Accumulator Bets – Learn How Accas Betting Works & How to Take Advantage of It
10 minutes
Last Updated: May 31, 2022
Accumulator bets have become very popular among sports bettors. The main reason for this is that they promise great winnings and the prospect of getting rich overnight just for getting one betting ticket right.
However, accumulator bets are also much more complex than standard win bets. Most players who don’t understand how they work lose out. This is where this guide comes into play.
In this article, we’ll go over the intricacies of accumulator bets, how they work, and how to place them.
By the end of it, you’ll know all of the details of accumulator bets and how to take advantage of them to maximize your betting profits.
What Are Accumulator Bets?
An accumulator bet is one of the most common types of multiple bets. In simple terms, it’s a bet that includes at least two selections.
All of the selections that are a part of the accumulator bet are multiplied together to create a bet. More importantly, when you place an accumulator bet, you need to get every selection right to win.
Because of this, accumulator bets are generally a hazardous type of bet. Moreover, they get progressively riskier the more selections you include on your ticket.
Of course, if you get all of your selections right, you can expect some very rewarding payouts in return.
Technically, all bets that include at least two (doubles bet) or three (trebles bet) selections are considered accumulator bets. That said, most sports bettors consider only four-fold and bets with more selections to be accumulators.
With that in mind, some bookies may restrict the number of picks you can place, usually setting the limit at 15 or 20 selections.
However, if you bet more than this, you’re probably just throwing your money down the drain.
We should also mention that every bookmaker will have a maximum payout limit you can win, so there’s no sense in pushing for multi-million amounts.
Not only will you almost certainly lose, but the bookie likely has a lower payout limit than that.
Are Accumulator Bets Parlays?
Yes, accumulator bets and parlays are two faces of the same coin. The only difference is that the term “parlay” is primarily used in the US, Canada, and other Americanized countries.
In contrast, the term “accumulator bets” is prevalent in Europe, especially in countries where betting is prevalent, such as the UK.
Each-way Accumulators
Besides classic accumulator bets, many sportsbooks also allow you to place so-called each-way accumulator bets.
This type of bet isn’t possible in sports like football or basketball, or any other sport in which there are only two sides going against one another.
This is why each-way accumulators are particularly popular in horse race betting.
For example, when betting on horse racing, you decide who you think will win the races. Then, the second part of this each-way bet includes a single bet that predicts all of your selections to finish in the top three or four of their respective races.
The benefit of the each-way accumulator bet in this context is that you can still win a solid amount of money even if your primary accumulator bet loses by one selection.
Of course, it also means that you have to cover the price of two bets, so you’re doubling the amount you would bet when just placing an accumulator bet.
How Accumulator Bets Work
Understanding what accumulator bets are is just one part of the equation. It’s also crucial that you know how these bets work to consistently make educated choices that give you the best winning chances.
To make it a bit clearer, let’s say that we want to make an accumulator bet that contains five selections. For example, it could look like this:
|
Match |
Selection |
Odds |
|
Liverpool – West Ham |
Liverpool to win |
1.5 |
|
Man United – Man City |
Man City to win |
1.8 |
|
Barcelona – Sevilla |
Barcelona to win |
1.9 |
|
Dortmund – Bayern Munich |
Bayern Munich to win |
2.2 |
|
Chelsea – Leicester |
Chelsea to win |
1.8 |
The cumulative betting odds for these five bets are 20.31. With that in mind, let’s calculate these odds to see how we got to this number.
It’s a relatively simple formula you can quickly do with a calculator, as it includes multiplying your selections. So, using the five bets above, the formula would be 1.5 x 1.8 x. 1.9 x 2.2 x 1.8 = 20.31. These are the multiplied odds of all of our selections.
After this, we need to multiply these odds with our bet size. In this particular case, it would be 20.13 x $10 = $201.3.
So, if you were to place a five-bet ticket made up of these five odds and bet $10, you can expect a total return of $201.3 and a profit of $191.3. This is only if you get all five of your selections right.
How to Place an Accumulator Bet
When you know what accumulator bets are and how acca betting works, you can move to the key step, actually placing accumulator bets in a sportsbook of your choice.
To help make sure this process goes without a hitch, we’ve created a detailed step-by-step guide on how to place an accumulator bet.
1. Pick The Teams You want to Bet On
When you visit your local sportsbook or load up the online betting site you like to bet at, you’ll see all of the available selections you can place for that day and several upcoming days.
Choose the teams you want to bet on from any market by placing win bets or mixing any other featured bets. Keep in mind that most bookies have a rule that each selection has to be from a different game or event.
2. Choose Your Bet Size
After making the selections you want to bet on, you need to choose the amount of money you want to bet for that ticket. When betting online, you can type it in a designated field below your selections.
