Accumulator Betting Explained – Betting Guide 2024

What Is An Accumulator Bet?

Also referred to as an acca bet, accumulator bets are an interesting way to up the ante. Put simply, an accumulator bet is one that consists of four or more selections all rolled into one bet. The catch is that all parts of your bet have to win in order for you to receive a payout. If even one selection doesn’t come true, the whole bet is settled as a loss.

As the name suggests, your returns from the winning bets accumulate, with each return rolling over to the next part of the bet. This can lead to much higher profits if your accumulator bet wins, making this type of bet very popular, particularly with soccer and horse racing.

With accumulator betting, there is one important rule to be aware of. Each selection within the bet must be mutually independent. This means that you can’t have selections from the same event. Instead, each selection must be for a different match or race, for example. This stops someone from placing several bets on the same team or participant and securing multiple selections with one outcome.

Combining the need for selections across multiple sporting events and the need for every selection to come true, accumulator betting does come with a higher risk than a standard single bet. However, as you will see further down, the way the returns accumulate can result in great profits.

When exploring accumulator betting, there are two key things to understand. These are how the bet is settled in various scenarios and how the odds are calculated.

How Accumulator Bets Are Settled

With a high-risk bet like an accumulator bet, it’s important to understand how the bet works and how the bet is settled. Let’s take a look at some possible outcomes and what happens to your bet:

Outcome	How your bet is settled
All selections win	Your bet is settled as a win
One or more selections lose	Your entire bet is settled as a loss
A selection is a non-runner (horse racing specific)	When placing an accumulator bet in horse racing, if one of your selections is a non-runner, your return is calculated as if this selection hadn’t been included in your bet. For example, if you had placed a six-fold accumulator bet, with a non-runner your bet would now be a five-fold, consisting of five selections instead of six. This allows you to still receive a return should your other five selections win.
Dead heat / Draw	If a dead heat or a draw occurs at the end of a sporting event and a distinct winner is not identified, your bet for that selection will be settled at reduced odds.

Calculating The Odds And Returns

As we’ve mentioned, accumulator bets can produce much higher profits. This is all down to how the odds are calculated.

With accumulator bets, each selection will have its own odds, just like any single bet. The difference is that with an accumulator bet, these odds are then bundled together, creating greater value. If your first selection rings true, the return from that bet is used as the stake on the second bet. The return from the second is then used as the stake on the third bet, and so on. As you can see, the stake is getting bigger and bigger each time, resulting in a greater return. Let’s see this in action:

Let’s say you want to bet on the winners of six football matches throughout a season. This means that you would be placing a six-fold accumulator bet. Here are the odds for your selections:

• Crystal Palace to beat Brentford at 2/1
• Manchester United to beat Nottingham Forest at 2/1
• Chelsea to beat Luton at 4/1
• Aston Villa to beat Burnley at 3/1
• Manchester City to beat Sheffield United at 3/1
• Everton to beat Tottenham Hotspurs at 4/1

You’ve put down a €2 stake and each of your selections wins. Here’s how your accumulator bet would work and how your profits would be calculated:

1. Your €2 stake is placed on your first bet. With odds of 2/1, your first bet wins €6 (€4 plus your original €2 stake).
2. This €6 is then used as the stake on the second bet with odds of 2/1, giving you a winning of €18 (€12 plus the €6 stake)
3. Your third bet at 4/1 has a stake of €18, making the winnings for this selection €90 (€72 plus the €18 stake)
4. This €90 is rolled over as the stake for the fourth bet at 3/1, giving a win amount of €360 (€270 plus €90)
5. Your fifth bet has odds of 3/1 with a stake of €360, giving a winning of €1,440 (€1,080 plus €360)
6. Your final bet has a stake of €1,440 with odds of 4/1, making your total return amount €7,200 (€5,760 plus €1,440)

As you can see, the accumulation of the odds quickly creates a snowball effect with a high return. To put this into perspective, if you had placed six single bets with the same odds, each with a stake of €2, your total return would only be €48.

Types Of Accumulator Bets

There are a number of different types of accumulator bets that you’ll find on betting sites, each working with the same premise. First off you have those with four or more selections as we’ve spoken about above. These are simply named by the number of selections in your bet, such as four-fold, five-fold and so on.

It is possible to have less than four selections in an accumulator bet. While they work the same, you will find them under a different name:

A double bet	This is made up of two selections. Working the same as explained above, you need both selections to win for your double bet to be a winning bet.
A treble bet	This is made up of three selections and works in the same way.
A trixie bet	A trixie bet also has three selections but works slightly differently. This type of bet is made up of four bets, rather than three, using your three selections. It consists of three doubles and one treble, meaning that if one of your selections loses, and therefore the treble bet loses, you still have three doubles that could potentially win. This is a slightly less risky type of accumulator bet.

Once you get into accumulator betting territories with a higher number of selections, there are special types of bets you can place:

A yankee bet	This type of bet is made up of 11 selections. These 11 selections are then turned into a four-fold accumulator, six doubles and four trebles. The doubles and singles included in this type of bet mean that if your accumulator bet falls through, you still have other bets to fall back on, giving you a good chance of receiving a return.
A lucky 15 bet	As the name suggests, this type of accumulator bet is made up of 15 selections. Consisting of a four-fold accumulator, four singles, six doubles and four trebles, this type of bet also gives a safety net should the accumulator lose.

Should I Use An Accumulator Bet?

Ultimately, the type of bet you place comes down to personal preference, the level of risk you are willing to take and what you want out of the bet.

The main advantage of accumulator bets, as you’ve seen, is that the potential profits they can pay out are considerably higher than alternative betting types. This comes down to the odds being bound together to form a single bet, and odds with this much value just can’t be found with other betting types that betting sites offer. This value is also heightened by being able to make selections across multiple games, horses or sporting events where you may be able to find players or teams that are almost certain to win, helping you to ensure your accumulator bet has a greater chance of success.

The way this bet works means that to receive these higher profits, you don’t have to put down a huge stake. In fact, as our example above shows, you can win big off a small stake. So, if you don’t mind the added risk, an accumulator bet can be a great way to increase your profits.