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The option of cash out winnings during both single and multiple bets has grown in popularity in recent years. Who doesn’t want the option to cut a bet short and still be quids in as result? Of course though, for every plus side there is a minus, and the best argument against cashing out or laying off a bet is that you’re potentially missing out on a big win either on this cash out or a future one.

A recent extreme example of this is a football accumulator. Twitter user Mike Newman decided to share his woes (and I suppose good fortune!) with the world, by announcing that he’d cashed out of a seven-fold football acca. While he managed to turn his measly £5 bet into an impressive £5,710.25 the day could’ve gone better, much better in fact.

These are the seven bets that made up the Sky Bet customer’s accamulator bet:

• Sheffield United vs Barnet (win)
• Preston North End vs Doncaster Rovers (win)
• QPR vs Leeds United (win)
• Fulham vs Oldham Athletic (win)
• Millwall vs Hull City (win)
• Sevilla vs Atlético Madrid (draw)
• Newport County vs Leicester City (win)

 

and so what would Mr Newman’s windfall have been if he’d let his bet ride? An eye watering £292,000. Where’s that iffy Internet connection when you need it?

As part of our series covering different types of multiple bets (we’ve covered doubles, trebles and accumulators) it’s time to talk yankees. A yankee is essentially a combination of all of these bets types. It consists of 11 bets: 6 doubles, 4 trebles and a four-fold accumulator and is a popular sports bet, especially in horse racing.

It’s the kind of bet that will appeal to someone who is either having a lucky punt at four selections, or is confident of say two or three of them, but at the same time realises how difficult it is in reality to pull off a four fold accumulator. With a yankee bet even if you don’t tick every box, you can still benefit from two or three wins.

Say for instance that one of your results disappointed, but you gained three winners, well you would still win on four of your eleven bets (three doubles and a treble). For a breakdown of the 11 bets that make up a yankee bet see below:
Yankee Bet Breakdown

Bet Type	Selections (a-d)	How Many Bets?
Double	ab, ac, ad, bc, bd, cd	6
Treble	abc, abd, acd, bcd	4
Four-Fold	abcd	1
Total:		11

Adding another selection (so 5 instead of 4) makes the bet a super yankee resulting in a total of 26 bets (10 doubles, 10 trebles, 5 four-fold’s and a five-fold accumulator). Add the 5 single bets to that and you have what is known as a Lucky 31 (31 bets in total). With both yankees and super yankees even if you’re a fan of betting on favourites, you stand to make a good return should the wins start rolling in.

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!