Accumulators have long been a staple of the football betting world and punters up and down the country would regularly visit their local high street betting shop to place a “long list”. Bookies did – and in fact still do – print coupons displaying odds for a host of matches, and punters would delight in trying to pick the results from several games.
Before the National Lottery, these long-list bets were the main alternative to the football pools and were a way for punters to try and scoop a huge win from a small stake bet. And because they required very little outlay, they give even the smallest stake punter the opportunity to join in and try their luck at a big win.
How betting fans place their wagers has changed dramatically over the years. First there was the advent of tele-betting, then came online wagering, and nowadays a clear majority of football bets are placed via mobile. But the concept has stayed the same. Pick your results, place a small bet and cross your fingers in the hope of a big win.
But not all accumulators are equal. By carefully choosing where and how you place your bets, you can not only maximise your chance of winning, but significantly increase your payday should your bet come in.
First Things First: Check Your Odds
Gone are the days when your choice was limited to one or two High Street operators. There are now hundreds of online bookies to choose from. This greater competition means that the bookies have to provide better odds, and better odds mean more money in your pocket.
Comparing odds between bookmakers is also easier than ever, meaning it is easy to find which site offers the best value for the exact bet you want to place. Odds comparison tools make it so quick and simple to find out the best site to use, even if you want to place a complex acca.
Odds Matter More in an Acca
Odds for each individual bet can vary significantly. It is common to see one bookie price a team at 13/10 and another at 13/8. On a £5 single, that won’t make a huge difference to your returns (£11.50 v £13.13). However, throw together a big acca with, say, 10 legs, and these numbers soon become huge as the difference in odds amplify with each leg.
For an example, we created a random 10-fold, and the shortest bookie offered 4,374/1. Nice odds and we’d take a quid winner at that price – if we didn’t know that the best odds on the exact same bet were 11,740/1! For the smallest effort of checking odds, your £1 acca could win you an extra £7k!
Make the Most of Acca Bonuses
Odds are important, and depending on the type of accas you place and the style of betting you favour, they might be a key factor. However, bookies also compete for business through offers and promotions, and it is well worth checking what your chosen site provides in that regard.
The most common acca offer provides a boost on winnings. Known as an acca bonus, this promotion is typically based on how many legs your acca includes, with bigger bonuses for more legs. Some bookies offer a winnings boost of up to 100% – or even more. That’s doubling your winnings just for picking the right site to bet with.
Acca insurance is another fantastic offer and is one that applies not for when you win, but for those annoying times when you almost win. Again, promos vary, but generally if you place an accumulator with a minimum number of legs and just one of them loses, you get your money back, as either cash or, more commonly, a free bet.
Many sites also offer Bet and Get deals that reward bets with some kind of added incentive, regardless of whether you win or lose. These offers are often used to showcase other products from the bookies, and it is very common for your acca to trigger some free spins or a premium casino bonus.
There are a host of acca offers, and looking out for these is vital if you intend to place accumulators regularly. All of these great promos give you a better chance of long-term success and add value to your wager, so be sure to check them out. But don’t forget rule #1: compare the odds.
How to Pick a Winning Acca
Up to now, we’ve largely been concerned with the payout of your bet. But for that to happen, you need to actually win the bet – and as we all know, accumulators are notoriously hard to win (but that’s part of the fun). Here’s a few added hints and tips to help you along the way.
Pick a Sensible Number of Legs
It might be tempting to watch those odds climb as you add leg after leg to your bet, but the more legs you add, the harder it will be to win. Sticking to a sensible amount of matches will mean your bet is more likely to come in.
At the other end of the spectrum, you’ll want to make sure that you have enough legs to qualify for any acca insurance or bonus that you’re planning on using.
Don’t Be Afraid to Cash Out
Previously accas were all or nothing, you either won or you lost. From that respect, cash out has been a game changer for the acca fan, offering an opportunity to call it quits and take the money and run at any point in the bet.
Whilst it may sound counter intuitive to end a bet early when you could have just placed fewer legs, it feels a lot different when you’re seven successful legs into a ten leg monster and sitting on a potential cash out figure in the thousands.
Thanks to partial cash out, you can also take some profit whilst letting the rest of the bet ride. So if you’re sitting on life changing money, never be afraid to crystalise some of that profit whilst you can (and remember, your bet could lose).
Stick to What You Know
Traditionally, most betting-shop long lists were based on English and maybe Scottish football, with some European games thrown in. Nowadays, you can create a football acca that includes a bet from all FIFA confederations with some women’s and youth football thrown in for good measure.
We strongly recommend sticking to the leagues you know best. However, if you happen to have excellent knowledge of Bolivian football, you might just have a real chance of landing a serious value acca.
Use Available Tools and Stats
There is a range of tools offered by the best football betting sites. These include cash out, partial cash out, online streaming, so you can watch games you’ve bet on, plus the ability to include bet builders in your accas. In addition, you also have tools that might be deemed promotions, such as those that allow you to freeze the score in one or more legs of your acca.
Betting on the go is so quick and easy, and using your mobile to place an acca couldn’t be simpler. You also have a range of stats at your fingertips, plus the ability to watch more football than ever, either via a live stream or via a major broadcaster. This means you have more control and more knowledge, which can be very helpful when it comes to using tools such as cash out.