WHAT DOES ACCUMULATOR MEAN IN BETTING?
The betting term ‘accumulator’ means the accumulation of the total selections and their related odds when adding more than one selection to a bet. For example, if you put two 4/1 selections together, the odds will be multiplied by each other and accumulate to a price of 24/1. The possibilities with an accumulator are endless, allowing the punter to combine as many selections as they like with one another.
If you would like to work out the price of your accumulator, it can be helpful to use a betting calculator to see what the odds are of your selections multiplied together.
EXAMPLES OF BETTING ACCUMULATOR
The term ‘accumulator’ covers several different bet types:
- Double – Comprises of two selections paired together. Both must win for the bet to win.
- Treble – Comprises three selections, requiring all three selections to win for the bet to win.
- ‘X’ fold accumulator – The name given to an accumulator which comprises four or more selections, the same rules apply to a double and a treble.
- Trixie – Comprises three selections, giving four bets. Three doubles between your selections and one treble. Gives a return if two out of three selections land.
- Patent – Also comprises three selections but gives you seven bets in total. The three doubles and the treble, as well as the three singles. Gives a return if two out of three selections land.
- Yankee – Comprises four selections, giving 11 bets. It gives all the possible doubles and trebles between the selections, as well as the four-fold, and will offer a return if two or three of your selections land.
- Lucky 15 – Comprises four selections and 15 bets, like the Yankee but with four bets added which are single bets for each of the selections. Will offer a varying return for any of the four selections landing, based on the price and how many come in.
- Lucky 31 – Comprises five selections and 31 bets, it is the same premise as the Lucky 15, but includes the extra fifth selection in the doubles, trebles, four-folds and the extra single as well as the five-fold. Offers a return if any selection of the five lands, varying again based on how many of the five selections win.
- Lucky 63 – Comprises six selections and 63 bets, it is the same premise of the Lucky 15 and Lucky 31 but with the extra selection added on to the existing doubles, trebles, and accumulators, with the single added. Offers a return if any of the six selections lands, varying based on how many.
- Canadian – Comprises five selections and 26 bets. It is essentially a Lucky 31 without the single bets included, hence 26 total bets. Betting a Canadian means less outlay on the bet without the insurance for some of your stake back if only one of your selections wins, as you need at least two winners included for a return.
- Heinz – Comprises six selections and 57 bets, like the amount of Heinz varieties hence the name. Essentially a Lucky 63 without the six single bets and similar in concept to a Canadian that you need two or more of the selections within the bet to land for a return.
- Super Heinz – Comprises seven selections totaling 120 bets. This gives you all the various combinations of your seven selections, ranging from doubles to the seven-fold accumulator without the singles. The same applies to a Canadian and Heinz.
- Goliath – Comprises eight selections totalling to 247 selections. This gives all the various combinations of the eight picks; the same rules apply to the Heinz varieties and Canadian.
- Block – The biggest of them all! Nine selections were included totalling a whopping 502 bets. Includes all the possible doubles, trebles, and accumulators across the nine selections.
PROS AND CONS OF USING A BETTING ACCUMULATOR
There are pros and cons to using betting accumulators in your punting, as with any bet, you are at risk of losing your stake.
Pros
- Allows the opportunity to win big from a small stake.
- Can be a fun thing to do socially with friends, this is seen commonly with group betting.
- Can take advantage of various accumulator offers and boosts if applicable.
- Allows the opportunity to perm up ‘value’ bets, which increases your edge over the bookmaker.
- Can take advantage of each-way betting, seen commonly in horse racing.
- Often involves a ‘cash out’ feature which can be lucrative when utilized correctly.
Cons
- The likelihood of the bet losing increases further and further with each selection added.
- Can be right but still lose. If you pick three selections with two winners and one loser, if you backed these as singles, you’d likely have won money, but your treble bet is a loser.
- If you have chosen some negative ‘value’ bets for your accumulator, this deficit of ‘expected value’ is multiplied by other negative value bets.
- Can be a long time between winners. This is only natural but if you are regularly perming up several selections, winning one of these kinds of bets is a lot less common than an ordinary single bet.
