A Beginner’s Guide to Dutch Betting & Winning Strategies

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Learn the pros, cons & types of Dutch betting for your next race
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Whether you're new to betting on sports or have been around a while, chances are you've heard about the betting strategy called "dutching"—and no, it has nothing to do with tulips or wooden clogs. Rather, dutching gives you a way to limit the risk of gambling so that you win small profits consistently that build over time. Keep reading to learn all about dutching, including the types of dutching and how to place a dutch bet of your own.

What does “dutching” mean?

Dutching is a betting strategy where you bet on multiple winners in an event that can only have one winner. This reduces your financial risk because if one of your picks wins, your earnings cover the other loss and give you a small profit. Dutching is most common in horse racing but is also used for other sports.

Section 1 of 7:

What is dutch betting?

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    This strategy is most common in horse racing, where you have many horses in one race but only one can win. With dutching, you bet on 2 or 3 different winners with different odds. If any one of them wins, your earnings will cover the losses on the others, plus a little profit. If none of your choices wins, you lose your entire stake—but hopefully you know enough about the event that you've chosen more carefully than that. [1]
    • Dutch Schultz, an American mobster in the 1930s, created this strategy to manipulate the odds while controlling the winning numbers, and raked in a fortune. But today's dutching strategy is a little tamer. [2]
    • While it's most common in horse racing, dutching is a strategy that's used to bet on sports in other contexts too, such as Premier League soccer or NFL football.
    • Dutching usually requires using at least two different sportsbooks. Because odds can fluctuate, you have to be pretty nimble and quick to adjust your calculations as necessary to ensure the profit you expect.
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Section 2 of 7:

Types of Dutch Betting

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    With basic dutch betting, you simply back 2 winners in a race or contest that can only have one winner. All you have to do is make sure the odds are such that a win on one bet will absorb a loss on the other bet and still generate a profit. [3]
    • Example: You might bet $20 on Horse A to win the race at odds of 7/1. You also bet $20 on Horse B to win at odds of 7/1. Since the odds are the same, if either horse wins, you'll profit $140. You keep your stake from the winning horse but lose $20.
    • When it's helpful: When you have inside information or are equally confident in one of a couple of outcomes. It's also a good place to start because it's the easiest type of dutching to understand.
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    In this type of dutch betting, you first decide how much money you want to potentially make off of your bets, then adjust the stakes accordingly. As long as one of your bets wins, you'll earn the target profit. [4]
    • Example: If you need to earn $80, you might choose to bet $20 on Horse A at 5/1 odds, then another $20 on Horse B, also at 5/1 odds. If either horse wins, you'll pocket $80 ($100 minus the $20 loss) and hit your target.
    • When it's helpful: When you need to win a specific amount, perhaps to cover another bet on something else.
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    Set-stake dutching works similar to target-profit dutching, but this time you're putting a limit on the amount of money you're going to bet. Based on that total amount, you'll find two outcomes with matching odds and bet on those two so that your loss is covered. [5]
    • Example: You might decide that you're only going to bet $40 on a horse race. You could choose to put $20 on Horse A at 5/1 odds, then another $20 on Horse B, also at 5/1 odds. As long as either A or B wins, you're taking home $80 profit and you stayed within your limits.
    • When it's helpful: If you're a beginning gambler or you want to stick to your limits.
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Section 3 of 7:

