Backed a side to win a Test and the match was drawn. I had assumed a draw meant my money came back. It does not — the draw was a separate price I never looked at.
Rohan, Pune
Checklist
- First bet online — What an online sportsbook asks before a first cricket bet — account, checks, deposit, slip —…
- Odds & rates — What 1.90, 9/10 and a rate of 90 each mean, how to turn any price into the percentage you must…
- Handicap — A cricket handicap gives one side a head start in runs.
- Odd / even — Odd/even asks whether a run total ends odd or even. Which runs count, what rain does to the…
Field voices
Player notes
Session impressions, not paid testimonials. Unflattering notes stay in the mix.
Put a run handicap on the favourite and they won by six wickets. Took me a while to find the rule that decided what that meant for my slip.
Meher, Lucknow
Only started adding both prices together after reading about the margin. The market I thought was generous was the one taking the most.
Arjun, Kochi
Accepted a deposit bonus without reading it and then found my usual bets at 1.90 did not count towards the wagering at all.
Tanya, Indore
52.6%
of bets you must win at a price of 1.90 just to break even
5.26%
the margin inside a match priced 1.90 on both sides
₹5
lost on every ₹100 staked, on average, on a fair coin-flip at those prices
3
outcomes in a Test match market — the draw is one of them, not a refund
How to bet on cricket: what happens to your stake, from the first tap to settlement
A cricket bet is short. You pick a match, pick a question about it, accept a price and put money behind your answer. Everything that can go wrong for a beginner happens in the gaps between those four actions.
This page walks one bet from start to finish. It is written for someone who has never placed one, and it stops at the moment the slip is settled. What people do during a match — trading a position as the rate moves, session and fancy markets, cashing out — is a separate subject with its own vocabulary, and it is left out deliberately.
One thing to know before step one. India's Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025, which took effect on 1 May 2026, bans online money games nationwide, and betting is one of them. Reading how a bet works is not covered by that; placing one online is. The page on betting online from India goes through what that means in practice.
Before the first ball
What happens to a bet, step by step
1. Pick the match and the format
A T20, a one-day international and a five-day Test are different products for betting purposes. The first two nearly always produce a winner. A Test can end in a draw, and the draw is a separate outcome with its own price — not a refund.
Rain matters more than form in the early going. A shortened limited-overs match may be decided by the DLS method, and some markets survive that while others are cancelled. Step 7 covers which.
2. Pick the market
The market is the question you are answering. For a first bet, three are enough:
- Match winner. Who wins. Two outcomes in white-ball cricket, three in a Test.
- Handicap. Who wins after one side is given a head start in runs.
- Odd or even. Whether a total — runs in the match, an innings or a stretch of overs — ends on an odd or an even number.
Each has its own settlement rules, and each is covered on its own page. Totals and player markets exist too; they work the same way and add nothing new to learn.
3. Read the price
Next to every outcome sits a number such as 1.90. It is a decimal price: what comes back for each rupee staked, including the rupee itself. ₹100 at 1.90 returns ₹190 — ₹90 of profit plus your ₹100.
The same number tells you how often you need to be right. Divide 1 by it. At 1.90 the answer is 0.526: you must win 52.6% of bets at that price just to stay level. Odds and rates has the full table, and the local 100-based rate format as well.
4. Set the stake
The stake is the only figure you control. Decide it before you open the betting screen, not while you are looking at a price. A stake picked while watching a number move is picked by the number.
5. Read the slip
The slip is the summary that appears before you confirm. It should show four things, and if one is missing, stop:
- the match and the market, in words;
- the outcome you picked;
- the price;
- the stake and the potential return.
Check the outcome line twice. Tapping the wrong team is the most common beginner mistake there is, and nobody reverses it.
6. Confirm — the price is now locked
Once the slip is accepted, the price on it is yours for the life of the bet, whatever happens to the market afterwards. If the price moved while you were deciding, the site will either ask you to accept the new one or reject the slip. Until you confirm, you can still walk away. After, you cannot.
7. Settlement
After the result is official, the bet is settled: paid at the locked price, lost, or voided and returned. Voids are the part beginners do not expect, so they get their own section below.
Before the first ball
Reading the price before you stake
Every price hides a probability, and every market hides a margin. Put the two side by side and a bet stops being a hunch.
| price | you must win at least | ₹100 returns |
|---|---|---|
| 1.40 | 71.4% of bets | ₹140 |
| 1.90 | 52.6% | ₹190 |
| 2.00 | 50.0% | ₹200 |
| 2.50 | 40.0% | ₹250 |
| 3.50 | 28.6% | ₹350 |
Now take a match-winner market priced 1.90 on both sides. Add the two break-even figures: 52.6% + 52.6% = 105.3%. The extra 5.3% is the bookmaker's margin. On a genuine coin-flip at those prices, the average result is ₹5 lost on every ₹100 staked. That is not a verdict on anyone's judgement; it is what the price says before a ball is bowled.
Before the first ball
The rules that settle a cricket bet
These decide more first bets than cricket knowledge does.
Abandoned before a result. Match-winner bets are normally void and returned.
Rain and DLS. If a result stands under DLS, match-winner bets usually go with the official result. Totals, odd/even and handicaps on a shortened game follow each site's own rule — some void them, some settle them if a set number of overs was bowled.
A tie. In a T20 decided by a super over, sites split: some pay whoever wins the super over, others apply a dead-heat rule and pay half. Read the market rules before a knockout game, not after one.
A drawn Test. If you backed a team to win, a draw is a loss. Only a bet on the draw pays.
Before the first ball
Stages almost every first bet passes
Most beginners go through the same three stages, usually within a few matches:
- The favourite phase. Backing the stronger side at 1.30 or 1.40 feels safe. At 1.40 you need to be right 71 times in 100 just to break even — and the price already has the margin built in, so a favourite that genuinely wins 71 times in 100 still leaves you slightly behind.
- The big-price phase. After the favourite loses, 4.00 on the outsider looks generous. It pays only if the outsider wins more than one match in four.
- The markets phase. Handicap and odd/even look like a way round the problem. They are the same arithmetic with different wording, and the page on winning at cricket betting goes through why.
Before the first ball
Before you stake: the checklist
- I know which format I am betting on, and whether a draw is possible.
- I can say what the market is asking in one sentence.
- I have worked out 1 ÷ price, and I believe the outcome is likelier than that.
- I have read how this market settles if rain shortens the match.
- The stake was decided before I opened the screen.
- The slip shows the outcome I meant.
If one box stays empty, the bet is not ready. A welcome offer changes none of these boxes either — what the pack attaches to explains why its wagering terms multiply the arithmetic above rather than soften it. When every box is ticked, the cashier and its terms are the next step.
FAQ
How do I place my first bet on a cricket match?
Choose the match, choose one market — match winner is simplest — read the price, set a stake you decided beforehand, check the slip and confirm. The price on the slip is locked from that moment.
What does 1.90 mean on a cricket bet?
For every ₹1 staked, ₹1.90 comes back if you win: your rupee plus 90 paise. At that price you need to win 52.6% of such bets to break even.
Is betting on a draw possible?
Only in Test matches, and it is a separate outcome with its own price. In T20 and one-day cricket a tie goes to a super over or to the site's dead-heat rule.
What happens to my bet if it rains?
If the match is abandoned without a result, match-winner bets are normally returned. If a DLS result stands, most sites settle on it. Totals and odd/even follow each site's own rule for shortened games.
Can I cancel a bet after confirming it?
Generally not. Before confirming you can walk away; once the slip is accepted, the bet stands until it is settled.
