What is Draw No Bet (DNB)?

How Draw No Bet works

In a standard 1X2 football market there are three outcomes: home win, draw, or away win. Draw No Bet collapses this to two outcomes by voiding the bet if the match finishes level. You stake your money on one side — home or away — and if that side wins, you collect your returns at the quoted odds. If the match is a draw, the bookmaker returns your original stake as though the bet never happened. If your selection loses, your stake is gone.

The trade-off is straightforward: the security of a draw refund comes at a cost to the odds. Because the bookmaker is absorbing the draw risk, DNB prices are always shorter than the equivalent 1X2 win price for the same team. For example, if a team is priced at 2.20 to win outright (1X2), the same team on DNB might be offered at around 1.65–1.75, depending on how likely a draw is assessed to be. The more draw-heavy the fixture profile, the steeper the reduction in odds.

A worked example

Suppose you place a £50 Draw No Bet on Arsenal at decimal odds of 1.70 against a team assessed as a likely draw opponent. Arsenal win 2–1: your return is £85 (£50 × 1.70), giving a profit of £35. Arsenal lose 0–1: you lose your £50 stake. The match ends 1–1: your £50 stake is refunded in full and you are back to where you started, with no profit or loss.

It is worth noting that DNB is mathematically equivalent to a specific Asian Handicap line — namely the 0 handicap (also written as AH 0). The outcomes and refund mechanics are identical. Some bookmakers present both products; others offer only one. Settlement rules should always be checked before placing, as occasionally a bookmaker may have specific wording around extra time or penalty shootouts in cup competitions. Where rules vary between operators, check terms carefully.

Why Draw No Bet matters when judging a tipster

When reviewing a tipster's record on TipsterCheck, the market type matters as much as the result. A tipster who consistently uses DNB is accepting lower odds in exchange for draw insurance. This compresses their potential upside on every winning tip, which will naturally reduce their reported yield and profit in points compared with a tipster tipping the same selections at full 1X2 win prices. Neither approach is inherently better, but comparing a DNB record directly against a 1X2 win record without adjustment is misleading.

From a long-run assessment perspective, DNB can also obscure a tipster's true edge. A sequence of draw refunds flatters the strike rate and limits drawdown, making a record look more consistent than the underlying selection quality perhaps warrants. When evaluating any tipster using DNB regularly, look at the advised odds carefully, check whether those prices were genuinely available at the time of proofing, and consider the sample size before drawing conclusions about genuine skill.

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