How to calculate double handicap

Bettors should be able to calculate Double Chance stakes and odds on the 1X2 market to understand the true value of their bets. This article explains how Pinnacle Sports bettors can use the 1X2 market to place bets as Double Chance, providing a better alternative to traditional bookmakers and Exchanges.

What is Double Chance in betting?

In essence Double Chance is an option for the bettor to bet on two outcomes of the game, ultimately eliminating the third option i.e. the bet allows you to bet on either the home team and the draw or the away team and the draw.

A Pinnacle Sports +0.5 handicap works perfectly as Double Chance, but what happens when Pinnacle Sports are not offering 0 and 0.5 handicaps. In a game you want to bet on?

How to calculate Double Chance odds

We have established by betting on Double Chance, there are two out of three possible outcomes that will ensure your bet is successful. Consequently, odds are significantly lower than the straight 1X2 odds.

Lets use an example to explain clearly.

You want to bet on Chelsea to beat Tottenham at odds of 1.971, but you believe Tottenham may upset the odds and secure a draw, but Pinnacle Sports doesn’t offer Tottenham at 0.5 on the handicap, which would enable you to cover that option. Other bookmakers offer Tottenham to win or draw at 1.25, is that better value than at Pinnacle Sports?

Odds for the draw are at 3.880, and you are willing to risk £100, for this bet. Bettors should bet part of their £100 stake on Chelsea to win, and the remaining stake on the Draw. Obviously, only one of these bets will win but we want the same profit in either case.

For the purpose of this example we will label the stake on Chelsea as S. The stake on the Draw is therefore (£100-S). If Chelsea win, the bettor will win 0.971* S from that bet (The 0.971 comes from 1.971-1); the profit is calculated as Stake*(Decimal Odds – 1), and the bettor loses stake on Draw, which was (100-S); so, our total profit is 0.971*S – (100-S).

If the game ended in a draw, the calculation for the draw would see the bettor win 2.88 * (100-S) from the bet on the Draw. Therefore net profit would equal 2.88* (100-S) –S. As stated earlier bettors will want both profits equal, hence: