Football accumulators are all the rage among football fans. In fact, accas are one of the most popular football bet types. When they come off, they have the potential to yield nice payouts from even the smallest of stakes.
Got your attention? We thought it might! If you’d like to know how to build your first football account – and go on to build more value-laden accounts in the future – read on as we reveal everything.
What is an Acca?
An accumulator – or ‘acca’ as it’s known for short – is a combination of bets on multiple football matches. These bets are added to the same bet slip, with the idea of creating a bet yielding bigger odds from even modest stakes.
Accumulators must include four or more bets on the same bet slip. If there are only two or three selections, these are known as doubles or trebles.
There’s one more crucial factor – for a football accumulator to pay out, all your selections must win. Even if one of your bets loses, the entire bet is a loser. Welcome to the jeopardy of football accumulator betting.
Given the increased risk attached to football acca betting, please do so responsibly and always ensure that you gamble within your means. Refer to the talkSPORT BET Safer Gambling Portal for more information.
Different Types of Accas
We’ve already touched on doubles, trebles and accas, but there are several other football multiples, including:
Yankee
A Yankee consists of four selections like a standard accumulator, but it consists of 11 bets – six doubles, four trebles and one four-fold accumulator. In a Yankee bet, all selections are involved in various bet combinations. You need a minimum of two winners to generate a return.
Heinz
Similar to a Yankee, a Heinz bet covers 57 bets across six football selections. This is 15 doubles, 20 trebles, 15 four-folds, six five-folds and one six-fold accumulator. Like a Yankee, two out of six selections must win to generate a reasonable return.
Lucky 63
This is an even bigger version of a Heinz – covering six football bet selections across 63 bets. You’ll place six singles, 15 doubles, 20 trebles, 15 four-folds, six five-folds and one six-fold acca. You’ll only need one winning selection to generate a return.
Super Heinz
The Super Heinz covers seven football bet selections and 120 bets – 21 doubles, 35 trebles, 35 four-folds, 21 five-folds, seven six-folds and one seven-fold acca.
Goliath
Finally, the Goliath is the biggest acca of them all. There are 247 bets spread across eight football bet selections – 28 doubles, 56 trebles, 70 four-folds, 56 five-folds, 28 six-folds, eight seven-folds and one eight-fold acca.
An Example Acca
Let’s run through a hypothetical football accumulator to help you make sense of it. We’ll use a basic four-fold acca to warm things up:
- Manchester City vs. Liverpool – Manchester City to win: Odds of 2.00
- Chelsea vs. Arsenal – Chelsea to win: Odds of 1.75
- Manchester United vs. Tottenham Hotspur – Draw: Odds of 3.50
- Leicester City vs. Everton – Both teams to score: Odds of 1.90
Now, let’s calculate the potential return for a £10 bet:
Total potential return for the four-fold accumulator: £10 x 2.00 x 1.75 x 3.50 x 1.90 = £232.75 (inc. £10 stake).
Had you placed a £10 single bet on each of the above selections and they all win, the bets would only return £91.50.
How Does an Each-Way Acca Work?
Each-way accas are very popular in outright football betting. At the start of every season, punters like to bet on potential winners of the Premier League and the EFL divisions, too. We’ll explain each-way accas using this example:
- Arsenal to Win Premier League: Odds of 4.00
- Ipswich to Win EFL Championship: Odds of 12.00
- Bolton to Win EFL League One: Odds of 5.00
- Stockport to Win EFL League Two: Odds of 6.00
If you’d like to bet £10 on these selections to win outright, you’ll have to double your £10 stake each way. £10 covers the outright bets, and £10 covers the each-way bets. How do you calculate an Each Way Bet?
If all your selections win, you’ll be paid out in full. If your selections place, i.e. finish in the top two or three, you’ll be paid out at a quarter or a fifth of the original odds.
How Do I Place an Accumulator Bet at talkSPORT BET?
Use the talkSPORT BET Bet Builder
When you’re on the football betting markets at talkSPORT BET, just click the ‘Bet Builder’ tab and click ‘Build Your Own’ to get started.
You’ll get access to all the upcoming football fixtures in all the major domestic leagues worldwide, as well as future international tournaments like the Euro betting odds and the Copa America betting odds.
Click the games you’re interested in, add them to your Bet Builder, and watch the odds update for every selection you make.
Check Out Our Pre-Built Picks
If you don’t have the time to research the best picks, click on our Pre-Built talkSPORT Bet Builder for inspiration. Whether betting on teams to win outright or just the first half, or yellow cards, goals, or corners, you’ll find a wealth of readymade accas waiting to be added to your talkSPORT BET betting slip.
Are Accumulator Bets Worth It?
As you can see from our example acca above, it can pay to bundle your selections into one accumulator. In the above example, you’d win over £140 more, providing all your picks go on to win.
That’s the crucial factor here. If you’d backed these selections in single bets and one lost, the remaining three single bets would be winners, and you’d still turn a profit. It’s all about risk vs reward in football accumulators, so it’s important to gamble responsibly.
Are Acca Bets Profitable?
They can be profitable, but only if you can bundle multiple value bets on the same bet slip.
There is a danger with football accas that you become blinded by the potential return. Remember – the more legs you add to your accumulator, the lower your probability is of winning.
Most seasoned football punters will have a tale or two about a ‘banker’ home win letting them down, preventing a huge windfall. If you accept that you’ll probably lose more accas than you win, they’re a fun, low-cost way to try and win on the football betting markets.
How Do I Look for Value in a Football Market?
There are various ways to find value football betting opportunities to add to your next accumulator. As with all sports betting odds, football odds are based on the probability of something happening.
For instance, whenever you feel the odds don’t reflect the true probability of a team winning, you may decide to add them to your bet slip if their odds are too high. It’s not uncommon to find misaligned prices in the football markets.
Keep your ears to the ground for other opportunities that could move the markets, such as team news. If a star striker is passed fit to play and you can get good odds on them before it’s common knowledge and the odds begin to plunge, this can only improve the bottom line of your acca.
Knowledge is power in football acca betting.
