Welcome to our accumulator betting guide, where we look at one of the most popular types of bet that betting sites offer. In this explanatory article, we’ll explore how to place the bet, how an accumulator bet can be used across several different betting markets as well as strategies to help you try and land more winning accumulator bets over time.
All reputable online bookmakers offer the accumulator bet as standard. The popular single bet is one of the most frequently added to a bet slip in any given week. It is a popular choice for real cash bets, or to try and use up any free bets you may have earned.
An accumulator bet is also a popular option whether betting on horse racing (predicting the winner of 2 or more horse races), football betting (such as predicting the winner of several Premier League games) or indeed several other popular sports. As you can see, accumulator bets are available across many different sports betting markets.
So, understanding how betting on multiple selections, but making just one bet works, is an important skill to learn when placing real money or free bets.
The format of the article will see us answer all the key questions about acca bets and we are going to start this step-by-step guide with the most important question of all: –
What is an Accumulator Bet?
An accumulator, or acca is it is sometimes shortened to, is an example of a multiple bet. By that we mean it is a selection bet which involves betting on multiple selections for a single bet.
For the accumulator bet to win, you need all the selections made on the bet slip to win. Regardless of the number of selections made for the bet, or the odds for each selection – all that matters is that each accumulator option you selected is a winning one.
Accumulators are commonly used as a popular football bet, as well as when horse racing betting. However, you can place them across a range of sports where the number of options available generally makes accumulator betting feasible.
In the screenshot below, you can see where we have made four selections for the winner from a four horse races to make what is called a four-fold accumulator bet (sometimes written as fourfold acca or similar).
Why is it called an Accumulator?
Accumulator is one of the easier to understand betting terms when it comes to multiple selection betting (we’ll get onto options like the Yankee bet or Lucky 15 bet in other articles!).
The term simply refers to the fact that the odds for each selection in your bet are multiplied together, so as your selections come in as winners (hopefully!), the amount you win accumulates with each winning selection.
So, in our horse race accumulator outlined above, you can see that the odds for the selections that I backed were as follows (decimal odds shown in brackets):
- Lord of Cheshire – 10/1 (11.0)
- Kalif Du Berlais – 4/5 (1.8)
- The Galloping Bear – 11/1 (12.0)
- Thunderbear – 16/1 (17.0)
In an accumulator that is a winning bet, your unit stake would be multiplied by each successive winning bet, but with the winnings from the first bet carried onto the second. Hence your winnings ‘accumulate’ with each successful selection.
A simple calculation by using the decimal value of the odds reveals the potential pay out for this bet – 11 x 1.8 x 12 x 17 – which gives you odds of 4038.2/1.
And if your stake in that accumulator was say £10, then you would win £40,382 if that fourfold acca came in.
You can now see that if I added a fifth selection to make this a five-fold accumulator the value of the win would increase.
That is the case even if I picked an even money (2.0) option, provided of course it was a winner, the size of the win would double to £80,764. and you’d get your £10 stake back on top that too.
How do I Place an Accumulator Bet with a Bookmaker?
This would not be an accumulator betting guide if we didn’t show you how to place an acca with an online bookmaker.
It is extremely easy to place an accumulator bet. Simply head to your sport of choice and make multiple selections and add them to your bet slip. Football accumulators are particularly popular in the UK, and we have used a coupon as an example in the screenshot below.
You can see the selections we made highlighted with a white box around the odds. Many sites, as in the example shown here from bet365 Sport, allow you to make selections from popular markets, such as the Full Time Result market, in this easy-to-follow way.
As you can see, I have made eight selections from the list of football fixtures from the Premier League for this accumulator. If I then expand the bet slip at the foot of the page, this will tell me about the current odds for that bet.
You can see that the odds are 282.35/1 for this eightfold bet, meaning a £10 stake would return me £2823.50 if all eight selections were to win.
You can edit your accumulator bet easily by adding and removing selections to your bet slip. Subsequently, the odds for the acca will update with every change you make.
Finally, when you are ready to place your accumulator bet add your stake into the box at the foot of the page (next to 8-Fold in our example). Then click the Place Bet button to make the wager.
Your accumulator bet has now been placed!
What are the Conditions for Acca Bets to Win?
That is a simple question to answer. For any accumulator bet to win, all selections on that bet must win.
If any one or more selection loses, then the bet is a loser.
The only time that you may get some return from any accas that have one (or possibly more) selection that loses is if the site offers some form of acca insurance. (See the section on Acca Promotions below)
Which Sports Betting Options are Good Choices for Acca Bets?
We have already mentioned that horse racing and football are good choices for accumulator bets, but there are other forms of betting on different sports which offer a good option for betting on accas.
Our full list of sports to check out for a variety of sports accumulator bets are as follows:
- Football (Full Time Result, Over/Under 2.5 Goals and Both Teams to Score markets)
- Horse Racing
- Greyhound Racing
- American Football
- Basketball
- Baseball
- Ice Hockey
- Esports
- Boxing/MMA
- Tennis
- Cricket
- Darts
- Snooker
- Rugby League
- Rugby Union
- Badminton
- Rowing
- Netball
- Lacrosse
- Handball
- Badminton
If a betting site offers several fixtures with the option to select one of the performers as a winner, then they are likely to accept accumulator bets on it. So, as you can see, there’s a greater choice available than simply horse racing and football accumulator bets!
