Double Chance in Sports Betting
What it is and how to take advantage of it
The double chance bet is one of the most popular and straightforward options in sports betting, especially in high-demand sports like football. Despite its simplicity, mastering when and how to use it correctly can make the difference between a successful series of bets or just going nowhere. Double chance offers a way to reduce risk while maintaining the appeal of making a profit, making it a key option in long-term betting strategies.
This type of bet covers two of the three possible outcomes in a match: home win, draw, or away win. Although it seems like a safe option, there are nuances you should understand to maximize its effectiveness—like the odds involved and the situations in which it becomes more advantageous. Understanding how to leverage double chance will allow you to adapt your strategy to different game contexts and teams.
In this article, you will learn:
What Double Chance is
How it works and when to use it
Advantages and disadvantages
Strategies to maximize your profit with this option
The relationship between Double Chance and value betting
What is a Double Chance Bet?
A double chance bet allows you to cover two of the three possible outcomes in a sporting event. This type of bet is popular in football but can also be applied to other sports, and it allows you to cover more than one possibility, increasing your chances of success. The three possible results of an event are usually:
Home Win (the home team wins)
Draw (neither team wins, the match ends tied)
Away Win (the visiting team wins)
Instead of selecting just one of these three outcomes, double chance allows you to cover two, reducing risk and adjusting the odds according to the expected return.
Example:
In a match between Real Madrid and Barcelona, the possible double chance bets would be:
1X: Real Madrid wins or draws (i.e., doesn’t lose)
X2: Barcelona wins or draws (i.e., doesn’t lose)
12: Either team wins (no draw)
So, if you bet on 1X (Real Madrid wins or draws), you win the bet if Real Madrid wins or draws. You only lose if Real Madrid loses.
How Does Double Chance Work?
The key to understanding how double chance works is recognizing that you’re increasing your chances of success at the expense of a lower payout. In traditional bets, the bettor risks picking only one outcome; double chance allows you to cover more scenarios, reducing risk but also lowering the odds offered.
Traditional Bets vs. Double Chance
Traditional Bet: If you bet on a team to win, you only win if that team achieves the expected result (a win). The odds are higher due to the greater uncertainty.
Double Chance: With a double chance bet, you cover two out of the three possible outcomes, which increases your chances of winning. However, bookmakers adjust the odds downward because your bet is more likely to succeed. This means lower risk but also lower potential returns compared to traditional bets.
Practical example:
Suppose you bet on a Real Madrid win at odds of 1.50. If you bet on 1X (Real Madrid wins or draws), the odds might be 1.20, since you are covering both the win and draw outcomes, increasing the likelihood of success but lowering the return.
This type of bet is ideal for bettors looking to reduce risk. It’s especially useful when:
The favorite team is going through a rough patch (injuries, poor form, etc.)
A draw is a realistic possibility due to the competitive nature of the match
You prefer a safer bet, even if the odds are lower
Double Chance? Even Better: Sure Bets
At first glance, double chance seems like a smart bet: it allows you to cover two of the three possible outcomes of a match (e.g., home win or draw), which increases your chances of winning. It’s a common option for cautious bettors who want to minimize risks, especially in close or uncertain games.
However, there’s an even more powerful alternative: the sure bet (also known as arbitrage betting). Unlike double chance, which only improves your chances, a sure bet is a mathematical strategy that guarantees a profit no matter the final outcome.
How? By taking advantage of differences in odds offered by different bookmakers. When these differences are detected — i.e., when one bookmaker overestimates the probability of an outcome and another underestimates it — it becomes possible to bet on both sides of the event in such a way that, no matter what happens, you earn a guaranteed profit.
The big advantage over double chance is that you’re not just increasing your chances of winning — you can’t lose. In short: double chance is a shield; a sure bet is a guaranteed profit formula. The key lies in finding those opportunities… but as you’ll see below, doing it manually is not as easy as it sounds.
| Aspect | Surebets | Double Chance |
|---|---|---|
| Outcomes Covered | All possible outcomes (e.g., win and loss) | Two of three possible outcomes (e.g., win or draw) |
| Risk | None (if executed correctly) | Low (higher chance of success, but still a chance of loss) |
| Tools Required | Recommended to use detection software like BetOven | Manual only |
| Odds Variability Impact | High: if odds change before completion, the opportunity can disappear. That’s why tools like BetOven, with fast execution, are essential. | Minimal: all betting is done with the same bookmaker |
| Guaranteed Profit | Yes | No |
Manual Sure Bets vs. AI
While sure bets offer a clear advantage over options like double chance, the real challenge is executing them correctly. Finding a sure bet manually means constantly comparing odds across multiple bookmakers, reacting in seconds to minor changes, and maintaining near-perfect precision. In practice, this is not only complex and exhausting — it’s often just not viable: by the time you spot a good odd on one site, it may have changed on the other, and the opportunity is gone.
This is where artificial intelligence makes a difference. A tool like BetOven analyzes thousands of odds in real time, automatically detects pricing errors between bookmakers, and shows you exactly when and where to place a sure bet. There’s no room for human error and no need to compare markets manually around the clock. It’s an automated solution that transforms what used to be a difficult task into a constant stream of real, sustainable profit.
BetOven is the number 1 automated sports arbitrage software, specifically designed to automate the betting process while ensuring the maximization of our profits, both in surebets and valuebets. It is such a powerful tool that it can detect errors made by bookmakers in real-time when setting their odds, and automatically place bets on these errors.
In the following video, you can see how BetOven’s AI works and how you can try it for free to maximize your profits in sports betting:
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