• Multiples Accumulators Explained 3

Before you rush off to place a whole series of multiple bets – it’s important to make clear that Doubles, Trebles & Trixies betting is only as good as the bets you are placing or the tipsters you. An accumulator is one bet made up of multiple events. The betting odds for each event accumulate, but all of them have to win in order for you to receive a return on your bet. The events which make up an accumulator bet could be a series of football matches, horse races, election results, Big Brother winners or any combination of - pretty much. Multiple Bet (or Multiples, Accumulator, ACCA etc) is simply more than 2 single bets are combined as a single bet. Each linked event is called Leg, so the first bet is Leg 1, the 2 nd is Leg 2 etc. Double is a bet on two selections. Treble is a bet on three selections.

An accumulator bet is a type of multiple bet. It is a bet which has more than one selection in it, with all selections needing to win in order to earn a payout. So all selections contained within an accumulator bet are joined together under one stake.

What is an accumulator bet?

An accumulator bet is more than one betting selection combined into a single bet. While Double bets and Treble bets are forms of an accumulator, the Acca, as it is commonly known, generally refers to any bet with at least four selections in it. So selections in accumulators are known as ‘legs’.

An acca can be made up of any number of selections, with a common range being from four up to fifteen. So the risk of an accumulator is that all of the selections in it have to win for the bet to win. However, the reward of that risk can be substantial payouts from generally small stakes.

How does an accumulator bet work?

An accumulator bet works by linking together the selections within it. So any returns that are earned from the first leg of the acca will be then placed on the second leg. Therefore, returns from the second leg are then moved forward to the third leg and so on until the final leg of the bet is reached. By that point, a big stake could be in play.

A winning example in Horse Racing

It is common for accumulators to be used on horse racing. An example of a winning accumulator bet can be seen here. So let’s assume a simple 5-fold acca with a stake of just £1 and see how far it gets, and how much those odds stack up.

Old Nag – 8/11
Makes No Scents – 3/1
Orange Appeal – 10/11
Hot Stepper – 2/1
Windy Water – 4/1

As a comparison if you had placed five win singles at £1 each on those selections you would have collected a total return of £15.64 if they were all successful. So your stake would also have be £5.

Accumulator Decimal Odds

If you want a quick way to work out accumulator odds, look at options in the decimal odds format. Take the selections and multiply each of them together. So from the above example the decimal odds are converted as:

Old Nag – 1.73
Makes No Sense – 4.0
Orange Appeal – 1.91
Hot Stepper – 3.0
Windy Water – 5.0

To calculate the accumulator odds it would be 1.73 x 4.0 x 1.91 x 3.0 x 5.0 = 198.26 odds

Losing Example in Football

Therefore, the fragility of accumulator bets can be seen from the following example from football matches. Here is a simple 4-fold acca;

It takes only one failed selection to cause the whole bet to lose. So in this case if Liverpool would have won at those odds, the return would have been just over £20 from the £1 stake. It’s important to note that even though there was £13.21 riding on the last leg, your initial stake lost at the end of the day was only the £1.

How does an each way accumulator work?

An each way option can be applied to an accumulator. Doing so will double your original stake. So a £1 each way Acca is a total of a £2 stake. How does an each way accumulator work?

Each of the selections will have proportional odds on them set by the bookmaker’s Place Terms. The Place odds are generally 1/4 or 1/5 of the original odds. Therefore, that means if a selection Places you get paid out at those proportional odds. So this generally applies to horse racing and greyhound racing.

What are the different types of accumulator bets?

The different types of accumulator bets are essentially just how many different legs are included. So you have the four selections as a fourfold, five selections as a fivefold and so on up to whatever is built into the bet. Therefore the more legs that are in a bet, the more the risk increases of course of having them all win.

What are long shot accumulators?

Multiples Accumulators Explained 3

Long shot accumulators are Accas built with higher-priced options. Think of a bet created from underdogs in football matches all at odds-against prices. So these are the bets which really stack up the odds and can batter the bookmakers. Therefore, because of the inclusion of long shot selections, then the probability of having them all win decreases. However, the benefit is that a small stake only needs to be risked for a potentially big win.