Accumulator Betting Guide

Accumulator bets are some of the most common bets in the world today, if you're wondering why then it's likely that you haven't placed an accumulator in a while. With high win potential, a wide variety of options and the chance to back 20 games in a single bet settlement, the opportunities are endless with this sports betting option.

What is Accumulator Betting?

An accumulator is a single bet that includes four or more selections, it's highly likely that you've heard of terms such as fourfold and fivefold, which are used to refer to accumulators which contain four or five options. As accumulators can contain up to twenty options, you may hear mentions of up to "twentyfold". However, the likelihood is that these options will be referenced with the term accumulator alongside it. You may be wondering what the difference is between Accumulators and bet types such as the Lucky 63? Bets such as the Lucky 63 can provide winners with only a small number of selections but their total cost is much greater, while with an accumulator the total cost is significantly smaller but all selections must win to provide a payout.

Are Accumulators popular in the UK?

Accumulator betting is very popular in the UK and that popularity is increasing on a daily basis. With a primary focus on football, the term 'acca' is commonly referenced surrounding the Saturday afternoon 3pm kick-offs. This is a time when the vast majority of games in England will begin across leagues such as the Premier League, Championship, League One and League Two.

This bet type has also led to the creation of many popular phrases in the UK such as 'never back the early kick-off', 'don't back your home team' etc; these phrases have almost become unwritten rules with bettors; however, it is definitely worth noting that these aren't set rules for football accumulator betting.

The reason why the 3pm kick-off provides a high volume of accumulator bets is that your tracking multiple games at the same time, it can provide players with remarkable wins and generally a more entertaining experience than a single bet where you're focusing on just one game. An accumulator bet will likely have significant odds, especially in comparison to a single bet or a double bet.

How do accumulator bets work?

A number of people believe that an accumulator needs to have huge odds and significant potential. However, this isn't the case, in theory, an accumulator could have odds of evens, if your selections are probable. There are no set rules on how your accumulator must look, as long as it has four selections or more, it is classed as an accumulator. Accumulator odds tend to bring heightened potential, view each selection of your bet can be viewed as a leg and each leg must win to provide a payout. Unlike other multiple bets, you can't receive payouts if singles, doubles or trebles in your bet payout, in-fact, if one selection isn't victorious, your bet is deemed as a loss.

Accumulator betting example

If you're placing an accumulator bet on the weekend's 3pm games, your selections and odds could look similar to this:

• Derby County to beat Preston North End (8/5)

• Sheffield Wednesday to beat Cheltenham (8/13)

• Bristol Rovers to beat Carlisle United (29/20)

• Northampton Town to beat Hartlepool United (10/11)

As a fourfold, this provides you with odds of 19/1. So, if you placed £10, you'll receive £200, which contains your £10 stake and the 19x multiplication of that bet. It's that simple! With bets such as Heinz and Lucky bets which are alternative multiple bets, you could receive payouts for doubles, trebles and more; however, your stake will be multiplied by the number of stakes.

What sports can I place an Accumulator on?

Accumulator bets can be placed on any sport. You could place an accumulator bet on the winners of four TV shows if your sportsbook has the markets available. Typically, accumulators are limited to sports such as football and horse racing but if betting markets are available, it's likely that you'll be able to add them into an accumulator, unless selections overlap. An example of this is, you're unable to do the following:

• Man United to beat Chelsea

• Man United to beat Atletico Madrid

• Man United to finish top 4.

These three bets all include the same team across multiple football matches meaning there is a crossover where multiple selections are added on the same team.

Can I create cross-sports accumulators?

Yes. If you add a football match to your 'acca', there is no requirement for it to be a football accumulator. Acca bets can occur across a range of sports, if you wanted to, you could bet on a Football event such as the World Cup, a Horse Racing event such as the Grand National, an F1 race such as the British GP and a Golf event such as the Ryder Cup on a single bet. There are very few limitations on accumulator betting which is useful if you've got six bets of low value, it makes more sense to create an accumulator rather than three double bets.

Horse Racing accumulator specifics

For those who aren't familiar with accumulator bets on racing events, there is a method of racing betting which allows players to still be paid out for finishing in the top three. This is called Each Way betting and is commonly found in horse racing and greyhounds. This can provide some fantastic value for horses who have a good record but are valued at odds of 30/1+.

An area of worry for bettors can be through non-runners, similarly to a football match that has been postponed, Leo Vegas offers a no-runner, no-bet offer which means that if a selection in your accumulator either doesn't run or is postponed for any reason, it'll be removed from your accumulator bet. This offer is particularly popular to players looking to place system bets which include multiples such as accumulators.

Are accumulators profitable?

Accumulator bets can provide gigantic wins, there is no doubt about it, the potential winnings are almost limitless. However, the higher odds, the less likely these bets are to come off. The profitability has to be made in comparison to other multiple bets. If you place a Lucky 63 bet and an accumulator bet, the potential winnings are significantly higher with an accumulator bet. However, Lucky 63's offer opportunities to win even if selections lose. An accumulator wager is better if you look at a bet with low odds. However, if you're placing a bet where all selections are above 3/1+, we recommend checking out the Lucky 63 which offers insurance bets.