Accumulator Betting Guide
Accumulators are a unique type of bet that can often offer massive returns. Covering multiple selections, they can keep the anticipation of sports betting alive for longer periods while the various events involved unfold.
Also known as 'accas', and very popular with those who like to bet on football or participate in horse racing betting in particular; accumulators offer you the chance to combine multiple picks as part of the same bet - if they all win, the selections will multiply together to significantly increase your winnings.
But what exactly are accumulators? How do they work and how do you calculate your potential winnings when placing an acca? In this guide, we’ll explore accumulator betting in more detail; we’ll also run through some benefits of accumulators, offer some accumulator strategy tips, and provide some examples using popular sports. Read on!
What Is An Accumulator Bet?
Accumulators give you the chance to make a huge profit from just a small stake, by betting on multiple selections. If you have an afternoon or evening planned following a horse racing card, round of football fixtures, or boxing promotion, an acca can be a thrilling betting option that places importance on each contest.
The name 'accumulator' comes from the way that each selection in the wager accumulates to give you significantly higher odds than you would expect from only a single selection.
Anything from two selections upwards can qualify as an accumulator bet, although accumulators consisting of more than 20 selections are not seen regularly.
Some accumulators have their own names, but they still count as accumulators! A double is two selections, a treble is three selections, a fourfold accumulator is four selections, a fivefold accumulator is five selections, and so on...
The big difference between an accumulator and placing multiple bets separately is that for an accumulator bet to win, all of your selections must win. But it just takes one selection to fail for your accumulator to fail, too.
For this reason, accumulators can deliver huge returns if successful. However, they also represent an increased risk over placing separate individual bets, as every pick you make needs to be correct for the accumulator to pay out.
How Do Accumulator Bets Work?
As a bet that involves multiple parts, an accumulator works by combining the predicted outcomes, and the odds, of each individual event included. In most cases, an accumulator is made up of multiple single bets, and the outcome of the first rolls onto the second, and so on. As we move down along the chain, assuming the individual parts of the bet keep winning, there is a snowball effect which means should the last event be reached successfully, there can be huge potential winning on offer.
It’s important to remember that accumulators can’t usually include individual bets that might impact one another. For example, it would not be possible to bet on multiple outcomes for the same football match in the same accumulator. As another example, if an accumulator was created that involved Liverpool winning their next game, the same accumulator couldn’t also include a bet on Mo Salah to score the first goal, as one element would have an impact on the other.
What About Non-Runners And Postponements In Accumulator Bets?
If a horse that you have bet on as part of an accumulator doesn't run, or a football fixture you have made a selection on as part of an accumulator is postponed, then this selection is simply removed from the accumulator. The other selections still stand. A tenfold accumulator would become a ninefold, a fourfold accumulator becomes a treble, and so on.
How To Place An Accumulator Bet
Today's sports betting fan has a world of options when it comes to placing an accumulator bet online, so let's look at how you should go about setting up an accumulator.
Choose your market and add to betting slip
You might choose various selections on the same race card, football round or any other sporting competition. Alternatively, you could make selections on contests from various sports for your accumulator. It's up to you. You would usually navigate to your desired market, and then add the selections to your betting slip. In some cases, there may be a limit for the number of bets in an accumulator, such as 18 or 20.
Choose the accumulator option
Let's say you select Juventus, AC Milan, Inter and Napoli to win their next Serie A football fixtures. Once you have made your selections, you then choose the accumulator option from within the system. When you add more than one bet to your slip, options for combining bets, including placing accumulators, will become available. Choices can sometimes be shown as the type of accumulator you’re placing - for example a bet involving the outcome of four football matches may be shown as a ‘fourfold’ option.
Add your stake
Once you are satisfied with your selections and have chosen the Accumulator option, it is time to specify your stake. Once you have inputted the stake, on many sports betting platforms you can see a confirmation of what your total winnings would be if all your selections (in this case Juventus, AC Milan, Inter and Napoli) won, and therefore your accumulator won.
Check and bet!
