Previously we’ve talked about the pros and cons of doubles and trebles as opposed to single bets. Here we will cover rather more ambitious accumulator bets where four or more selections need to win for your bet to be a winner. When an accumulator consists of four selections it is referred to as a fourfold, with five a fivefold, six a sixfold. If there’s a non runner your five fold will turn into a fourfold and so on. Accumulators can be placed across various sports (horse racing, football, tennis etc) though selections must be ‘mutually independent’ – one bet cannot have a bearing on another. Some gamblers hedge their bets with smaller combinations, to avoid the ‘all or nothing’ nature of this type of bet. That way should most, but not all selections win, you could still get a good return.
Skill of course can come into placing an accumulator, but no matter your ability as a gambler, there is an element of ‘shot in the dark’ about accumulators. That’s a consequence of needing so much to go right – it’s not a bet that’s going to come in with any regularity. On the flip-side though, when it does you’ll be richly rewarded even with a small stake.
Most big ‘everyday punter’ wins that you read about are accumulators and it’s no surprise as the odds can become truly astronomical when results start to go your way. For some there’s serious thought that goes into their accumulators, for others it’s their version of buying a lottery ticket. For all though it’s an exciting and very memorable moment when everything falls into place for you.
As with the doubles and trebles posts, let’s see how much a £10 stake on a four bet accumulator could bring in:
Bet 1 Easy Rider at 3-1 (£30 win + £10 = £40 on next bet)
Bet 2 Nagshead at 4-1 (£160 + £40 = £200 on next bet)
Bet 3 Faster Than You 3-1 (£600 + £200 = £800 on next bet)
Bet 4 Going For Gold 6-1 (£4800 + £800 = £5600 – £10 stake = £5590)
As this example shows, if you have a bit of luck with your selections you can potentially end up raking it in. There are many real life examples of people hitting it big with accumulators, occasionally to the tune of well over a million. I wouldn’t have minded having Steve Whiteley’s betting slip!