If you’re betting in a land-based book, you can write down the amount on the paper where you make your selections or say how much you want to bet to the teller.
3. Double Check Everything
When making accumulator bets, it’s crucial to double-check all of the information to ensure you didn’t accidentally bet on an unwanted outcome.
Run through all of your selections and check that you placed the right-sized bet before moving to the last step.
4. Place Your Bet
The last thing left to do is place your bet. If you’re betting online, you can do so with a press of a button, after which you’ll get a confirmation straight away.
On some betting sites, you might be prompted to confirm your bet one more time before placing it.
If you’re betting at a land-based bookie, we recommend checking your ticket again after the teller types in your selections and gives you the printed ticket.
This is just to ensure there’s no human error involved that could cost you your winnings.
Tips for Placing Accumulator Bets
Some of the crucial characteristics that mark accumulator bets are that they are very rewarding but also very risky.
Focusing on the latter aspect, the key thing to consider when placing accumulator bets is the overall risk involved in the bet.
Choosing ten selections of huge odds won’t do you any good if you just miss them all.
That’s why you need to pick value bets. Moreover, you need to make bets that make sense when bundled together with other selections.
To help you make sure you pick the bets with the best value and least risk, we’ll share with you a few tips on how to take advantage of an accumulator bet. If you want more insights, you can check out our extensive betting guide.
1. Always Do Your Research
Researching your accumulator bets is an essential aspect of a winning strategy. No matter how experienced a sports bettor you are, there’s no way to predict the outcome of every selection in your accumulator bet without doing any research.
If you’ve never researched potential sports bets before, it can be challenging to determine where to start.
We recommend paying attention to your sources, reading into both long-term and short-term stats, and only betting on sports you know inside out.
2. Bet on the Middle-valued Odds
When doing accas betting, it’s always better to bet on slightly lower odds than you would do on regular win bets.
Betting on odds between 1.5 and 2.0, up to 2.5 at most, can provide you with great value when you include a handful of selections.
Plus, these bets are not as risky as those with higher odds, so you still have a solid winning chance.
At the same time, you should avoid placing bets on favorites with low odds like 1.4 or lower.
This is because they don’t contribute significantly to your overall odds but can cause you to lose your entire ticket just because the team or player you’ve bet on has a bad day.
3. Use Accumulator Insurance When Profitable
An increasing number of bookmakers have started offering accumulator insurance, as this type of bonus has become very popular among sports bettors.
Accumulator insurance can come in handy if you get all but one of your selections right, especially if you’re betting for the long term and want to get the most value for your money.
Most bookies require you to place at least five selections to be eligible for such a bonus. If you do so and you get four of five selections correct, you will get your initial bet back.
This is most often in the form of free betting money and usually comes with a maximum value.
4. Don’t Place Too Many Selections
Many sports bettors often get carried away, only thinking about how they’ll win more money if they add more selections.
But, the key to success is to find a sweet spot in terms of the number of selections so that you’re still up for a nice amount of money but aren’t putting your accas at risk by setting unrealistic expectations.
Generally speaking, the best number to go for is between four and seven selections, ideally five if you manage to find good odds on each game.
Accumulator Bets – Key Takeaways
To sum up this guide on accumulator bets, we want to highlight a few key takeaways you should remember when placing these types of bets.
Keep in mind that these bets that combine several selections into one can be highly profitable if you make the right choices.
And, while sportsbooks offer you the opportunity to bet ten, fifteen, or even twenty selections, you should ideally stick with around five selections, more or fewer. This will give you the best chance of getting your picks right.
Additionally, remember how these accumulator bets are calculated so that you can always quickly assess whether or not the profit is worth the risk.
Lastly, make sure to do your research and only bet on games and events you’re familiar with.
Hopefully, this detailed guide has helped you understand how these exciting bets work and encouraged you to place them when betting on your favorite sports. Don’t forget the tips we’ve shared, bet responsibly, and enjoy!
Accas Betting FAQ
Yes, accumulator bets can be very profitable if you make the proper selections. Technically speaking, you can win huge amounts of money.
However, this requires you to place more selections at higher odds. The best way to make accumulator bets profitable in the long run is to stick with medium odds.
The most common mistake sports bettors make when placing accumulator bets is adding selections with very low odds, thinking that this will help add value to their ticket at minimal risk.
However, you should avoid doing so. If you wouldn’t place a single bet on that selection, you shouldn’t include it in your accumulator bet.
Nearly every sportsbook in the world allows you to place accumulator bets like those we’ve discussed on this page.
That said, some bookies may have limitations as to how many accumulator bets you can place or whether or not all of your bets need to be settled on the same day.
Yes, many sportsbooks allow you to combine different bet types on your betting ticket. So, you can combine prop bets with regular win bets, over/under bets, or any other type of bet you want to include on your betting ticket.
