A double chance bet is a bet on two of three potential outcomes. It’s similar to a 3-way bet, except instead of betting on one of the three potential outcomes (Team A, Team B, or Draw) you are essentially betting against one of three potential outcomes.
With double chance bets your wager would win if either of the two potential outcomes you are betting on happens. It’s important to always calculate and compare the return on spreading your wager across single bets on the two potential outcomes vs placing a double chance wager. Below I will outline an example of a double chance bet and then outline how you can calculate the return to make sure it’s advantageous to place the double chance bet rather than two single wagers.
Soccer Example
Here’s an example of a Double Chance betting line from SportsInteraction.com for a Toronto FC match vs Charlotte FC:
If you don’t think Toronto FC will lose this game, then you may want to bet on the Toronto FC – Draw double chance betting line at odds of 1.30.
You can also bet against the match ending in a draw (Toronto FC – Charlotte FC 1.28) or against Toronto FC winning (Draw – Charlotte FC 1.65).
It’s important to remember that the double chance odds are just the two single wagers combined into one. You should always make sure that betting the Double Chance betting provides a better return than simply splitting your wager between the 3-way betting lines for the two outcomes.
Here are the 3-way betting lines for the Toronto FC vs Charlotte FC match:
Always compare the payout from splitting your bet across the two single 3-way wagers vs placing the Draw No Bet wager. From my experience it’s 50/50 as to which wager type will have the higher payout.
Calculating and Comparing Double Chance Odds
Continuing with the above example, let’s look at how you might calculate whether it’s better to place a Double Chance bet or two Match Result wagers.
Let’s say you are confident Toronto FC will either win the match or earn a draw at home.
A $100 bet on Toronto FC or Draw would payout $130 if Charlotte FC does not win the match.
Now let’s check if that $130 return on the $100 is better than splitting the wager between Toronto FC to win (odds of 2.05) and Draw (odds of 3.46).
First let’s figure out how much we would have to bet on Toronto FC to receive the equivalent $130 payout we got from betting $100 on Toronto FC – Draw double chance. A bet of $63.42 on Toronto FC at odds of 2.05 would payout $130.
So from our $100 initial wager we would now have $36.58 remaining to bet on Draw if we split the wager up. At odds of 3.46 a bet of $36.58 on a Draw would payout $126.57. The $126.57 is less than the $130 payout that would be received from a Toronto FC or Draw wager.
Therefore, in this case it makes sense to place the Double Chance bet with odds of 1.30 for Toronto FC or Draw.
Here’s a quick breakdown of the calculation example again:
$100 on Toronto FC or Draw @ 1.30 – Pays $130 if Toronto FC wins or Draw
$63.42 on Toronto FC to win @ 2.05 – Pays $130 if Toronto FC wins.
$36.58 on Draw @ 3.46 – Pays $126.57 if Draw.
You should quickly perform a calculation like this whenever you’re considering placing a Double Chance bet. In this example it made sense to make the Double Chance bet, but in many instances the return will be higher from splitting the wager.
