Accumulators can turn tiny stakes into big profits, but how exactly do they work? Read on to find out.

What are Accumulators?

Just what is an accumulator bet? Those from North America might be familiar with accumulators under the name parlay, and if you’re into exchange betting you may know them as multiples, but they’re all essentially the same type of bet.

Accumulators involve a single stake on multiple different contingencies occurring. If you have six football matches on a weekend, you could have a six phase accumulator predicting the result of each match. Naturally, the odds on this sort of bet occurring are significantly longer than single market betting (a result bet on a single football match, for example), but the flip side is that if they do come off you can make a lot more profit than you would with a single event bet.

Accumulators are just one weapon in the smart bettor’s arsenal when it comes to making money. Another, and potentially the most prudent way to bet, is at no deposit USA casinos where you can make profits without paying a cent in deposits thanks to generous promotions. These deals enable players to compete for cash prizes with slots or table games, with the only possible outcomes being real money profits or no loss whatsoever. If you’re a cautious player, this is the perfect way to play.

How the Odds are Calculated

The odds on each individual contingency are used to calculate the overall accumulator odds. And because of the multiplying effect, if you go for outsiders the odds will be far, far longer than backing favourites. Usually, accumulators have at least four stages. This means that even odds of around 3/1 can lead to a total accumulator chance of one or two hundred to one.

To get mathematical about it, the odds are calculated by converting the odds of each individual leg of the accumulator into decimals and multiplying them. This can mean a significant payout even if you’re just backing favourites.

If you’re unsure of what to bet on with this new method of playing, you can do worse than to take advantage of free tipsto help give you a head start and decide on what the best strategy might be.

Other Long Odds Betting Approaches

The long odds are the major draw of accumulators but they’re not the only way to get long odds with a credible chance of coming off. Another approach is to go for a long term approach by backing results years or even decades down the line.

Of course, the dream is the freak result as happened with Leicester City in the EPL. A title bet on this team could be had at a mind-boggling 5,000/1, leaving many fans with a small fortune for bets they made with little real hope of profits. Unfortunately, the very magnitude of this title triumph has led the betting industry (in the UK, at least) to reduce the super long odds that rank outsiders used to get, for fear of a second Leicester City result.

Luck always plays a factor in betting, and sometimes you can enjoy an enormous slice by being online when news breaks (just one more advantage of betting online). When Hamilton caught COVID-19 and was out of the Sakhir Grand Prix in 2020 it took bookies a few minutes to catch up. In that time, you could get 60/1 on eventual winner Perez to claim the victory, which is pretty tasty for a single event bet.

Accumulator Pros and Cons

The first pro is the most obvious: get an accumulator to come off and you’ll make far more than you would with a series of single event bets (and with a lower stake). The corresponding con is that if even one aspect of your bet fails, the whole thing falls through.

This can be mitigated somewhat, depending on what your sportsbook offers. Each way accumulator bets mean that instead of backing a precise result you get paid if your winner places (it’s commonly available top 2 or top 3 for F1, and maybe top 4 for horse racing). This gives you a much better chance of winning. Be aware that each-way bets can only be placed alongside full-win bets (the upside to this is that if your picks all come first then you get the huge odds payout and the smaller each way profits too).

Some bookies also allow players to get their stake back, with neither profit nor loss, if a single leg of an accumulator fails to come off.

Accumulators can be very good for free sports bets that sportsbooks regularly offer, because there’s no risk of loss but if your bet comes off then you can turn a tiny free bet stake into hundreds of pounds/dollars.

Mid-Accumulator Betting

Accumulators don’t have to be placed on events occurring on the same day, and sometimes mid-event betting moves can be a wise idea.

One option is to hedge a potential loss if all but the last one or two legs of your accumulator have come off, you stand to make a fortune, and you’re nervous about losing out at the final stages. In this circumstance, probably the wisest way to hedge is to bet against the specific outcomes you’ve backed on an exchange (where you can oppose as well as back specific results), or you can make the relevant bets at the same place you have the accumulator.

Cunning tipsters are always available to give you an inside line if you’re unsure of things might play out, and this can be used to inform your strategy with an accumulator that’s going well so far but still has a few phases to go.

Some sportsbooks also offer cashout options for bets, which is an available option for accumulators at increasing numbers of sites. This means you get profits immediately but at a far lower rate. It does, however, totally eliminate the risk of loss.

Accumulators can be a great way to try win a lot with a little, but keep in mind that a single failure means the bet won’t come off.