Football Accumulators – A Way To Win Big?
Over the last few years, odds on football matches have been low, to say the least. A quick glance at the odds on the day of a game and you’re lucky to get better than evens on some teams to win. So really, the reality is that there isn’t much value in the game anymore for those that like to have a flutter.
That’s probably why Football Accumulators have become so popular. Despite the obvious issue of trying to predict the outcome of multiple games, there have actually been some huge accumulator payouts over the years. Overall, for the same money, the odds are drastically higher and as a fan, you are vested in more than one game.
But what exactly are accumulators and how are the odds calculated? We decided to dig deep into the popularity and maths behind one of betting’s most popular forms.
The Basics
To put it simply, an accumulator is a single bet that requires you to predict the outcome of multiple games/races. To give you an example, think of four Premier League games that are all being played on the same night or over the same weekend. If you check their odds, the favourite in each is probably no higher than 2/1 to win. In fact, many will be odds ON.
Individually they offer very little value. However, with accumulators, you can bet on the outcome of all four games in one bet. You are essentially betting that all four of your selections will win. As the bet is four times harder to win, the odds increase to reflect this. The more games you accumulate into your single bet, the larger the odds become but the more difficult it becomes to win!
Pay-outs do happen though. In November 2017, an unnamed woman scooped over £574K on a £1 bet. The lady put her pound on a 12 match accumulator at William Hill. How did she do it? She simply picked the teams based on the names she liked the most.
The Accumulator Mathematics
We have all heard the stories of people racking up huge wins like the story above after betting only a couple of quid but how is it calculated?
An accumulator is often classed as four or more selections. There is generally no upper limit to the number of selections you can make. The more you pick, the higher the odds go. Most bookmakers offer a double and treble selection on their betslips but for our calculation example we are going to look at a four-fold acca.
The simple way to calculate a four-fold accumulator is to convert all of the odds from your selected matches into decimal odds. Then multiply them together to get your set odds.
For example, backing four teams who have fractional odds of 1/1 (Evens) is known as 2.0 in decimal terms.
Take those four 2.0 individual prices and multiply them (2.0 x 2.0 x 2.0 x 2.0) and you get a sum total of 16/1 on your selection.
That means a £10 bet will win you £160 plus your stake if all four bets come in.
So there you have it. A basic guide to successfully navigating football accumulators. Can you be next big winner? If you plan to bet on an acca, make sure you do your research. Knowledge is everything in the acca world!
