Dutching Explained

Read our step by step dutching betting guide and learn how to carve out long-term profit on online betting sites in Ireland.

Written by Conor Murphy
Verified by BettingGuide team
Last updated 22/2/2024

A Guide to Dutching at Irish Betting Sites

Various strategies can be used at Irish betting sites, but dutching is among the best of them.

Dutching can be a great way to carve out long-term profit but it is not usually seen as a way to make quick money from online sports betting in Ireland.

But for those who have not heard the term before, we have put together this ultimate guide. Read on for everything you need to know about dutching in Ireland.

What is Dutching?

Dutching means placing bets on multiple options in a market to get more chances of winning.

The wagers have to be calculated in a certain way to maximise profits, but dutching can be a very handy tactic when the likely winner is one of just a couple of options.

It is claimed that the term dutching was created by Al Capone's accountant 'Dutchy' Schultz - Arthur Flegenheimer - but despite its murky origins the strategy is 100% legitimate.

While this betting strategy is primarily used for football and horse racing, dutching can be used in various sports. So what do you need to do to start dutching at betting sites in Ireland?

How to Do It

Dutching means making careful decisions at betting sites. After all, if you try to bet on every single outcome in a sports event, there is no way you will be able to make a profit.

Let's say you are planning to use dutching on horse racing. You might well be able to rule a few horses out from being potential winners, leaving just two or three horses that are worth backing.

By using dutching, you would be able to bet on each of the horses to win and still make a profit.

There are a few ways to use dutching but the simplest of them is to work out the implied probability of the odds for each selection.

If they add up to more than 100%, this would mean dutching is not a viable tactic. If it is under 100%, dutching can work well and it can be worth proceeding.

An online odds converter tool can be very useful for when you are trying to work out whether dutching is an option for a particular race.

Dutching can also use a betting exchange - the Betfair Exchange is the biggest in the world - to balance out the stake that is being laid out on multiple betting options in the same race or event.

Using the Betfair Exchange for Dutching

Along with matched betting, dutching is another tactic that relies on the Betfair exchange.

Dutching is a betting term that means covering multiple options in a particular betting market.

Unlike in matched betting, though, not all the potential outcomes are covered in dutching. This means that it is still possible to lose, though when done correctly it can be very profitable.

Dutching is common for sports like horse racing. In a race where there are two or three horses with much shorter odds than the rest of the field, dutching can be a great option.

If they want to use dutching, Betfair exchange account holders would place back bets on the top horses in the race, guessing that one of them will cross the line in first place.

Careful calculations are needed when using the Betfair exchange for dutching in order to lock in as much profit as possible.

However, keep in mind that surprise outcomes happen a lot in sport - this is one of the main reasons why sport is so popular around the world.

Legend has it that the term dutching was coined by Al Capone's accountant Arthur Flegenheimer. His nickname was Dutchy, which explains the name of this betting tactic.

Betfair's exchange is particularly handy for dutching due to the fact it shows clearly how much profit or loss a player is in line to record for each potential outcome in their chosen market.

Dutching for Football Betting in Ireland

Football betting is popular in Ireland and dutching can be a good way to make a profit from the sport.

A double chance bet is effectively a simple form of dutching, with this wager covering two of the three potential outcomes in a standard match that can be a home win, a draw or an away win.

The correct scores market is often one those using dutching look for when placing football bets. Predicting the score of a football match is famously hard but dutching covers various outcomes.

One way to use dutching for football betting is to target matches between evenly matched teams that both have a good defence. In these games, betting on scores such as 0-0, 1-0, 0-1 and 1-1 can be a good way to make a profit, as long as the match does turn out to be low-scoring.

Some sports fans might opt to place a bet on under 2.5 goals being scored in this game. But dutching would cover four different possible correct scoreline bets at better value odds, meaning profit as long as the game did not end in a 2-0 victory for either side.

Dutching can produce low profits from low-risk bets, which is attractive to those taking a long-term view from their betting strategy. One such low-risk method for dutching in football betting in Ireland could be to use dutching on the correct scores and over 1.5 goals markets.

Players can bet on the favoured team in a relatively tight game to win 1-0, as well as a 0-0 draw, plus over 1.5 goals. This means a profit is going to be made from the bets as long as the favoured team does not lose 1-0.

Dutching for football betting in Ireland can be hard for newcomers to understand at first. But with some practice, it is possible to make a consistent profit as a result of using dutching.

Dutching for Horse Racing Betting in Ireland

An alternative to dutching for football betting in Ireland is to focus on horse racing instead. With horse racing one of the most popular sports to bet on, dutching is a very viable tactic.

Football might be unpredictable but horse racing can be even harder to pick winners for, which is why dutching can be so useful when browsing the markets on betting sites.

Dutching for horse racing betting in Ireland can be particularly useful when there is a race with several horses that have little to no chance of winning and you do not fancy the favourite to win.

Many people who use dutching on horse racing do so through the use of a betting exchange. This makes it easy to back horses to win, as well as betting against others through a 'lay' bet.

Horse racing dutching can get complicated but the easiest way is to use the same stake on each of your selections to guarantee a profit - as long as one of them wins, of course.

Stake limit dutching means setting a limit on the amount of money being staked. Then, if this way of dutching for horse racing, it means splitting it between the horses that you want to back.

An alternative method, albeit one that comes with a significantly higher level of risk, is set profit dutching. In this dutching method, players set their stakes in such a way that they make the same profit regardless of which of the selections they have picked out for the bets wins.

Dutching for horse racing betting usually involves picking either two or three selections. In a large field, it might still be possible to make a profit by dutching four or five different horses.

Dutching Strategy

If you want to start using dutching for football or horse racing in Ireland, the following tips and tricks can be useful and help you to make a profit. Check them out before you start dutching.

Take a lot of care when calculating dutching options. Making a small mistake in the calculations can turn a profit from the bets into a big loss, so always double and triple check the maths.

Do not try to use dutching on lots of matches. This is a betting strategy that works best when it is carefully calculated. This tip remains in place no matter which betting market you are using.

Calculations should also involve checking to make sure if a single wager might produce better odds. Dutching is usually a better option in terms of value, but this is not always the case.

It can be a good idea to spread your wagers around a variety of betting sites. Firstly, this ensures that you get the best possible value out of each of the bets you place when dutching.

Betting sites do not always have specific rules against dutching, but they may look to close down your accounts if they suspect you of dutching and you are winning a lot of money.

Finally, while some online sites might offer dutching systems that they claim guarantee profits, it is usually a lot better to develop your own instincts for when dutching is a viable tactic.

Dutching Without a Betting Exchange

Not every country in the world has betting exchanges, which can make dutching for a profit a bit more of a challenge. Being able to both back and lay options is a lot easier.

But dutching without a betting exchange is still possible, so there is no need to give up hope.

Instead of using a betting exchange, users would just have to find odds on different betting sites that make dutching a viable tactic.

This might not always be possible as bookmakers tend to offer very similar odds on their markets. But it does come up sometimes, which makes dutching without a betting exchange an option for people in Ireland too. An alternative to dutching without a betting exchange could be to use matched betting instead.

Dutching FAQs

Conor worked at numerous online casinos & betting sites in Europe before joining BettingGuide. His in-depth industry knowledge combined with a degree in journalism makes his content unique and easy to consume.