Occasionally, there is a sporting event which can be particularly difficult to pinpoint a likely outcome from. As a value bet, picking the result of a game is a popular type of bet to make. So what can you do when it is difficult to pinpoint which one of the three options, Home Win (1), Draw (X) or Away Win (2) is the one to back?
One strategic option bettors employ is a double chance bet. With this single bet, a punter will back two of the three possible outcomes for the full time result market. Thus covering 66.6% of the possible outcomes for that game.
The double chance bet increases the chance of winning considerably for the punter. But, with the flip side of this additional security being that there is a reduction in the value of the odds for the bet. Especially when compared to backing just one of the three possible outcomes.
In this guide to understanding double chance betting, we will explore this bet in full. As well as looking at the advantages and disadvantages of double chance bets and examining some double chance betting strategies
How Do Double Chance Bets Work?
A Double Chance bet works by allowing the punter to cover two of the three possible options in a market like the full-time result, or even half-time result in some sports.
Standard bets on these markets focus on selecting one of the three options, Home Win, Draw or Away Win.
With Double Chance, you cover two of these options with your bet. This means that you increase your chance of winning by covering one of the following three options.
- Home Team to Win/Draw (1X)
- Draw/Away Team to Win (X2)
- Home Team to Win/Away Team to Win (12)
With your bet now covering two possible outcomes you increase your chances of winning (hence ‘double-chance’).
The game is then played and when the result of the bet is known, if either of the options you backed is correct, then your bet is a winner.
Which Sport Tends To Offer The Best Double Chance Betting Options?
Any sport where there can be three possible outcomes for a match offers an opportunity for Double Chance betting. However, sports where the draw is a frequent outcome, tend to be the sports which see the best double chance betting opportunities.
As such, it is soccer betting that is predominantly where you will find this particular bet.
Double Chance Betting in Soccer
Football is undoubtedly the spiritual home of the Double Chance bet. Given the massive choice of football matches every day, punters have a wide choice of options to place a double chance bet.
Furthermore, the relative frequency of a draw in football means that it is also a good value bet for punters who want to cover two of the three options to give them a better chance of winning.
For example, the 1X Double Chance option covers a bet on the home team to win but also on the match being a draw. A great option if you are confident that the home team won’t lose the game, but not confident that they will win the match.
The X2 bet is similar, only this bet covers the draw and the away team to win.
The 12 (One Two, not Twelve) bet is more interesting and guarantees a return if either team wins the game. This is a useful bet in matches when a draw will not benefit one or both teams. Such as the second leg of a cup tie where one team has to win, or a league match when a draw will mean a rival of the two teams playing will go further ahead in the league.
Are there any Double Chance Betting Strategies I can use?
There are some strategies that people like to use when Double Chance betting.
- Back the Underdog – Many times in football contests, one team is favoured far more to win than the other. By backing the underdog with a Double Chance bet, you will get a return if the underdog scores an unlikely win, or if they manage to earn a draw. With the better value odds on the underdog compared to the favourite, this is a popular strategy with Double Chance bettors.
- Double Chance Accumulators – Another option punters use is to combine Double Chance selections into accumulator bets, which through the actions of multiplying the odds can potentially generate much better returns if all selections win.
- Identify Prime Double Chance Market Games – The context of a football game matters a great deal in how teams approach it. This can help punters select the best games to back for Double Chance bets. For example, let’s say Arsenal face Liverpool on the final day of the season. Both teams are level on points but trail Manchester City in the title race by two points. In this scenario, a draw helps neither team, as it would mean Man City win the league anyway. As such, backing the 12 (Home Win and Away Win) option makes sense as the context of the match means a win for either Arsenal or Liverpool is more likely to happen.
Pros and Cons of Double Chance Betting
Bringing everything we have learned about Double Chance betting together, let’s now pinpoint some of the pros and cons of this particular type of bet.
Pros
Some of the advantages of double chance betting are:
- You cover 66.6% of the possible outcomes in a match meaning you are twice as likely to win compared to backing a single option (the ‘double’ chance).
- Regularly available across a massive range of football fixtures every day.
- One of the safest bets a punter can make in terms of generating a return.
- Despite covering two outcomes, it’s a Single Bet, so only one unit stake is required.
Cons
Main disadvantages of double chance betting include:
- Shorter odds compared to standard result-based bets.
- You have to bet more in order to match returns from standard full-time result bets.
- Only useful in sports where a draw is a regular outcome of a match, such as soccer.
Double Chance betting is a powerful and rare punter-friendly bet and one that any bettor should have a good understanding of using.
