Alan Kendall joined Basketball Insiders in January, 2023 with over fifteen years of experience writing about online sports betting. He is an experienced writer with a strong interest in the NBA, NFL, NHL and UFC. Alan brings a wealth of knowledge to every piece he contributes to and has written for many publications including Augusta Free Press and The Sports Daily.
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Neil is a gambling industry veteran with over 15 years experience as a content writer, editor and speaker at events. He has a Masters degree in English Literature and Philosophy and has combined this analytical inquisitiveness with a passion for sports betting and casino gaming. Neil started his career with Bettingpro.com and helped build not only that site but various others such as LiveTennis.com, LiveDarts.com and numerous other sports informational sites, including GG.co.uk and RacingTips.com He then made the transition to the North American market, working both in the UK and in New Jersey to launch various sports betting and casino sites, including AmericanBettingExperts and NewAmericanCasinos. Working with regulators, Neil has helped to review sports betting sites and also test the regulated betting apps in a professional capacity. He now works almost exclusively in the US market and is one of the main reviewers and fact checkers on SportsLens gambling content. He also speaks at various gambling conferences including ICE, iGB Live and SBC Americas and has contributed to GamblingInsider, EGR Magazine and a number of others in a consulting capacity.
All posts by Neil RoartyDouble chance betting is when you wager on two possible outcomes in a single sports event or game. It is a popular bet type that improves your prospects of landing a return by combining two selections in a market of three possible outcomes, typically the moneyline market in a sport such as soccer where a tie is possible.
Placing a double chance bet in any sport minimizes the risk of losing by allowing you to limit the possible losing outcomes in three way market to just a single selection. There are three main types of double chance betting available, including 1X, 2X and 12, each with a notable difference. It increases your chances of winning but also has relatively low odds as a result.
Differences Between the 1X, 2X and 12 Selections in Double Chance
The double chance bet comes with three options, with each offering a combination of two out of three potential 1X2 betting outcomes, where 1 represents a home win, 2 is an away win and X is a tie or draw.
Image source: everygame.com What is 1X?
The 1X option represents a bet on the home team winning the match or drawing and your bet will be successful either of these two possible outcomes occur. The bet will lose if the away team wins.
A prime example would be an MLS game between the NY Red Bulls vs DC United, where NY Red Bulls win 3-0 or the final score is a 1-1 draw, the bet will win but if the away team, DC United, emerge on top the bet is a loser.
What is 2X?
Similar to the 1X, the 2X selections represents a bet on the away team to win or draw. Your bet will win if the away team beats the home team, or if the teams are tied at full time. The bet will lose if the home team wins.
For example, in a British Super League Rugby League game between Wigan Warriors vs St Helens, where St Helens win 16-14 or draw 14-14, the bet will win.
What is 12?
Finally, 12 covers the possibility of a win for either the home or away team, excluding the possibility of a draw. The bet will lose if the game ends in a draw, but will win if either team wins.
For example, in an international soccer match between USA vs Germany, where Germany or USA wins the game 2-1, the bet will be successful.
Is Draw No Bet the Same as Double Chance?
Image source: everygame.com Draw no bet is not the same as double chance. It is another popular prop betting market that eliminates the possibility of the draw option and losing money by returning a refund on your stake. While it shares a similar principle involving two outcomes, it is different to the Double Chance bet as only one outcome returns a profit.
Another way of looking at Draw No Bet is similar to when a bet is void. You’re effectively backing a team to win, but if it does not not win because of a draw then your stake is returned, rather than a winning bet.
The odds on these two markets will differ as they are calculated in unique ways. Whereas the odds on a double chance market are calculated by combining the percentage of the two potential winning selections, to create a new, shorter price, draw no bet odds tend to be marginally higher. This is due to the potentially limited return of the draw option where you will only receive your stake back in that event, rather than making any profit.
Which Sports Include the Double Chance Bet?
Now that we’ve established an answer to the question ‘what double chance is in betting?’, it’s time to take a look at the available popular sports where this bet type is available. Essentially, double chance is available whenever there can be a draw in 1X2 scenarios (home win, draw, away win). However, it ultimately depends on the sportsbook operator as not all sites offer this bet type.
Soccer
Soccer is the most popular sport where double chance betting is available. Draws are extremely common in regular season soccer matches due to the low average scores that take place, such as 1-1 and 2-2.