It is always worth giving your bets a 'once over' to check everything is in order. Remember, a careless mistake can prove costly, especially if it jeopardises an accumulator win. Once you are ready, confirm and place your bet via the 'Place Bet' button.
Once your bet is placed, it’s time to wait for the results to start coming in. If the first event that forms part of your accumulator is successful, then you can move on to waiting for the second, and so on. However, if any result in the selection fails, the entire accumulator bet loses. In some cases, this can mean that the bet is lost after the first result comes in. In others, the accumulator can go down to the last event and then disappointingly lose at the final hurdle. But if everything goes to plan and all the individual parts of the accumulator win, then once the last event is completed your bet will be ready to pay out.
How To Calculate Accumulator Bet Winnings
So now let's get to the most enticing part of accumulators - the winnings. If you’re placing an acca online then the calculations will be done for you - displaying your projected winnings when you come to place the bet, once you have set your stake. However, there is a way to work winnings out independently when you need to. Before looking at how winnings in accumulators are calculated, it’s worth refreshing yourself on how betting odds work. If you’re confident in your understanding of betting odds, then we can start looking at accumulators in more detail.
Using the fractional form of odds to work out your accumulator winnings can be done, but the truth is that you are making it harder for yourself! To start with, simply convert the fractional odds that are typical in the UK into decimals. You can do this by changing the settings on your betting platform. Alternatively, do it in your head - fractional odds convert to decimals by taking the first figure in the fractional odds and dividing it by the second figure, before adding 1.00. So:
1/2 becomes 1.50,
2/1 becomes 3.00
6/4 becomes 2.50.
Once you have converted the fractional odds of all your accumulator selections into decimals, the job is easy. Simply multiply them by each other to discover your potential winnings. So if you were placing a treble on three horses to win at 1/2, 2/1 and 6/4 respectively, 1.5 x 3.00 x 2.50 = 11.25. The overall decimal odds for the accumulator would be 11.25. Once you know your overall accumulator odds, you can work out your potential winnings according to your stake.
The Benefits Of Accumulators
Why should you choose an accumulator, rather than multiple single selections? The main advantage of an accumulator bet is that the potential winnings would be much higher than single selections, but the risk is higher because only one selection needs to lose for the entire accumulator bet to lose. This is why some people prefer to wager only a small amount on an accumulator bet - because the potential winnings are high but the chance of winning is small.
For the savvy sports punter, rather than being a 'hit and hope', accumulators can be a good way of extracting value by increasing winnings. Let's say Manchester City, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich all looked strong favourites to win their upcoming league football matches. If you felt very sure all three teams would be victorious, you could be better off placing a treble accumulator, rather than choosing them to win as separate selections.
The Downside Of Accumulators?
Following on from the benefits, it should be noted that there are times when an accumulator can see you come unstuck. Let's take another football example. If you were very confident that PSG, Barcelona, Juventus and Liverpool would win their Champions League matches, you might be tempted to take a fourfold accumulator bet because of the extra winnings on offer compared to separate selections. However, all it needs is for one of those teams to draw, and you win nothing. Had you made separate selections, you would have won on three out of the four selections.
Which Sports Can I Bet On Using Accumulators?
You should be able to structure an accumulator bet in most sports - be it across a single tournament or competition, or multiple tournaments or competitions. This includes the aforementioned football and horse racing, as well as tennis betting markets, boxing, MMA, rugby union, rugby league, cricket, golf betting and more. However, you should note that sometimes it may not be possible to combine selections from multiple sports in the same accumulator.
Any Accumulator Betting Advice?
If we have one parting thought on accumulator bets, it is the acknowledgement of variance. Accumulators can be lost by fine margins, and even if you think that four or five selections look like 'dead certs', it just takes a small deviance in form, decisions or unexpected events going against a team or competitor, or even a change in weather, to scupper your bet. For this reason, single bets can be seen as more sustainable. But if you are looking for the excitement and huge potential wins which come with placing an accumulator on live sporting action, then they might be worth your consideration.