General Sports rules, handicap, regular/full-time and draw no bet

So, it’s Wednesday evening, and you fancy a bet on the night’s big World Cup football match. Argentina are facing a tough Croatian side, and you think they look weak.

As you know, you can bet on either the home team, a draw, or the away team. This is known as ‘Match Odds’ or ‘1x2’.

However, did you also know that we offer two alternative ways to bet that can give better odds and a higher probability of a return? These two other options are called ‘Handicap’ betting and ‘Draw No Bet.’

The first alternative we offer is ‘European handicap’, also known as ‘3-way handicap’. You can see this market displayed on available matches as ‘Handicap Match Result (No Void)’.

What is Handicap Betting?

Handicap betting is when we change the odds by giving a virtual advantage to one team and a virtual disadvantage to the other. For example, by offering a handicap of +1 on a team, that team then starts with a virtual one-goal advantage.

A +2 or +3 will mean your bet is much more likely to win, as your side is starting with a huge advantage. This will lower your odds and result in a lower payout. On the other hand, a -2 or -3 handicap will make it much less likely for your wager to win. Your odds will be higher, though, which will increase your payout.

A one-goal handicap bet would show as ‘Croatia +1’. In this case, whatever the final result of the evening’s events, we need to add one goal to Croatia's total to work out the outcome of the bet. In effect, for your wager, Croatia starts on one goal.

• If the match were tied 0-0, the result of your bet would be a win, as the score after taking adding one to Croatia’s final tally would be 0-1. So, we would settle the wager as if the final score was 0-1.
• If Croatia won 0-1, your bet would still win, as we add the +1 handicap to 0-1, which makes 0-2.
• If Argentina won 1-0, your bet would lose, as the match is a 1-1 draw, taking into account the one goal handicap.

As this is a European handicap bet, there are still three outcomes, a home win, a draw, or an away win.

To calculate if your bet is a winner or not, add or subtract the handicap, for example, -1 or +1, to your team’s final score. As with any regular bet, you need your team to win (after the handicap is factored in) for your bet to pay out. If your team draw or the other team wins, your bet will be settled as a loss.

What does Draw No Bet mean?

Draw No Bet is when we remove the draw outcome and only offer odds on the Home or Away team.

Usually, when you bet on either the Home or Away team, the odds factor in the chance of a draw happening. This is also true for the ‘Handicap Match Result (No Void)’ market. Instead, if you choose Draw No Bet, you remove the risk of a last-minute goal tying the match and taking your bet down. If the unthinkable happens, your team relinquishes the lead, and the game finishes as a draw, we void your bet, and you get your stake back. Phew! If you wager on the home team using the Draw No Bet market, and the away team wins, your bet is settled as a loss.

Finally, if you add a Draw No Bet selection to an accumulator bet, and the match ends as a draw, you still have a chance! The leg is void and is settled at odds of 1.0, effectively reducing the number of legs by one. So, a five-fold accumulator becomes a four-fold, and so on.

What do ‘Regular’ and ‘Full Time’ mean?

‘Regular Time’ and ‘Full Time’ are terms that mean the same thing. They refer to the standard 90-minute length of a football match.

Unless we state otherwise, we settle all bets based on the end of ‘Regular Time’ or ‘Full Time’ only. We assume that football matches use the traditional format of 90 minutes split into two 45-minute halves. We also include potential injury time, which is sometimes added on if a player gets injured.

The exception is for friendly games when we settle all bets based on the final result. We do this if the match goes on for the full 90 minutes or not. We reserve the right to void bets if an event is played using a different format to the standard 90-minutes.

We explain this in our Sports rules:

“Results will be taken after full time, including any injury time added by the referee. Extra time and penalty shootouts will be excluded unless stated otherwise.”

Where can I find your Sports rules?

To check our betting rules, scroll to the bottom of our main Sports page on our website, then choose ‘Sports Rules’ at the bottom.

General sports rules are shown on this page. You can even view rules specific to individual sports by selecting ‘Games’, then choosing a sport from the drop-down menu.