As you start to expand the range of sports and markets that you place bets on, it is important to fully understand the rules of those markets.

In the vast majority of cases the rules are straightforward. Every bookie, and Betfair, will have the same terms & conditions, so you can confidently dutch them against each other.

However, there are a few exceptions. Below are the most common ones you are likely to encounter.

Tennis Retirement Rules

Retirements in tennis are pretty common, especially in low ranking tournaments. Players tend to take a cautious approach when it comes to injuries, especially if they are already behind in a match.

What happens to your bet when a player retires will depend on the bookie that you are betting with. There are two main categories that bookies fall into:

• All Bets Void
  • These bookies will refund all bets on the match no matter what the score is and no matter whether you have bet on the player who retires or the one who progresses to the next round.
• First Set Complete
  • These bookies void all bets if the retirement happens in the first set. If it happens after the first set they will settle the bets based on who progresses to the next round. In other words, the retiree is the loser and the other player is the winner.

If you were to dutch one bookie from each category against each other you would risk the possibility of a large loss. This would happen if the player you backed at the ‘First Set Complete’ bookie retired after the first set. You would lose that bet but only get a refund at the other bookie.

There is also a third category which is becoming more popular:

• Best of Both
  • If a bookie has this rule you will receive a refund if your player retires at any time in the match. If your opponent retires you will be paid as a winner (this may only apply if it is after the first set).

‘Best of Both’ bookies can be dutched against any other bookie without risk. In fact, there is the possibility of an extra payout if your opponent retires.

Sportsbet were the first to introduce a Best of Both policy, but they have recently been followed by other bookies. The terms at each bookie may be slightly different (e.g. Bet365 pay you in bonus bets if the opponent retires) so make sure you understand them before betting.

We have a full list of which bookies fall into which categories in our Bookie Library. We try to check and update the list at least twice a year. However, it is possible that changes could have happened since our last update so please also do your own research.

Draws in 2-way Markets

If you are betting into a two-way market (i.e. one that doesn’t include a ‘draw’ option) most bookies will settle on the result after overtime.

For sports that don’t go to overtime (e.g AFL) most bookies will settle the bet as half win/half lose. For example, if you bet $100 at odds of 3.00, and it ends in a draw, you will lose half of your stake (-$50) but you will win with the other half ($50 @ 3.00), so your net profit will be $50. Another way of looking at this is that they will pay out at half-odds e.g. 3.00 becomes 1.50, so a $100 stake would return $150.

The one main exception to both these rules is Bet365.

For AFL, Bet365 will void all bets in the event of a draw. This works out better for you if you are on the favourite, but worse if you’re on the underdog.

For NRL, if a match goes to OT, they have an offer where they pay out on the winner (same as other bookies), but they also void bets on the loser. If it is still a draw after OT they will void all bets.

3-way vs 2-way markets

When it comes to Match Odds markets, most bookies use the same format. For example, every bookie uses a 3-way market for soccer, and every bookie uses a 2-way market for basketball. However occasionally you will find an exception.

Picklebet, for example, have a 3-way market for NRL. This is very unusual. The standard for NRL is 2-way. If you were to back a team at Picklebet and lay them at Betfair, or dutch against another bookie, you would have a risk of losing both bets. This is because you would lose at Picklebet if the match was a draw after normal time, and you could lose at the other bookie/Betfair if the extra-time result didn’t go in your favour.

Winning Margin Markets

Winning margin markets appear on several sports, although sometimes the name may vary.

Sportsbet sometimes call it the ‘Big win, little win’ market, and that is a good description of how it works. There are four outcomes that are always included:

• Team A win by a small amount
• Team A win by a large amount
• Team B win by a small amount
• Team B win by a large amount

Depending on the sport there may also be a ‘Draw’ option, but it will vary from bookie to bookie.

If you place a back bet on a market that includes the Draw, but then lay it on a Betfair market that does not include the Draw, you risk a loss. Betfair will void the bet in the event of a draw, but you will lose at the bookie.

Cricket Super-Overs

Almost every bookie has a rule which states that any match odds bets will be settled on the official result. In other words, the super over counts.

Betfair is the only exception here. They have a ‘Match Odds (inc. Tie)’ market, but it tends not to have liquidity. If you place a bet on the regular ‘Match Odds’ market, and the game goes to a super-over, your bet will be voided.

Therefore, if you place a back and lay on a T20 cricket match, and it goes to a super-over, there is a risk that you could lose the back bet but only get a refund on the lay bet.

If you want to remove that risk you should place a small bet on the ‘Draw’ market. This could be at Betfair or another bookie. By doing this you will not only remove the possibility of losing money, you could also get a large win if it the team you have backed at the bookie wins in a super-over.

Baseball Pitchers

When you bet on a team in baseball it usually lists the name of the pitcher beside the team name.

If the listed pitcher does not start some bookies will void all bets. Others will keep the bets open with the replacement pitcher. This is something to be wary of when dutching.

Please see this post for a more in-depth breakdown of baseball rule differences.

Always Double-Check

These are some of the main rule differences that you will find, but there are others. It is also possible that there will be changes to the ones listed above.

Whenever betting in a new market, we encourage you to always check the rules. This is easy to do at Betfair, just click on the ‘Rules‘ button on the market page. At the bookie it might require more work, but it could save you a large amount of money.

In particular, if you spot an arb, or something that seems too good to be true, make sure you fully understand the terms of the market.