How to Dutch Bet

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    To reap the benefits of the dutching strategy, you typically have to place a bet for one winner at one sportsbook and another winner at a different sportsbook. Pay attention to the minimum requirements and open comparable accounts so you won't have to take vastly different costs into account. [6]
    • Some sportsbooks permit limited dutch betting in specific markets, such as if you're betting on which player will score the first goal in a soccer match. [7]
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    Now you're going to decide what you want to bet on. You're typically looking for a race where there can only be one winner, or bets on the first team or player to do something in a game (which are also races because only one player or team can be first). [8]
    • Look at the odds at the different sportsbooks as well. Typically they'll be about the same, but even slight differences might make a big deal later.
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    The easiest thing to do is find a couple of possible winners who have the same odds—but that doesn't always work out in your favor. If you need to balance different odds, you can use a free online dutching calculator to find the right odds for the stake or profit you want. [9]
    • Use what you know about the teams or players to decide which options are best. Dutching can be really difficult if you're trying to bet on a sport that you don't know much about.
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    Now that you've decided what you want to do, you're ready to pull the trigger. Place your bets, then wait to see who wins. If either of your bets wins, you'll cover your loss on the other one and also earn a bit of a profit. [10]
    • Dutch betting is a great way to take advantage of free bets and other promotions that sports books offer so you can really maximize your winnings.
    • Keep in mind the odds might change between the times when you place your bets, which might affect your outcome a bit. [11]
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Section 4 of 7:

Is dutching profitable?

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    It's next to impossible to win big on a dutch bet, but that's not really what you're trying to do. Dutching is all about controlling your risk, and less risk typically means less reward. But if you stick with it and make smart bets, you can earn a tidy profit over time. [12]
    • Keep in mind that you only win anything with dutch betting if one of your selections is the ultimate winner. If both (or all) of your selections lose, you've lost everything you staked.
    • You stand to win the most through dutching when you're super familiar with the sport you're betting on—especially if you have some kind of insider information that might affect the outcome.
Section 5 of 7:

Is dutching legal?

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    While there aren't laws against this technique, some sportsbooks don't like it. They might mention something in their terms and conditions about it, or they might explicitly allow it only in limited circumstances or specific markets. [13]
    • If you're using multiple sportsbooks to place dutch bets, try to use the strategy infrequently. If any of the sportsbooks notices the pattern and doesn't like it, they can just ban your account.
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Section 6 of 7:

What sports are best for dutching?

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    When you bet on a race, there are multiple runners who are all competing at one time, but there can only be one winner. When you dutch, you know that only one of your bets, at most, is going to be a winner. [14]
    • Dutching is also popular in other sports betting markets like football and basketball; you might pick the player who's going to score the first goal or guess the exact score of a game.
    • Dutching bets for the final score is a common strategy in almost any sport.
Section 7 of 7:

Dutching vs. Arbitrage

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    However, arbitrage betting is a strategy used in contests that only have two possible outcomes; essentially, you are betting that a team will win and also betting that the team won't win. With dutching, on the other hand, you're betting for several of many possible winners. [15]
    • In some sports, such as football, the game itself only has two possible outcomes, but other betting lines might involve multiple possible outcomes that would give you an opportunity to dutch.
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      References

      1. ↑ https://news.paddypower.com/guides/2024/01/19/dutch-betting/
      2. ↑ https://matchedbettingblog.com/dutching/
      3. ↑ https://news.paddypower.com/guides/2024/01/19/dutch-betting/
      4. ↑ https://punter2pro.com/dutching-dutch-betting-explained-arbitrage/
      5. ↑ https://news.paddypower.com/guides/2024/01/19/set-stake-dutch-betting/
      6. ↑ https://matchedbettingblog.com/dutching/
      7. ↑ https://news.paddypower.com/guides/2024/01/19/dutch-betting/
      8. ↑ https://matchedbettingblog.com/dutching/
      9. ↑ https://bet-types.com/guide/dutch-betting/
      1. ↑ https://matchedbettingblog.com/dutching/
      2. ↑ https://bet-types.com/guide/dutch-betting/
      3. ↑ https://doppelwetten.com/dutching/
      4. ↑ https://doppelwetten.com/dutching/
      5. ↑ https://news.paddypower.com/guides/2024/01/19/dutch-betting/
      6. ↑ https://caanberry.com/how-does-dutching-work-in-sports-betting/
      7. ↑ https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/dont-bet-on-it

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