What is a Football Accumulator?

A football accumulator, otherwise known as an acca, is a bet which combines multiple selections, of four or more, into a single bet.

This type of bet is popular among casual punters who only have a flutter at the weekend, and can return huge winnings if successful. In this article we will cover how accumulators work, provide some examples and answer some common questions you are likely to have around football accumulators.

If you are completely new to football betting then you might enjoy reading our beginners guide to football betting.

How Does a Football Accumulator Work?

In a football accumulator, the punter makes multiple selections of four or more and combines them into one bet. All selections must be successful for the bet to win.

If you put on a five-fold accumulator and only four selections win, your bet will lose. However, if all five selections are successful, your winnings will be considerably higher than if you had backed them all individually.

The risk of an accumulator bet is greater than that of betting on singles, but the reward can far outweigh the risk.

Example

Let’s say you have made five selections, priced at:

8/13
11/10
7/4
1/1
9/4

Betting on five singles, at a 10 stake for each one, means your initial lay-out would be 50.

If all five selections were successful, your total winnings would be 117.15. This is a decent overall profit of 67.15.

If selection B failed, but the other four were successful, you would still win 96.15 overall. This is a 46.15 profit.

However, combining all five selections into an accumulator and placing a 50 stake on this bet would return a whopping 3,031.88. This is profit of 2,981.88.

Even if you laid out just a 10 stake, meaning you are already 40 better off before kick-off, your returns would be 606.38.

This is a 596.38 profit from the winning bet and you would save 40 from your initial stake.

Obviously, if selection B was unsuccessful, your returns would be zero.

What Advantages are There to Taking the Increased Risk?

Well, the greater winnings are an extremely good reason for taking a higher risk. The potential for winning large amounts is why so many punters place an accumulator bet every week.

Also, an accumulator bet is great for those who like to follow the action online and look to utilise the cash-out facility.

If a punter makes several selections and the bet is going well, an online bookmaker may offer a decent cash-out amount which enables the punter to make a profit before the bet has even finished.

How Many Selections Makes an Accumulator?

The minimum number of selections for a bet to be classed as an accumulator is usually four.

Under this amount, a bet is either classed as a Single (one selection), Double (two), or Treble (three).

Higher than a four-fold is classed as an accumulator, and there is no upper limit on number of selections for this type of bet. Some bookmakers may impose their own limit, but most will allow a punter to put in as many selections as they like.

Is an Accumulator Available for Different Markets?

Yes.

Most football punters will likely have started by placing a small stake on a match result acca one Saturday afternoon.

However, football betting has evolved and the accumulator bet is widely accepted on most available markets. The most popular, other than Match Result, are Both Teams to Score and Over/Under 2.5 Goals.

These are not the only markets though, and some bookmakers will even allow mixed accumulators where a punter can combine selections from different markets into the same bet.

How Do I Place a Football Accumulator?

Once you’ve studied all the information available, and made your selections using an analytical approach as explained in previous articles, you are ready to place your accumulator bet.

If betting online, you will find whichever site you’re using has a section for the market(s) you would like to bet on.

Once you have made your selections, you open your betting slip and select the accumulator option.

If there’s no accumulator option, simply count the amount of selections and select the option for that amount. For example, six selections would be a six-fold.

Once you’ve selected the type of bet, fill in your stake and it should tell you your potential returns before placing the bet. If you’re happy, place the bet.

If you bet in an actual betting shop, as some people still do, you will find dedicated slips for different markets. You mark your selection using a pen, write down your stake and select the type of bet.

If the bets you would like to place do not have a dedicated slip, or you wish to mix selections from different markets, you can write the selections down using a blank slip.

Once you’re happy with your selections, you hand the slip and stake money over to the cashier. They will give you back a slip, which also acts as a receipt, and you will be required to show this when collecting any winnings. Most of the time, this slip will give you a potential return amount.

Does The Footy Tipster Provide Accumulators?

At the time of writing (September 2017) we don’t provide tips for the sole purpose of putting together accumulators. We’ve written about it before in an article about accumulators vs single/double bets. It boils down to the fact we think that football bettors should focus on losing less often.

Questions about Football Accumulators

If you have any questions or think we haven’t covered something in this post, please feel free to leave a comment below.

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