Draw no bet explained: how the stake is refunded on a draw

Draw no bet backs one team with the draw removed. If that team wins, the bet wins at the quoted odds. If the match is drawn, the stake is returned. If the team loses, the stake is lost. The licensee's published rules fix the detail, including which part of the match counts.

By Nairobi Football Editorial (prepared with AI tools under our editorial policy) · Last updated 2026-10-06

What draw no bet is

Draw no bet (often written DNB) is a football market with two selections: the home team or the away team. The draw is not a selection. Instead, it is the result on which the bet is cancelled and the stake is handed back.

That makes it a cousin of the three-way market explained in how 1X2 and double chance bets settle. In 1X2 a draw is a result you can back or lose on. In draw no bet it is neutralised.

The three outcomes

Every draw no bet bet ends in one of three ways, judged on the score at the end of the period the market covers. For most football markets that is normal time, including stoppage time added by the referee.

A void bet is not a win and not a loss. The stake goes back to the account and the bet plays no further part in anything else on your slip.

How the price is built

A draw no bet price is tied to the 1X2 prices for the same match. Remove the draw, and the chance that a team wins becomes its share of the two remaining results. In symbols, if the probabilities are p(home), p(draw) and p(away), the draw no bet probability for the home team is p(home) divided by p(home) plus p(away).

Illustrative example. Suppose a margin-free market gave probabilities of 0.50 for a home win, 0.25 for a draw and 0.25 for an away win. Those correspond to decimal odds of 1 divided by each probability: 2.00, 4.00 and 4.00. For the home team, draw no bet probability is 0.50 divided by (0.50 + 0.25), which is 0.50 divided by 0.75, or two thirds. The decimal odds are 1 divided by two thirds, which is 1.50.

The price is lower than 2.00 because the draw, a quarter of the outcomes, now returns the stake instead of losing it. Real prices also carry the bookmaker's margin, so a published draw no bet price will be a little shorter than the margin-free figure. The method for measuring that is in how to work out bookmaker margin in football odds.

A worked example in shillings

Illustrative example. A KES 1,000 stake on the home team at draw no bet odds of 1.50 settles as follows.

Check the pricing with the probabilities used above. The average return is 0.50 x 1,500 plus 0.25 x 1,000, which is 750 plus 250, or KES 1,000. That equals the stake, so the margin-free price is fair. A 1X2 bet on the home team at 2.00 gives 0.50 x 2,000, also KES 1,000, so the two bets carry the same average return and differ only in how the risk is spread.

Draw no bet against its neighbours

Three markets cover similar ground, and they are easy to confuse on a bet slip. The table sets them side by side.

The refund is what you are paying for, in the form of a shorter price than the 1X2 bet on the same team. Settlement for the zero Asian handicap line is the same, as the handicap guide explains in how football handicap bets settle.

What counts as the end of the match

A draw is only a draw once the market's period has ended. In knockout games that period is normally 90 minutes plus stoppage time, so a level score then refunds the stake even if extra time or penalties follow. Some licensees offer a separate market that includes extra time, and the market name on the slip tells you which one you hold.

The wording differs between rule books, so check before relying on it. The usual patterns are in extra time and penalties: bet settlement. If the match is postponed or abandoned, a different set of rules applies, covered in postponed or abandoned football match bet rules.

Draw no bet inside a combined bet

When a draw no bet selection sits on a slip with other selections, a draw voids only that selection. Treatment of the remaining selections depends on the licensee's rules, and commonly the combined odds are recalculated without the void leg. The rule book states how, and it is the document that governs the bet.

What Kenyan law requires

The law does not define draw no bet or say when a draw refunds a stake. It requires the licensee's rules to do that clearly. Regulation 22(2) of the Conduct of Gambling Operations Regulations, 2026 requires bookmaking terms and conditions to state all significant conditions that may affect a punter's decision.

Regulation 23(1) requires a licensee to "clearly display betting odds, rules and terms applicable to each bet", and regulation 23(2) bars changing the terms after acceptance except as permitted by law or approved rules. Regulation 24(1) requires winning bets to be settled "promptly and in accordance with the published rules". Under section 80 of the Gambling Control Act, 2025, a party to an online gambling dispute may appeal to the Gambling Appeals Tribunal within fourteen days from the date of the dispute.

Checks before you place the bet

1. Read the market name: draw no bet, not double chance or a 1X2 line.
2. Find in the licensee's rules which period the market covers and whether extra time counts.
3. Note how a void selection is treated in a combined bet.
4. Keep a copy of the rules shown when the bet was accepted.
5. Confirm the company is licensed, using how to check a bookmaker licence in Kenya.

A refund feels safer than a loss, but it does not change what the bet is. Gambling is addictive, and a returned stake is still money placed at risk. The responsible gambling page lists the regulator's helpline and the self-exclusion process.