Sports Betting Strategy: Multiples Betting

Contributor | February 5th, 2013

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One of the biggest thrills of football betting is the chance to win big, and there is no better way to chase a large pay-out than football multiples betting. Every so often, it is reported that a lucky punter has seen huge returns from a small stake by placing an accumulator bet – last year, Glen Johnson's 87th minute winner for Liverpool against Chelsea completed a 19 team accumulator for one daring football fan. His €1 accumulator won him a staggering €680,000.

Multiples Betting Explained

Multiples betting is fairly simple if you stick to a standard accumulator. You take a number of selections – it could be as few as two – and multiply the odds together. If all of your selections are correct, you win. As the number of selections goes up, the odds can increase rapidly, which is where the potential for big wins appears.

Combining Bets

However, there is nothing more frustrating than missing out on a potential accumulator jackpot after being let down by just one selection. This is where variations on standard accumulator betting come in handy. Depending on the number of selections, there are various combinations of multiples bets that can cover you for one or more of your choices letting you down. For example, during the FA Cup fourth round weekend, one punter missed out on a £500,000 return by just one goal, but having backed his four selections in a 'Lucky 15', he still received a pay-out of over £15,000.

More Than Just Football

And multiples betting isn't solely limited to football. For instance, if you select four horses in four separate races, there are several multiples bets available. You could place a 'Lucky 15', which consists of 15 separate bets – four singles, the six combinations of doubles, the four combinations of trebles and the fourfold accumulator. In this situation, if three of your four horses win, you would win on three singles, three of the doubles and one of the trebles. Often, the winnings on these bets will return a profit, despite one of your four selections letting you down.

Another multiples betting option in this situation is the 'Yankee'. This is virtually identical to the 'Lucky 15', except it leaves out the four singles. This can be worth considering if the odds on your selections are shorter and the returns from the singles would not be worth the risk of the outlay.

There are a number of these accumulator permutations that are designed to cover you if one or more of your selections lets you down, ranging from the 'Trixie', which involves just three selections and four bets, to the 'Goliath', involving eight selections and no fewer than 247 separate bets.

There are plenty of popular events for multiples betting. Accumulators across the card in a horse racing meeting are common, as are multiples over the weekend on English Premier League football. They provide excitement for the punter across all the matches, with huge potential returns from the enhanced odds. They can also be popular in early rounds of tennis tournaments, where the favourites are often at very short odds. Combining strong favourites in multiples bets can provide the bigger odds that appeal to many gamblers. To put together your own multiples bets on football, horses and many other sports, visit Paddy Power Sports today.