Acca Cashout

Acca Cashout  Cashing out an accumulator bet or, in other words, getting money back – albeit less than might otherwise be the case – before the bet has finished, inevitably has its pros and cons. However, one punter for whom cashing out worked just perfectly was the anonymous Betfair customer who, on Boxing Day, 2016, staked just £1 on a speculative, 21-fold accumulator on British football matches.

Two of his chosen matches were evening kick-offs but, when Olivier Giroud scored a header on his first league start of the season for Arsenal against West Bromwich Albion after 86 minutes, he was ahead in all 19 matches already underway. At that point, although he stood to collect a potential £1.2 million on his ‘all or nothing’ bet, he decided not to push his luck any further and immediately cashed out for the not insubstantial sum of £223,000.

Lo and behold, just four minutes later, Wycombe Wanderers’ winger Myles Weston scored his first goal for the club against Plymouth Argyle to level the scores at 3-3 after 90 minutes as the away team fought back from 3-1. The scoreline remained 3-3 at full-time, thereby rendering the bet worthless, so our intrepid punter had reason to feel well satisfied with his decision. For the record, of his two remaining selections, Manchester City completed a routine 3-0 away win against Hull City, but Newcastle United were beaten 1-0 at home by Sheffield Wednesday.

Keen to promote the benefits of cashing out to punters – the mechanism can, of course, benefit bookmakers, too – Betfair spokesperson Naomi Totten said, ‘Cash Out gives customers the ultimate control over their bets and this is surely the mother of all Cash Outs from the mother of all accumulators.’

Tayla Polia

Tayla Polia  The ‘all-or-nothing’ nature of accumulator betting, or parlay betting, as it’s known in the United States, makes it an inherently risky proposition. Nevertheless, the prospect of a huge payout for a small stake provides tasty bait for those punters who consider the risk worth taking. Once such punter was 26-year-old Las Vegas resident Tayla Polia who, in December, 2015, staked $5 on a 15-fold accumulator involving National Football League (NFL) matches and landed odds of over 20,000/1.

A lifelong sports fan, but having just her second sports bet ever, Polia had previously discussed point spreads with her boyfriend without, it seems, fully understanding the concept. In fact, she simply based her picks on whom she thought would win each game, regardless of the points spread. Reflecting on her windfall, Polia said, ‘I remembered that I picked the [New York] Giants and they lost.’ What she failed to realise, though, was that she backed the Giants as five-point underdogs, so their 38-35 defeat by Carolina Panthers was a winner as far as her accumulator was concerned.

All told, Polia backed four more underdogs, namely Atlanta Falcons, Houston Texans, Washington Redskins and Detroit Lions, and not only correctly forecast that Pittsburgh Steelers, six-point favourites to beat Denver Broncos, would cover the spread, but also that both teams would score over 45 points. She had only been in Las Vegas for two months, having moved from Boston to escape the East Coast winter but, $100,000 better off, as the result of a naive, but nonetheless lucky, punt, she said she hoped to move on to a beach house in California in due course.

Betting Each-way Trebles

Who doesn’t like the thought of betting a few pound and winning a lot of money?

I don’t think many punters would say: ‘No, I don’t.’

Multi bets or accumulators are often associated with mug punters. A definition of that phrase would be someone who has little to no hope of winning. A perennial loser.

A treble (which consists of three horse selections) is a bet which bookmakers freely accept. In an age where you may struggle to bet £100 single (one selection) you can place an each-way treble which could pay £20,000 and it goes unnoticed. This is a factor punters should consider as it is a realistic chance to making their betting pay.

It should be noted that just 2% of gamblers make their betting pay. The difference between one and another is based on their level of skill.

The trouble with most punters betting mutli bets or accumulators is that they push things to ridiculous levels. By that I mean many bets are near impossible to win. For example, a Canadian which consists of five selections and a total of 26 bets. If one horse loses, it costs the punter 15 bets, so just one horse literally costs 57% of the bet. No wonder bookmakers love this type of bet because they need one loser to smash your bet (and hopes of winning). Percentage wise, it is unlikely you will have more than a couple of winning selections.

For this reason, I would advise betting an each-way treble.

The beauty of an each-way treble is that you are simply betting on three horse selections which covers the win and place. For example, if you bet three horses priced 4/1 for a £1 win stake you will achieve odds of 125/1 (win odds of 124/1, minus your £1 stake). If all three horses are placed, you will win almost 5/1. If you place a £1 each-way bet at odds of 4/1 on three winning selections you would have a total win of £128.83 (for a £2 stake).

The good side of this bet is that you only need each horse to be placed to show a profitable return.

How to maximise your best chance of winning.

The key to winning is to make sure your selections are of the highest level. The mistake of most punters make is that they use such bets as an excuse to take a chance. This is a big problem. In truth, you shouldn’t use these bets for anything other than strong selections. To do this you need a high level of skill. There is no other option. If you don’t understand the positives and negatives of gambling you probably shouldn’t be betting at all.

If you are looking for a bet that may win you a significant amount of money then the each-way treble is a worthy bet type.

Always bet responsibly.