How To Do A Football Accumulator

In a nutshell a football accumulator bet is a single wager on the outcome of a number of matches. For your bet to be successful all your matches have to be predicted correctly.

An accumulator bet works up from a double (two fixtures) then up to a treble, a four-fold, a five-fold, a six-fold and so on.

There’s not much point backing the likes of Brazil at 1/3 versus Croatia for example in the opening game of the World Cup 2014. Not only would you need to place a vast sum of money to win a smaller amount of money but simply backing poorly priced odds-on singles makes for slow progress.

Here’s an example of a £10 win bet. Backing Brazil at odds of 1/3 on would get you just £3.30 return on top of your tenner back – so is it really worth the risk?

Look how much more attractive the odds and returns become when you combine three strongly fancied group match selections in one accumulator bet.

The image below highlights how three relatively “low-risk” selections put together to net you a profit of £17.80. That surely must be better than trying to win even less by betting on the three matches separately?

Here’s another World Cup example for you. We’ve picked the eight group winner favourites in an eight-fold accumulator. You might have been thinking to yourself pre-tournament “Hmm, those group odds look skinny” but look what happens when you opt for an accumulator and combine all those odds together.

That’s a whopping return of £313.50 for a £5 accumulator, with Paddy Power, on eight strongly fancied group stage winners. It looks very attractive now when set out like this doesn’t it?

If you ask people why they like to bet on a football accumulator it’s because they like the challenge of picking several matches on a Saturday afternoon for example and watching the results come through either at home or out in the pub with friends.

Many would rather put on a £2 accumulator on six or so football matches than risk that £2 on six lottery balls coming out on a Saturday night. The chances of the accumulator coming in are significantly better than striking gold on the lottery.

Not only are the odds more attractive when you select more than one football team but you can win quite a lot for wagering small amounts of money.

Although the outcome of a football match is completely out of your control, at the end of the day the match can only end in one of three scenarios – a win, a loss or a draw.

Unlike a horse race bet or a lottery type bet you are trying, on each occasion with your football selection(s), to pick a one in three outcome. In the scheme of wagering overall those are fairly favourable odds to have on your side.

 

Don’t pick too many teams- Obviously the more teams you pick the lesser chance you have of winning. Don’t overload your accumulator for the sake of it and turn it into a toilet roll sized betting slip. Once you start going over ten selections you really are clutching at straws and the bet will undoubtedly end up going down the pan.

Don’t concentrate too much on short odds- Upsets do happen and piling your accumulator full of odds-on teams is always going to end in heartbreak when that single result lets you down.

Do include your home team- You will probably read elsewhere that you shouldn’t do this as it isn’t very objective and you will be swayed by your heart. However, you know the form of your home team best and you will know better than anyone when they are totally primed to beat an opponent so stick with them when the time feels right.

Do add draws into your accumulator- They really do enhance your bet and you will know which teams are draw specialists against certain other teams. Local derby’s are always good for draws. It pays to do your research.

Do use a bookmaker who pays accumulator bonuses. There are plenty out there and you should always shop around. It’s always nice to have a tasty percentage added to a winning accumulator.

Only bet what you can afford- As with all bets only place on an accumulator what you can afford to lose. The bet is a little more high risk than a single wager so steady as you go.

I sincerely hope you crack that football “acca” sometime soon!