What Is Draw No Bet? Meaning, Examples and How It Works

What is draw no bet? It's the football market for when you fancy a team to win but the draw is nagging at you. You back one side, and if the match finishes level you get your stake back instead of losing it. Your team wins, you win. They lose, you lose. Anything level, and your money comes home.

What is draw no bet?

Draw no bet does exactly what it says on the tin: it takes the draw out as a way to lose. You pick one team. If they win, the bet pays out. If it's a draw, your stake is returned. If they lose, so does your bet. That's draw no bet in a line: the draw stops being a way to lose. Your slip can still win, lose, or hand your stake back, but only a defeat actually costs you.

How does draw no bet work?

Open a draw no bet market and you'll see just two options, home or away. There's no draw to pick because the draw is handled for you: if the game finishes level, the bet is voided and settled at odds of 1.00, which is a fancy way of saying you get your money back. No profit, no loss, just your stake returned as if the bet never happened.

On the betslip it looks like any other win bet, only priced a bit shorter than the standard match result, because that draw safety net isn't free. You'll find it across Midnite's football betting, and if you're still getting your head around prices in general, our betting odds explained guide is the place to start. What each way means is another one worth having straight while you're at it.

Draw no bet example

Here's the whole market in one table, using a £10 bet at 1.70. (The 1.70 is just an example, prices move about from match to match.)

The middle row is the whole point. On a normal win bet, that draw costs you the tenner. Here, it lands back in your account.

Do you get your money back on draw no bet?

On a draw, yes. The bet voids, settles at 1.00, and your stake comes back. Just don't confuse it with winning, there's no profit in a drawn game, only your money returned.

And one thing to be dead clear about: draw no bet is not risk-free. Your team loses, your stake is gone, same as any other bet. The refund covers the draw and nothing else, so think of it as draw protection, not a safety net over the whole thing.

Draw no bet vs double chance vs Asian handicap

Draw no bet gets muddled up with two other markets, so here's how the three of them actually sit next to each other.

Double chance goes one better than draw no bet: a draw doesn't just refund you, it actually wins the bet. Two of the three results covered, and the shortest odds of the lot as the price you pay for it. Asian handicap 0, the level ball, is draw no bet wearing a different shirt: functionally identical, which is why the two prices usually match to the penny. Our handicap betting and Asian handicap tips guides go deeper if the mechanic interests you.

When should you use draw no bet?

There's no rulebook here, just the situations where bettors tend to reach for it. The classic one: you fancy a team, but not enough to trust them outright. A tight cup tie. A cagey derby. A favourite that's been stuttering. Games where "they should win this" comes with a nervous laugh.

The trade-off never changes: you remove the draw as a losing result, and you accept a shorter price for the privilege. Whether that's worth it comes down to how live you think the draw really is. Two evenly matched sides in a Premier League scrap? That protection might be worth paying for. A total mismatch? You're buying insurance on a house that isn't on fire. Our football betting strategy page has more on weighing up calls like these, and none of this is a nudge to place the bet.

Advantages and disadvantages of draw no bet

The honest answer to "is it good" is that it depends entirely on the game. Both sides of it:

Advantages

• A draw no longer costs you, since your stake comes back if it finishes level
• Lower risk than a straight win bet, because one of the three results is covered
• Handy when you rate a team but a clean win feels like a stretch

Disadvantages

• Shorter odds than the win market, so the payout is smaller when your team does win
• A defeat still loses the bet, the protection covers the draw only
• Poor value when a draw was never really on, because you're paying for cover you didn't need

And on "is draw no bet profitable": it isn't a way to guarantee profit or get one over on the bookmaker. It reshapes the risk rather than beating it. The draw comes out as a way to lose, and the shorter price is what that costs you. Same risk as any bet, just a different shape.

Draw no bet accumulators

Where draw no bet gets properly useful for a lot of people is inside an acca. If one of your draw no bet legs finishes level, that leg voids at 1.00 rather than sinking the whole thing. The acca simply recalculates on the legs still standing.

So the damage is to your returns, not the bet itself. A leg settled at 1.00 multiplies the rest by one, meaning a drawn leg trims the payout instead of torching it the way a losing leg would. That's why you'll see draw no bet legs used to take a bit of the sting out of a football acca. What is an accumulator covers the basics, and the football acca tips page handles the applied side.

The bottom line on draw no bet

So, what is draw no bet? Back a team to win, get your stake back on a draw, lose only if they lose. You give up some of the price you'd get on the straight win market, and in return the draw can't hurt you, which is exactly why it suits some matches and wastes your edge on others. It's priced across Midnite's football markets alongside the likes of both teams to score and over 2.5 goals. Whatever you go for, keep it to what you're comfortable losing and set your limits before kick-off, not after. Midnite is licensed by the UK Gambling Commission, and there's more about us if you want it. 18+, please gamble responsibly.

FAQs

What is a draw no bet example?

Back a team draw no bet at 1.70 with £10. They win, you collect £17. It's a draw, your £10 comes back. They lose, the tenner's gone. The full table is above.

Do you get your money back on draw no bet?

On a draw, yes. The bet voids at odds of 1.00 and your stake is returned. That's your money back rather than a win, and it doesn't apply if your team loses.

When should you use draw no bet?

Typically when you fancy a team but the draw feels genuinely live, a shaky favourite, a tight cup tie. You trade a shorter price for taking the draw out as a way to lose. More on this above.

Is draw no bet profitable?

It isn't a way to guarantee profit or beat the bookmaker. It lowers variance by removing the draw outcome, and the shorter odds are the cost of that. Same risk as any bet.

What are the advantages of draw no bet?

Mainly that a draw no longer costs you, since your stake comes back if the match finishes level. Lower risk than a straight win bet, in exchange for a shorter price.

Is draw no bet good?

Depends on the match. It earns its keep when a draw is a real possibility, and offers little in a mismatch, where you're taking shorter odds for protection you probably didn't need.

About the author

Ben Cullen is Head of Risk at Midnite, where he leads the team that prices the markets and manages the sportsbook's exposure. He has spent 12 years in trading and risk, previously at Ladbrokes Coral, ComeOn and KingMakers. He writes here on how betting markets are actually built, priced and settled. Connect with Ben on LinkedIn