Are There Any Promotions Specifically Aimed at Accumulator betting?
Yes, there are several promotions that are offered by betting sites for people betting on accas. Some of these promotions are only available at certain sites and for certain types of accumulators.
The most common types of promotion specifically for accumulators are as follows:
Acca Bonus Payouts
These promotions are payable on winning accumulators and are stated as a percentage of the winnings paid in addition to the standard return. The percentage bonus you receive on top of the win increases in value with the number of selections made for the winning accumulator. For example, a winning three-selection accumulator (a treble) would offer a 5% bonus on top of your winnings. But a 7-selection seven-fold accumulator would offer a 20% bonus on top of your winnings.
Acca Insurance
Another popular promotion is acca insurance. This is often made available on certain acca bets or can be generally available on accumulator bets on specific sports depending on the betting site. Acca Insurance usually offers you a return of your stake money (as a bonus bet or free bet) if just one selection loses, and the others win.
Free Bets
Another promotion available with some bookmakers is the option of free acca bets. Usually, a customer must make a certain number of accumulator bets, each of a stated value and with a minimum number of selections for each bet and in a stated time frame, to receive a free bet as a prize.
The free bet is usually stipulated to be used on acca bets only, some sites may also stipulate it has to be used on a certain type of accumulator bet, football accumulators for example.
Bet Builder Features
Many sites now offer customers the chance to build their own accumulator bets from a diverse range of options. These Bet Builder features are simply another type of accumulator bet and they are used prevalently on football markets.
Football fans can use their knowledge of the chosen teams to help make the best selections from the markets available on a particular football match, or across several matches.
Unlike other football acca bets, Bet Builder features allow users to pair markets from a greater selection of betting markets, such as the number of corners, bookings, or shots on goal in a game, as well as being able to select goalscorers (first, last or anytime) or the correct score.
Are There Other Types of Accumulator Bets Available, such as an Each-Way Accumulator?
For some sports, notably horse racing, there are Each Way Accumulator options available.
A good guide to horse racing betting will give you the finer details of this bet but to summarise, the bet works exactly as a standard each way bet does, only your winnings will also accumulate.
Furthermore, with an each way accumulator, you are not placing one bet. You are covering the bet to win and the place bet. This means that you will need to pay 2x your Unit Stake for the bet. So, a £10 Each Way Accumulator would cost you £20.
However, compared to a standard accumulator, an each way accumulator gives you the best chance of winning as your selections only need to either win, or finish in the places, for that selection to be a winner, offering greater flexibility than standard accas.
Is There a Bet Calculator Online I Can Use To Calculate my Accumulator Odds and Returns?
Yes, there are plenty of online bet calculators that can show you the potential accumulator winnings from, say four football matches or picking the winners of three horse races or six tennis matches.
However, you don’t really need to use them as the bet slip your online bookmaker provides gives you an in-depth guide to your accumulator bet. Breaking down the entire bet into the individual selections, odds and of course showing you the total stake, odds and the potential returns this one accumulator could net you.
Are There Any Accumulator Betting Tips or an Accumulator Betting Strategy?
Everyone who makes accumulator bets has their own strategy for picking their selections. Unfortunately, there isn’t a guide to help you make the right choices more often for your accumulator bet, but there are some hard and fast guidelines you can follow: –
- The fewer selections on an accumulator bet, the more likely it is to win compared to accas with more selections.
- The lower the odds of your accumulator bet, the more likely it is to win compared to accas with higher odds.
- Research your selections. Gut instinct is often wrong, but a review of the stats of the teams or individuals competing in your selections can give you a better insight and allow you to pick more realistic selections.
- Landing even the lower priced accumulators is tough. Landing the accas that are very long odds is incredibly difficult – even for the very best tipsters. Don’t be fooled into thinking someone Tweeting that they landed another huge win… You’ll find they make 100s of Acca bets a day or week and only report on the one that wins!
- View very long odds acca bets like buying a lottery ticket – your odds of winning are not great but one day, it could be you celebrating the win!
We hope this beginners guide to accumulator betting has given you a clear idea of you can access and use one of the most popular types of bet available online today. As we have shown you, placing accumulator bets is quick and easy, even if it is much tougher to win the overall bet!
Furthermore, with several different acca-based promotions available for this bet type, it is easy to see why so many punters like to place a bet using small stakes and hope that their bet can result in a big win thanks to multiplying the odds.
With almost all betting sites offering accumulator betting options, as well as a significant number offering acca insurance, bonus payments for winning accas and more besides, it is hard to find any other single bet that can offer such a big potential return. But only if all your selections come in, of course!
The accumulator bet is the essence of low risk/high reward betting. Winning isn’t easy, and losing frequent, but you may only need one of your accas to win to ensure a profit on your acca bets each year.
