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What is an accumulator bet?

What is an accumulator bet? Read our detailed guide to placing acca bets

Sonia Twigg
Monday 19 August 2024 15:58 BST
(iStock)

All betting sites give customers the chance to build accumulator bets across a wide range of sports and markets online.

For regular punters, acca bets are a common occurence, especially on those busy Saturdays during the football season.

But for those unfamiliar, we’ll now look at just what is an accumulator bet in our detailed breakdown below.

What is an accumulator bet?

An accumulator allows bettors to combine multiple markets from different events into one bet. These selections can be from different games, leagues or even different sports.

Acca betting is one of the most popular multiple bet options for punters because it offers higher potential returns. By combining multiple selections together your odds are enhanced way beyond the price you would receive for a single game.

It makes it appealing for customers as a low stake can yield high rewards if all the selections win. However, the number of variables in question do make it a hard bet to win regularly.

How does an acca bet work?

Punters can choose multiple markets to boost the odds on their bet, but there is a risk-reward element to the bet. The more selections you make the higher the odds you will receive from the bookie.

Alternatively, punters can make fewer selections, put down a smaller stake on their acca bet and still receive a solid payout.

There are obvious benefits to acca betting, providing the potential for higher profits than a single bet and added excitement of tracking multiple matches. All of a sudden, punters can become passionate Barrow fans! However, it is always better to place bets on sports or teams you feel you are knowledgeable about.

Also, if one selection loses, the entire bet fails, even if the other legs succeed.

What markets are available for an acca bet?

Acca bets can be placed on most sports including football, horse racing, tennis and basketball. Depending on your chosen betting site, you may be able to combine accas from different sports, although this is not universally available.

Customers can use a variety of betting markets on accas to suit all wagering needs. The result market is arguably the most popular, while both teams to score is another option that is often used on football.

Other popular markets for acca betting, include over/unders, props and outright markets among others.

Types of an accumulator bet

An accumulator is a bet that includes four or more selections. Established bookies and new betting sites will let you make up to 20 selections in an accumulator, but there are several variations available.

Bets with two or three selections are known as a double or treble respectively. These are straight accumulator bets, but there are other options that offer an element of protection to customers, although these may require a higher stake to unlock.

These acca bet options include:

  • Trixie - Is like a treble, but with three double bets attached, so it includes four bets on three selections.
  • Lucky 15 - A bet that is used in many sports but is particularly popular in horse racing. In that case it includes multiple bets on four horses. It is four single bets, one accumulator, six doubles and four trebles.
  • Patent - Is a three-selection wager consisting of seven bets, three singles, three doubles and a treble.
  • Yankee - This is another type of acca bet. It is made of four selections containing, six doubles, four trebles and a fourfold.
  • Heinz - Also known as a Heinz 57, it includes six selections rolled out into a single bet, but it includes 57 bets across six separate events. It has one six-fold acca, six five-folds, 10 trebles and 15 double bets.

How to use an acca bet calculator?

Betting sites offer acca bet calculators to price up your accas before you place your bets. This can be especially useful for punters to compare odds for accas across the different sites and to get the best value on your acca bets.

What is a horse racing accumulator bet?

When it comes to horse racing, customers can build accas from different races and events, including antepost bets that can be placed well in advance on long-term competitions such as Cheltenham Festival and the Royal Ascot.

Horse racing accas are extremely common bets due to the amount of races available across the world on a daily basis.

Look out for promotions from horse racing betting sites that often include money back offers, extra places, acca insurance among others that are so useful with this type of bet.

What is a football acca bet?

Football accas are the most popular type of accumulator bets that are available on the market.

Football betting sites allow bettors to place punts on the Premier League, Champions League, LaLiga and many more using a host of betting markets.

Saturday acca bets are very popular due to the number of matches across Europe and are often included with promotions that offer acca boosts and others.

What is an each-way acca bet?

Punters can put on an each-way acca on horse racing and other sports.

This type of bet means you can still settle as a winner if your selection finishes within the places and odds parameters set by the bookie, which will affect the total payout terms.

For example, you may place an acca bet on four teams to win the Premier League, Championship, League One and League Two.

If three of your teams succeed and one fails, but still finishes within the bookie’s parameters, your each-way wager will pay out at a fraction of the outright price for all teams.

What is the difference between an acca and a bet builder?

An accumulator bet is put on across multiple games or outright matkets, whereas a bet builder is limited to multiple selections within the same game.

Both bets need multiple legs to come in for the punter to come out a winner, though there are distinct differences.

Types of accumulator promotions

Acca Boost: An acca boost is a promotion from bookmakers that increases the odds of your bet and is usually applied to acca bets with three or more selections. The more selections you make, the higher your boost.

Acca Insurance: This provides additional security over your accumulator, and usually means that if one leg of the selection loses, punters can receive a refund, which often comes in the form of free bets.

Edit Bet: Some bookmakers offer punters the option to edit their accumulator and remove or change legs after they have placed a bet, and sometimes even after an event has started, although this can affect your payout.

Loyalty Club: Bookmakers will offer rewards and opportunities to customers who have put on accas with them before. Customers that place regular acca bets during a week will often earn free bets.

Responsible gambling

Customers must ensure that they follow responsible gambling practices from the minute they sign up for any bookmaker.

Betting is not a way to make money online and should be considered a form of entertainment. Never bet more than you can afford to lose, and always assume you will lose when placing bets.

The same applies whether you’re using betting sites, casino sitesslot sitespoker sites or any other form of gambling. It’s particularly important not to get carried away by free bet offers or casino offers, both of which are available in abundance on gambling sites, but must be approached with caution.

Customers should remain in control of their budgets. Should you wish to seek help for gambling-related issues, there are multiple charities and healthcare providers who offer support and information.

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We aim to offer every online gambler and reader of The Independent a safe and fair platform through unbiased reviews and offers from the UK’s best online gambling companies.

Gambling can be addictive, always play responsibly and only bet what you can afford to lose. Gambling sites have a number of tools to assist you to stay in control, including deposit limits and time outs. If you think you have a problem, advice and support is available for you now from BeGambleAware or Gamcare.

Any offers or odds listed in this article are correct at the time of publication but are subject to change. Terms & Conditions apply to all offers.

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