What is Dutching? A Complete Guide

Dutching is one of those betting strategies that can give you an edge when used correctly.

If you're someone who likes to spread your risk and increase your chances of winning, Dutching might be exactly what you need.

Essentially, Dutching allows you to bet on multiple outcomes of an event and, if done right, can help you lock in a profit no matter the result.

The trick comes down to using different bookmakers, comparing odds, and distributing your stakes properly.

In this guide, we'll go deep into the mechanics of Dutching, explain how you can guarantee a profit in some situations, and provide a detailed step-by-step example of how you can apply it in real life.

We'll also cover how Dutching overlaps with other betting strategies like matched betting, arbitrage betting, and hedging.

These techniques often complement each other, especially when combined with the right tools like matched betting calculators.

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What is Dutching?

Dutching is a betting method that involves placing bets on multiple outcomes of the same event, ensuring that, no matter which one wins, you either make a profit or break even.

The goal is to distribute your total stake across these outcomes in such a way that your overall profit remains consistent or your losses are minimised.

Dutching works particularly well when odds between different bookmakers vary enough to allow you to place bets on multiple outcomes.

This is especially useful in markets like football, where there are typically three main results: home win, draw, and away win.

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Locking in a Profit with Dutching

Dutching becomes especially powerful when you're able to take advantage of differing odds across multiple bookmakers.

When the odds differ significantly, you can cover all outcomes and guarantee a profit, similar to arbitrage betting.

In football, for example, you might find different bookmakers offering varying odds for a home win, draw, or away win.

By placing bets across these outcomes, you can distribute your stakes to lock in a guaranteed return, no matter the result.

This type of Dutching can be done manually by checking the odds on various betting sites or by using tools specifically designed to identify opportunities for profit across multiple outcomes.

Let’s break this down in a real-life scenario.

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Step-by-Step Example: Dutching in a Football Match

Step 1: Identify the Match and Check the Odds

Let’s say you're looking at a football match between Manchester United and Chelsea. There are three possible outcomes:

• Manchester United Win (Home)
• Draw
• Chelsea Win (Away)

You find the following odds at three different bookmakers:

• Bookmaker 1 offers 2.50 for a Manchester United win.
• Bookmaker 2 offers 3.50 for a Draw.
• Bookmaker 3 offers 3.00 for a Chelsea win.

Step 2: Set Your Total Stake

Let’s assume your total stake for this bet is £100.

This means you want to distribute this £100 across the three possible outcomes in such a way that you guarantee the same profit regardless of which result happens.

Step 3: Use a Dutching Calculator

Manually calculating the stakes for each outcome can be tricky, but using a Dutching calculator simplifies the process.

The goal is to split your stake in a way that ensures an equal profit regardless of the outcome.

So using a Dutching calculator:

• For the Manchester United win at odds of 2.50, your stake would be £40.
• For the Draw at odds of 3.50, your stake would be £28.57.
• For the Chelsea win at odds of 3.00, your stake would be £33.33.

Your total stake distribution looks like this:

• £40 on Manchester United to win
• £28.57 on the Draw
• £33.33 on Chelsea to win

Step 4: Place Your Bets

Now that you’ve calculated your stakes, you place your bets on each outcome with the respective bookmakers. Remember, you're placing:

• £40 at Bookmaker 1 for Manchester United to win at 2.50 odds.
• £28.57 at Bookmaker 2 for a Draw at 3.50 odds.
• £33.33 at Bookmaker 3 for Chelsea to win at 3.00 odds.

Step 5: Calculate Your Potential Payouts

Now, let's calculate your potential payouts for each outcome:

• If Manchester United wins: £40 × 2.50 = £100
• If the match ends in a draw: £28.57 × 3.50 = £100
• If Chelsea wins: £33.33 × 3.00 = £100

As you can see, no matter the outcome, you’ll get a return of £100.

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Locking in a Profit

In the above example, you have simply broken even by covering all outcomes with no loss. But what if you wanted to lock in a profit?

This is where the odds need to be favourable enough to allow you to cover all outcomes and still walk away with a guaranteed profit.

Let’s tweak the odds slightly to show how you could lock in a profit:

• Bookmaker 1 offers 2.60 for a Manchester United win.
• Bookmaker 2 offers 3.70 for a Draw.
• Bookmaker 3 offers 3.10 for a Chelsea win.

Using a Dutching calculator again, you distribute your £100 stake as follows:

• £38.46 on Manchester United at odds of 2.60.
• £27.03 on the Draw at odds of 3.70.
• £34.52 on Chelsea to win at odds of 3.10.

Now, let’s calculate the potential payouts:

• If Manchester United wins: £38.46 × 2.60 = £100
• If the match ends in a draw: £27.03 × 3.70 = £100
• If Chelsea wins: £34.52 × 3.10 = £106

In this case, you’re guaranteed to at least break even, but if Chelsea wins, you’ll make a small profit of £6. You could also use a Dutching calculator to work out an even profit across all outcomes - if the odds allow.

If you adjust the total stake, or if you find more favourable odds, this profit could be even higher.

The key is to find the sweet spot where the odds allow you to cover all possible outcomes while locking in a profit.

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Using Rounded Stakes in Dutching

One of the lesser-known but crucial aspects of successful Dutching is the importance of using rounded stakes.

When you're placing bets across multiple outcomes—especially if you're using different bookmakers—it’s essential not to stand out as someone using a Dutching or any other advanced betting strategy.

Here’s why:

Avoid Drawing Attention from Bookmakers

Bookmakers are constantly on the lookout for bettors who might be using sophisticated strategies like Dutching, arbitrage betting, or even matched betting to guarantee profits.

The last thing they want is to lose money to bettors who are systematically taking advantage of small odds differences.

