | Bet wins | £15 (£10 × 1.50) |
| Draw | Stake refunded | £10 |
| Away win | Bet loses | £0 |
So there are only two real outcomes for your money: win or lose. The draw is treated as if the bet never happened. The same maths works in dollars.
As with most football markets, DNB is usually settled on normal time only. Extra time and penalties do not count. Check each bookmaker’s rules for postponed or abandoned matches.
How do you work out a fair Draw No Bet price?
You can estimate a fair DNB price from the normal match result (1X2) odds. Take this example market:
| Selection | Decimal odds | Implied probability (1 / odds) |
|---|---|---|
| Home win | 2.00 | 50.0% |
| Draw | 3.50 | 28.6% |
| Away win | 4.00 | 25.0% |
| Total | 103.6% |
The total is 103.6%, not 100%, because of the bookmaker’s margin. To remove it, divide each implied probability by the total:
- Home: 50.0% / 103.6% = 48.3%
- Draw: 28.6% / 103.6% = 27.6%
- Away: 25.0% / 103.6% = 24.1%
In a DNB bet the draw is refunded, so only the home and away outcomes matter. The fair home DNB odds are:
(P(home) + P(away)) / P(home) = (48.3% + 24.1%) / 48.3% = 72.4% / 48.3% ≈ 1.50
The fair away DNB odds are:
(48.3% + 24.1%) / 24.1% ≈ 3.00
A quick check: 1 / 1.50 + 1 / 3.00 = 66.7% + 33.3% = 100%. That is a fair two-way market with no margin.
There is also a shortcut. Home DNB fair odds = 1 + (home odds / away odds) = 1 + (2.00 / 4.00) = 1.50. The margin cancels out, so you get the same answer.
A bookmaker’s real DNB price will usually be a little lower than this fair figure, because it adds its own margin. If you are new to these numbers, our guide on how to read decimal odds covers the basics.
When does Draw No Bet make sense?
DNB can suit matches where you lean towards one team but think a draw is a real possibility. Common examples:
- A slight favourite in a tight game, where a draw would otherwise sink a straight win bet.
- An away team you rate, playing at a ground where many games end level.
- Leagues with high draw rates, where the draw takes a large share of the probability.
The trade-off is price. You give up some of the win odds in exchange for protection on the draw. In the example above, the straight home win paid 2.00 but the fair DNB price was only 1.50.
How is Draw No Bet different from double chance?
The two markets both offer cover on the draw, but they treat it differently:
| Market | Your team wins | Draw | Your team loses |
|---|---|---|---|
| Draw No Bet | Wins | Stake refunded | Loses |
| Double chance (win or draw) | Wins | Wins | Loses |
Double chance pays out on the draw, so its odds are lower still. DNB only returns your stake. You can read more in our guide to double chance betting.
Is Draw No Bet the same as Asian handicap 0?
Yes, in practice. An Asian handicap of 0 (sometimes written as 0.0 or “level ball”) is settled the same way: a win pays, a draw refunds the stake and a loss loses. Asian handicap has many other lines with more complex rules, but the 0 line and DNB behave alike.
Where BetGPT fits
The BetGPT match screen shows odds for Match Result (1X2) and Double Chance, so you can use the 1X2 prices to estimate a fair DNB price with the maths above. You can also ask “Is the price worth it?” to see how a pick’s odds compare with the stats behind it, including each team’s last 25 matches and home and away form.
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