Dutch betting, also known as dutching, is a strategy that involves sharing the risk of a bet across multiple runners by backing more than one selection in a race or event.
It enables punters to cover more than one outcome and, in theory, gives a greater opportunity of winning.
It’s particularly popular in sports betting and horse racing, where a punter may place a wager on more than one player to win a golf tournament, tennis event or darts competition.
How Dutch Betting Works
Dutching involves selecting multiple outcomes across a single betting market. For example, a punter may wish to back Gary Anderson and Gerwyn Price to win the World Darts Championship.
Stakes can be split equally across the two selections, or staggered to return the same amount, depending on price.
It is particularly useful when there is a short-priced favourite that you would like to oppose. It’s possible not to fancy the market leader, but when there isn’t a standout second option, making numerous selections can be a good way to oppose the dominant force in the market.
It’s worth noting that the more selections you dutch, the shorter price your combined bet becomes. For example, placing two wagers at an equal stake on the same event at 4/1, becomes an overall return of 6/4.
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Simple Dutch Betting Example
Using the example of backing two 4/1 shots, it’s essential to understand how dutching impacts on any returns.
4/1 translates to a 20 per cent chance, and two 4/1 chances would take up 40 per cent of the market. If you take the 40 per cent and display it as a fraction it makes a 6/4 shot.
It’s also possible to stagger stakes, which is useful when it comes to returning the same amount of any of the dutched selections.
For example, if a four-horse race was priced at 7/4, 2/1, 5/1 and 5/1, and you wanted to back the favourite and one of the outsiders to win the same amount, stakes can be divided to yield the same return.
Using a total stake of £100 a dutched bet on the two selections could be divided with £68.57 on the 7/4 shot and £31.43 on the 5/1 chance. Those bets would return £188.57 if any selection wins.
When and Why Bettors Use Dutching
Dutching can be used when you have multiple strong selections in the same event and equally when you may not like some outcomes at the head of the market, but there isn’t a standout alternative.
For example, you may really fancy Arsenal to beat Tottenham, and you’re ruling out any of Spurs’ players from opening the scorin,g you could look to Dutch two or more Arsenal players to score the first goal.
You may view Luke Littler as a vulnerable favourite for the World Darts Championship, or think that one half of the draw is weaker than the other, so again you could look to combine two or more selections in a dutched bet.
It’s a tactic to spread risk or extract as much value as possible from a market or opinion.
Pros and Cons of Dutch Betting
Pros:
- More chance of a return.
- Multiple selections in theory means shorter period without a winner.
- Useful to extract maximum value from a market.
Cons:
- More selections means increased stake.
- The more selections you dutch the shorter the price you’re betting at.
- Stakes have to be calculated in order for returns to be the same if any selection is successful.