When you're placing bets with stakes like £17.53 or £32.67, it can trigger suspicion that you're using a calculated method to place your bets, as these amounts aren't typical for the average recreational bettor.

Rounded stakes, such as £5, £10, or £20, on the other hand, look more like what a casual bettor would place.

These clean, round numbers blend in better with regular betting patterns, making it less likely that a bookmaker’s algorithm will flag your account for closer scrutiny.

The more “natural” your betting patterns appear, the less likely you are to be gubbed or restricted by bookmakers, which is a common issue for anyone using advanced strategies.

Blending in with Recreational Bettors

Most people placing bets don’t calculate their stakes down to the penny, nor do they spread bets across multiple outcomes in a precise manner like Dutching requires.

This means using rounded stakes makes you look like a regular bettor who is just having fun, rather than someone systematically trying to extract profit.

Betting like a regular bettor helps you avoid triggering automated systems that monitor for betting patterns commonly associated with professional or advanced strategies.

Bookmakers often impose restrictions on bettors who consistently win or use methods to reduce their risk, such as Dutching.

Once you’re restricted, it becomes significantly harder to use your strategy effectively.

Therefore, blending in by betting in amounts like £5, £10, £15, £20, or similar round figures can help you avoid these pitfalls.

Maintaining Access to Promotions and Offers

Another reason to use rounded stakes is to maintain access to promotions and offers.

Bookmakers love offering promotions like free bets, bonus cash, or enhanced odds to their customers.

However, if they suspect that you’re using Dutching or any advanced strategy to always lock in a profit, they’re much more likely to block you from receiving these promotions.

By sticking to rounded numbers, your betting patterns won’t immediately raise red flags, allowing you to continue taking advantage of these offers.

When combined with other strategies like matched betting, access to these promotions can significantly boost your overall profits.

If you're looking for ways to maximise your gains, continuing to appear as a casual bettor is key.

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How to Adjust Your Stakes While Keeping Them Rounded

One challenge with Dutching is ensuring that you calculate your stakes accurately across multiple outcomes while still keeping the amounts rounded.

If you’re using a Dutching calculator to split your bets, you may end up with odd stake amounts like £17.29 or £32.45. However, this doesn’t mean you have to place these exact amounts. You can use the 'stake rounding' feature on Outplayed's Dutching calculator to work this out for you automatically.

Here’s what you can also do instead:

1. Round up or down: If the calculated stake is £17.29, consider rounding it to £20 or £15, depending on how much flexibility you have in your total stake. While this slightly changes the precise balance of your Dutching bet, the difference is often small enough that it won’t drastically affect your profits.
2. Adjust other bets accordingly: If you round up or down one of your stakes, make sure to adjust the other bets to maintain balance. For example, if you round up one stake, you can slightly reduce another stake to keep the overall distribution of your total stake close to what was originally calculated.
3. Test the impact with a calculator: Before placing your rounded stakes, run the new amounts through a Dutching calculator to see if the adjustment significantly affects your expected returns. In most cases, the changes will be minimal, allowing you to keep the strategy profitable while flying under the radar.

Example: Adjusting Rounded Stakes

Let’s revisit the football match example between Manchester United and Chelsea, but this time, we’ll incorporate rounded stakes.

The original stakes based on exact calculations were:

• £40 on Manchester United to win (odds 2.50)
• £28.57 on the Draw (odds 3.50)
• £33.33 on Chelsea to win (odds 3.00)

To make these look more like casual bets, you could round the amounts to:

• £40 on Manchester United (no change, as £40 is already a rounded figure)
• £30 on the Draw (rounded up from £28.57)
• £30 on Chelsea to win (rounded down from £33.33)

Your total stake is now £100 (which is the same as the original calculation), but the individual bets look much more casual.

The slight adjustments to the Draw and Chelsea stakes will have a minimal impact on your overall profit margin, but they will make your bets look more like those of a regular, recreational bettor.

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When to Use Dutching

Dutching works best when:

• Odds vary across different bookmakers: The more variation in odds, the better chance you have to lock in a profit.
• There are multiple potential outcomes: Football matches with three possible outcomes (win, draw, or lose) or horse races with multiple participants are perfect for Dutching.
• You want to reduce risk: Unlike placing a single bet on one outcome, Dutching spreads your risk across several outcomes.

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Dutching vs Arbitrage Betting

It’s easy to confuse Dutching with arbitrage betting, but the two strategies have key differences:

• Dutching focuses on spreading your bets across multiple outcomes in a single event to either guarantee profit or minimise loss. It works even when betting within the same bookmaker or across different bookmakers.
• Arbitrage betting, on the other hand, takes advantage of the difference in odds between two or more bookmakers, allowing you to guarantee a profit by covering all outcomes in different markets.

Matched betting also shares similarities with Dutching, especially when using lay betting to cover potential losses. You can learn more about lay betting here.

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Key Considerations for Successful Dutching

If you want to get the most out of Dutching, here are some key things to consider:

1. Use a Dutching calculator: This tool makes it much easier to calculate your stakes accurately across multiple outcomes.
2. Monitor the odds: Odds fluctuate, especially in sports markets. Keeping an eye on the odds allows you to spot opportunities for locking in a profit.
3. Watch out for betting limits: Some bookmakers impose limits on how much you can bet. Make sure you don’t run into any issues when distributing your stakes across outcomes.

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Conclusion

Dutching is a flexible betting strategy that can be highly effective when used correctly. By spreading your risk across multiple outcomes, you can lock in profits or at least break even, depending on the odds. Whether you're a seasoned bettor or new to strategies like this, Dutching offers a way to take your betting to the next level.

Pair this with other strategies like matched betting or arbitrage betting for an even more robust approach to sports betting. Ready to dive deeper? Check out our guide on how much you need to start matched betting or learn about how to find arbitrage bets.