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The double bet is a handy way of boosting your potential returns without adding an obscene amount of selections to your bet. It’s relatively easy to understand and once you master the different ways you can use it then you should start to see your winnings climb. Let’s get cracking…
What is a double bet?
A double bet is one stake placed against two selections from different events. In order for your bet to win, both your selections must be correct. It is one of many different ‘multiple’ bets and, given it’s reliant on just two outcomes, is the easiest to understand and perfect.
To be as clear as possible, betting on two things from the same event e.g. a team to win and a player to score is not a double bet.
Why not just place two singles?
It’s true, you could take your two selections and place a single bet on each. There are pros and cons to this though. The upside is that if one of your selections lose, you still win something but the negative is that you lose out on increased odds, which you would receive if placing a double. Let’s look at the upcoming Champions League ties Juventus versus Lyon and Barcelona versus Napoli as an example.
We think that both home teams will win their respective match in 90 minutes. SkyBet are currently offering odds as below:
Juventus 4/9
Barcelona 4/6
Now, let’s say you’ve wagered £10 and both selections have won. In the case of two single bets, you’d place £5 on each outcome. A Juventus win would return £7.22 whilst a Barca win would give you £8.33 for a total winnings of £15.55 or £5.55 profit. It’s a reasonable profit and shouldn’t be knocked but you could have made more.
When placing a double, you’d stake the full £10 as one bet i.e. I bet that both Juventus and Barcelona will win. The benefit of placing a double is that your odds are boosted and rather than having bets that are ‘odds on’ you now bet on odds of 1.41/1.
Your £10 stake would now be turned into £24.07 or £14.07 profit i.e. £8.52 more than the two singles.
How does the odds boost work?
First things first, when we refer to an ‘odds boost’ it is not to be confused with promotions that some bookies offer. It’s not a special offer. It is just how the double bet works.
The reason your double bet is worth more is simply because the chances of it coming off are less likely. Let’s use the Champions League ‘to qualify’ market to explain. Bayern Munich hold a 3-0 lead over Chelsea and Man City are 2-1 up after visiting the Bernabeu. This means their odds to reach the quarter-finals are extremely short:
Man City 1/8
Bayern Munich 1/250
Even with their tag as heavy favourites, when you add both to your bet the possibility of one shock turnaround ruining your prediction gives more security to the bookmaker hence you receive better odds.
In this example, a £10 bet would pay you £1.30 profit.
The odds are established purely by multiplying your selections together e.g.
Juventus and Barca to win in 90 minutes at £10 stake = £10*(4/9 + 1)*(4/6 + 1) = returns including stake of £24.07
Or
Man City and Barcelona to qualify at £10 stake = £10*(1/8 + 1)*(1/250 + 1) = returns including stake of £11.30
Can double bets only be used on match result bets?
No, there is a wide range of events you can use doubles on. Here are a few ideas that might spark some intrigue.
Fancy PSG and Bayern Munich to waltz to their respective league titles again in 2020/21? Why not combine the odds of 1/12 and 1/7 respectively (as per SkyBet) and take your potential profit from £11.31 – based on two singles with £50 at risk on each – to £23.81 on a double?
Another option is to pair games where you’re unsure of both match outcomes but see something else as very likely to occur. Let’s say you’re confident Bayern Munich will beat Chelsea at odds of 4/11. Maybe that price doesn’t tempt you enough on its own but the day before Man City and Real Madrid lock horns. Unfortunately, it’s a tough match to predict, however, you could be confident that both teams will score. That is priced at 4/9. You could combine these two things in a double bet to obtain odds at close to evens.
To finish, we’ll look at one possibility that is particularly interesting; the ability to combine events from different sports. That’s right, you can take a bet from different sports be it football and boxing or golf and horse racing to create a unique double. Why would you? Perhaps Floyd Mayweather is fighting but his odds are so poor because his unbeaten record of 50 fights and zero losses make him such a huge favourite. Rather than leave the event alone completely you could use it to boost a prediction you have on a Premier League match.
There you have it, a complete guide to the double bet.
