Can You Bet On Both Teams?

There are many sporting events that are a match-up between two opponents, and many people ask can you bet on both teams? Yes, you can – but not in all circumstances.

Let’s use a Champions League Final between Liverpool and Manchester City as an example. Let’s say the match must be played to a conclusion, so the bookies may decide to price both these two evenly matched sides up at 10/11 (1.91) to lift the trophy.

If you’re betting with cash, most bookies will be only too happy to let you back both sides as they have factored in a percentage for themselves. Basically, if you have £100 on both teams, you will bet £200 but can only win back £191 whichever team wins. In this instance, the bookies’ answer to can you bet on both teams is definitely …YES!

Can You Bet On Both Teams Using A Bonus?

Many bookmakers offer bonuses to new and existing players, such as deposit and bet £100 and get a £100 sports bonus. If you’re thinking of betting on one team in a match with your cash deposit and the other team with your bonus funds, guaranteeing you a profit, think again. Most bookies have a clause in their bonus wagering requirements restricting you from betting on both outcomes in a match to stop you from profiting this way.

Even if you managed to get both bets on, it is likely that your bonus funds and any winnings from them wouldn’t be paid out because of the aforementioned clause.

Of course, if another bookmaker is offering the same deposit and bonus deal. there’s nothing to stop you from being clever. Simply use your cash deposit with bookmaker A to bet on Liverpool and your cash deposit with bookmaker B to bet on Chelsea. Understand that you will lose £9 on these two bets, but you can then use your bonus funds in a similar way on another match to guarantee a profit.

Simply bet £100 of bonus money from Bookmaker A on Liverpool and £100 of bonus money on bookmaker B on Chelsea. You won’t get your stake back from your bonus bets, but whichever bet wins will get you a return of £91 cash. So you would win £91 on your bonus bets and lose £9 on your cash bets, a profit of £82 overall.

Just remember that if bonuses have wagering requirements attached to them, you would then have to wager your winnings accordingly.

If these wagering requirements were 3x your winnings, you could theoretically back one team with your winnings and another team with some additional cash you have. This again would result in a small loss, but even three small losses would still leave you with a decent profit for your efforts. Also, if your first or second cash bet wins rather than your bonus winnings bets, you’ll have made your profit and won’t have to complete any more wagering requirements.

Can You Bet On Both Teams When Arbing?

The definition of arbing is to bet on both possible outcomes to guarantee a profit, so this is another yes to the question of can you bet on both teams? However, when arbing, you do normally place bets on the two possible outcomes with different bookmakers.

As bookmakers can have contrasting opinions of who will win a sporting event, there are a variety of match-ups when betting on both teams will guarantee a profit. Quite often one bookmaker may offer team A at 11/10 whilst another bookmaker will offer team B at 11/10, allowing quick-minded arbers to guarantee a profit by backing both teams. You normally need to be very quick though, as the bookmaker that is out of line with the other bookmakers will normally fall into line quickly.

Can You Bet On Both Teams On The Betting Exchanges?

There are no rules normally stopping you backing both teams on betting exchanges, where you can also back and lay the same selection, which is basically the same as backing both selections. People that normally do this are known as betting exchange traders or simply betting traders.

The art behind being a betting trader is to be a good judge of how a betting market will move, spotting the early value and placing bets accordingly. For example, you might price a match up with team A at 4/6 and team B at 6/4. However, when the market is formed, both selections are trading at even-money.

You can then either lay team A as you think its price will drift or back team B because you think its price will contract. If you’re right, you then have the option of backing team A at a bigger price or laying team B at a shorter price to guarantee a profit when the market moves as you predicted it would.

We hope that answers your question of can you bet on both teams and gives you a simple explanation of the circumstances in which you might consider doing so.