Draw No Bet explained

Pick a side, get your stake back if the match ends level. Sounds like a free pass. It is not. Here is exactly what Draw No Bet is, the price you pay for the insurance, and when it beats both 1X2 and Asian handicap.

By Tolu Shotade · Editor, Bets.ng · Updated 5 May 2026

You backed Arsenal to beat Manchester City. The match finished 1-1. Your stake comes back. No win, no loss. That is Draw No Bet. It feels like a free pass, but the price you paid for that insurance is sitting right there in the odds, and most Nigerian punters never check it.

Draw No Bet, in 60 seconds: the safer 1X2 with a price tag.

What Draw No Bet actually is

Draw No Bet, written as DNB on most Nigerian slips, is the 1X2 market with the draw outcome removed. Three outcomes become two. Your team wins, your bet wins. Your team loses, your bet loses. Match ends in a draw, your stake is refunded in full. No half-payout, no part-loss, just the money back in your wallet.

Every Nigerian operator carries it. Bet9ja calls it DNB. SportyBet labels it Draw No Bet. 1xBet and Stake show it as DNB in the betting menu. The settlement is identical everywhere. Pick a side. Avoid the draw. Done.

The price you pay for the insurance

Bookmakers do not give you the draw refund for free. They price it into the odds. A team available at 2.10 to win in the 1X2 market will sit around 1.55 to 1.65 on Draw No Bet at the same operator. Same selection, lower price. The gap is the cost of the refund clause.

The maths is straightforward. If the implied chance of the win is 48% and the implied chance of the draw is 25%, the bookmaker prices DNB on the assumption that 25% of stakes get refunded. The odds drop to reflect a higher effective hit rate, because you only lose when the third outcome lands.

A simple rule of thumb. Take the 1X2 odds for your team. Take the draw odds. Divide the 1X2 odds by one plus the inverse of the draw odds. The answer is the fair DNB price. If the book offers a number better than that, you are getting value. Worse, the insurance is overpriced.

When DNB beats a straight 1X2 win

DNB earns its keep on matches where the draw is the real second-favourite outcome. Two evenly matched sides, low expected goals, defensively organised teams. Think Atletico Madrid away in La Liga. Inter at home against a top-six rival. Any NPFL fixture where both sides need points and neither attacks.

On these matches the draw price sits short, often 2.80 to 3.20, and the side you back is around 2.40 to 2.80 to win outright. DNB strips the most likely losing outcome and converts it into a refund. You take the lower price and you sleep better.

The other case is when you genuinely cannot split the home and away sides but lean very slightly to one. The 1X2 bet asks you to be right. DNB asks you not to be wrong. Two different questions, two different prices.

When DNB is the wrong call

Heavy favourites. If you are backing a top side to beat a relegation candidate, the draw is rarely the second outcome. The away win is. DNB still refunds the draw but leaves you fully exposed on the upset. The price cut from 1X2 to DNB is small, the protection minimal, the value gone.

High-scoring fixtures. Manchester City versus Tottenham, average four goals between them. The draw is statistically unlikely. You are paying for an insurance you will almost never need. Take the straight 1X2 win and pocket the extra price.

Accas. Bookmakers love DNB legs in accumulators because the refund clause does not pay out as a win on the slip. A pushed DNB removes the leg and reduces your acca to a smaller fold. Some operators recalculate, some void the whole ticket. Check the rules at your book before stacking DNB legs.

DNB versus Asian handicap +0

Asian handicap +0, sometimes called Level Handicap or Draw No Bet Handicap, is the same bet as DNB on most books. Pick a side at +0. Win, you win. Lose, you lose. Draw, push, stake back. Identical settlement.

Where they differ is the price. Asian handicap markets often carry sharper pricing than 1X2 markets at Asian-focused operators like 1xBet, Melbet and Stake. If you want DNB, check the Asian handicap +0 line at the same book before backing it. The price is sometimes meaningfully better. The deeper read on handicap mechanics is why your handicap ticket lost.

A worked Nigerian example

Take a hypothetical NPFL match. Enyimba host Remo Stars in Aba. The 1X2 prices at Melbet are 2.05 Enyimba, 3.10 draw, 3.80 Remo Stars. The DNB price on Enyimba is 1.58.

Stake 5,000 NGN on Enyimba 1X2 at 2.05. Win pays 10,250. Draw pays nothing. Loss pays nothing.

Stake 5,000 NGN on Enyimba DNB at 1.58. Win pays 7,900. Draw refunds 5,000. Loss pays nothing.

Across a season of similar fixtures, the choice between the two is a question of risk tolerance and how often Enyimba draw at home. If they draw roughly 22% of the time, DNB and 1X2 settle to almost identical expected value. If the draw rate is higher, DNB is the better number. Lower, take the 1X2.

The bottom line

Draw No Bet is not a free pass. It is a 1X2 bet with the worst losing outcome converted into a refund, sold to you at a haircut on the odds. On close matches with a credible draw threat, the haircut is worth paying. On heavy favourites and high-scoring fixtures, the straight 1X2 win pays more for the same effective outcome.

Check the maths before you back it. Take the draw odds, divide one by them, add one, divide the 1X2 win odds by that number. If your book is paying more on DNB than that figure, take the bet. The companion read on the goal market is over 2.5 goals explained.