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Football Accumulators Explained

Written by Pavel Kateliev
Pavel Kateliev is a popular sport journalist, particularly in the fields of football, basketball, tennis, and hockey. He writes daily for Sportingpedia and his work has been translated into at least 20 languages and featured on renowned outlets such as BBC, Yahoo, MCN, Sun, and Evening News, in Italian, English, Spanish, and Portuguese.
, | Updated: September 12, 2024

Football Accumulators ExplainedAccumulator or parlay bets, as they are also known, fall into the category of one of the most preferred manners of wagering on football. In essence, any knowledgeable soccer bettor will tell you that it would be better if you acquaint yourself with the ins and outs of this manner of gambling, with the most obvious reason being the payouts such bets might grant.

Still, football devotees should take into account the fact that getting right when making such bets might turn out to be quite an onerous task. Of course, this does not mean that soccer fanatics should steer clear of such bets only because they require more expertise and luck.

Thus, as long as you are seeking to add an extra thrill to your betting session, accumulator bets might turn out to be the best way to go. Now, if you wish to learn the ropes of this way of soccer multi-betting, just keep on reading below.

What Are Football Accumulators

What Are Football AccumulatorsIt is true to say that accumulator bets list among the fan-favorites not only because of the value they might bring but also due to the fact that they work in an extremely simple manner. One of the first things football devotees should remember is that accumulator and parlay are terms which are used to refer to one and the same manner of wagering on football. When it comes to the term accumulator bets, it is utilized by gambling enthusiasts from almost all parts of the world, with the only exception being the United States of America where instead, the term parlay bets is employed.

Once we have clarified this, the next thing you should learn more about is what accumulator bets are. Despite the fact that such bets might seem slightly intimidating at first, you should not fret about this as in practice, they are simply bets which gather two or more selections into a single stake. In other words, this means that football bettors are simply making several predictions concurrently. Since you are gathering several stakes into a single accumulator bet, this means that you are also pulling the odds together, thus, having the chance to sweep some remarkable wins.

Still, one of the hardest things about these bets remains that you will win, provided that all the selections you have made are correct. This is one of the main reasons why such bets are considered a plunge in football wagering. Despite the fact that in practice, such bets can encompass pretty much every possible bet type, for their most part, when making accumulator bets gambling enthusiasts tend to make stakes on the final result of several soccer events.

As stated above, one of the most challenging things about accumulator bets remains to make only correct picks. Even if you decide to include only two selections into your accumulator bet, your chances of making a right prediction will be much smaller when compared to a situation in which you have made two separate soccer bets on the same events. Thus, your chances of making correct picks will diminish with every additional selection you decide to include.

Perhaps, now you wonder why soccer bettors will make use of such wagers since they can turn out to be so tricky. The explanation of this is pretty simple as accumulator or parlay bets might yield more substantial payouts in comparison with the other betting options soccer lovers are allowed to select from.

Creating a Football Accumulator Bet

Creating a Football Accumulator BetOnce you have learned more about the special features of this way of gambling on football, perhaps, you are eager to find out more about the manner in which such bets are created. The good news is that soccer devotees should not be anxious about this, as creating a football accumulator simply could not be easier.

Once you have established an account at the virtual bookie which ticks all the right boxes, you simply need to log into your account, and to head to the section reserved for soccer events. Then, you will be presented with all the events on which you are allowed to make your accumulator bet. Gambling devotees should remember that they are not compelled to stick to a single tournament or league, as instead, they can spread their predictions across several individual competitions. Other than that, soccer bettors should also be informed that while making such bets, the events they have decided to wager on should not necessarily take place on one and the same day.

Let’s assume that you have chosen to wager on a matchup between Liverpool and Crystal Palace, in which the odds of Liverpool to become victorious are 1.85. Then, you have picked a matchup between Manchester United and Arsenal, in which the odds of Manchester United to become a winner are 2.10. And last, you have picked a matchup between Stoke City and Manchester City, in which the odds of Stoke City are 2.30. Apart from the rather traditional options such as wagering on a draw, a win, or a loss, gambling enthusiasts might be interested to find out that they are also allowed to make predictions which have to do with the first and the last goalscorer, as well as the total number of the scored goals, and so on. It is important to note that when you take a look at your bet slip, your stakes will be presented as singles. What you need to do is to find the options for making an accumulator bet you are presented with, and to enter the amount you wish to stake.

Estimating Your Potential Returns

Estimating Your Potential ReturnsNow, let’s pay more attention to the examples we provided above. Perhaps, you are already aware that your accumulator bet will be a winning one, provided that Liverpool, Manchester United, and Stoke City turn out to be the victorious teams. Thus, as long as even one of the matchups ends up in a draw, this would mean that your accumulator bet immediately becomes a losing one. Hence, your chances of getting all the three selections right would be much smaller when compared to the chances you have when making these predictions as individual stakes.

Perhaps, now arises the question why would you run the risk of losing your money when you can play it safe and make three individual stakes. Despite the fact that this might seem to you as a stupid move at first, when you find out that the manner in which the odds are calculated in each of the cases significantly affects your overall profit, you will change your mind.

Thus, as long as we assume that you have decided to remain on the safe side, and you have made three individual stakes each of $10, in the first case, a winning stake on Liverpool will bring you as much as $18,50, meaning that the profit you will enjoy will be $8,50. If you have wagered on Manchester United, and the team eventually becomes victorious, your stake will bring you as much as $21, meaning that your profit will be $11. In the event that the stake you have made on Stoke City turns out to be a winning one, the returns you will be granted stand at $23, which in other words means that your profit will be $13. Thus, it should hit you that you are running the risk of losing as much as $30 in order to get $32,50 profit.

Now, let’s assume that you have decided to take another approach, and you have come to the decision that you should make an accumulator bet. This time, what you need to do is to multiply the odds you were offered on all the individual soccer matchups. In other words, the equation will look like this 2.3 x 2.1 x 1.8 = 8.694. Now, you simply need to multiply this value by the amount of the stake you have made which in our case is $30. Thus, you will get that your potential return will be $260,82, meaning that a winning accumulator bet will bring you $230,82 profit.

As you can see, the values differ greatly, which is precisely the reason why so many football lovers decide in favor of accumulator bets. On the contrary, some punters consider that such bets are not worthwhile due to the fact that in their view, it is quite hard to have all your predictions right. Still, as you can see, the risk is definitely worth taking, especially if you are offered such a good value.

While this may be true, football bettors should also strive to strike a happy medium when it comes to accumulator bets due to the fact that quite often, they might find themselves tempted to add more and more selections in an attempt to get a bigger profit. Perhaps, you have already found out why such an approach will be entirely wrong.

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