Rugby
Draws can occur in both rugby league and rugby union when the two competing teams have the same number of points at the end of regular time. However, due to the high scoring nature of these games, it is less common than soccer.
Hockey
At the end of regular time in ice hockey and field hockey, a draw can occur if the teams are tied. In leagues where the game cannot end in a draw, such as the NHL, double chance may be unavailable or settled at the end of 60 minutes when the third period is over.
Handball
Domestic and international handball league games have three possible outcomes, including a home-win, away-win and draw, which you can bet on with double chance.
Basketball
Some basketball leagues and tournaments, such as the FIBA Basketball World Cup, allow games to end in a draw. Making way for double chance betting opportunities. However, all NBA games that end in a draw go to a five-minute overtime period, with additional overtime periods until there is a winner.
What are the Pros and Cons of Betting on Double Chance?
Whether you’re new to sports betting or you’re a seasoned bettor, the following positives and negatives will help you decide whether this bet type is right for you.
Pros:
- You have a better chance of winning due to backing two out of the three possible outcomes.
- There is lower risk involved as you eliminate one of the other outcomes, effectively part-insuring your wager against a loss.
- Useful for betting on underdogs for increased potential returns.
- Can be used pre-game or live in-play during real-time.
- Generally available on many of the most popular sports.
Cons:
- Lower odds are common in Double Chance bets compared with other markets such as picking an outright winner.
- May cost more due to the minimum stake amount as set by the sportsbook for this bet type.
- There is still a risk of one of three outcomes happening that you have not bet on (33.3%).
Double Chance Betting Strategy
You can use the Double Chance betting market at regulated and offshore sportsbooks in your strategy to potentially win more often and increase your returns. Below are a few different strategies that can be used on their own, or combination with each other.
Research Form and Stats
Research team form for the most recent games and use head-to-head stats to make your predictions. Teams often go through peaks, troughs and trends where they win, lose or draw a lot of games consecutively over a short period of time. For example, if a soccer team is struggling to score goals, they may end a lot of their games 0-0, or even losing 0-1 at home.
Use Bonus Offers
Use sportsbook promo codes to unlock bonus offers and place qualifying bets on Double Chance markets, allowing you to potentially bet more and compensate for the lower odds that come with this type of bet. You can also increase your chances of winning and meet any rollover requirements in a much shorter time.
Bet On 2X
In many sports, the team with home advantage is often the favorite. By betting on 2X you are backing the away team, which will often bring about better odds and bigger potential returns. It’s important to be selective when betting on 2X, while the home team doesn’t always win, they do tend to have a higher win-rate on average throughout the season.
Underdogs
Underdog betting with Double Chance can make for better odds and juicier potential profits. Favorites don’t win all the time, so by carefully backing the underdog plus a draw, you have the opportunity to land some sizable profits.
How Are Double Chance Odds Worked Out?
Double Chance betting odds are worked out in a similar way to that of regular moneyline markets, whereby a percentage is calculated based on the outcome probability, the perceived quality of each team and past performance form and statistics.
Along with an underdog and favorite being determined with a probability percentage, the draw outcome is also assigned a probability. Once you have the probability of all three outcomes, you can add two of them together and see how the odds are adjusted accordingly for the bet you want to place, be it 1X, 2X or 12.
Although the odds formula can vary from one sportsbook to another, they are lower than simply betting one just one outcome due to the increased likeliness of winning.
Does Double Chance Include Overtime?
Double Chance bets only cover normal / regular time and are based on the outcome of the game at full time, excluding extra time and overtime. In soccer, stoppage time (or injury time) is allowed as games frequently run over the regular 90 minute game duration. The referee adds minutes onto each half for stoppages due to injuries or substitutions, which are considered part of normal game time.
Therefore, in sports where overtime is played and Double Chance is available, such as the NFL, NHL, NBA, the bet will be determined and settled by the score at the end of regular play.
Can You Include Double Chance in a Parlay?
A parlay bet can include Double Chance selections and the bet type is regularly used by bettors to increase their odds. Using Double Chance in parlay betting allows you to combine multiple bets into a single wager across the same or multiple sports. Due to the odds being on the low side, it is a particularly useful way to increase the potential payouts while keeping the risk to a minimum.
