Common Online Bets

An accumulator, sometimes also called a multiple bet or an ‘acca’ for short, is a bet on more than one event where you need all parts of the bet to win, for example Liverpool to beat Arsenal, Manchester City to beat Manchester United and AC Milan to beat Juventus. With an acca, the individual odds for each selection are applied and the winnings rolled over, potentially leading to huge payouts. The events must not be directly related though, so Lionel Messi to score and PSG to win 2-0 is not an accumulator but one single bet with fixed odds.

A double is the simplest form of accumulator and just involves two unrelated selections, for example Leeds United to beat Blackpool and Manchester United to beat Hull City.

An each way bet is actually two bets, such that €5 each way will cost €10, with half going on as a standard win single and the other half going on the horse, dog, golfer or whatever “to place”, and with the odds reduced to a specified fraction. The place rules vary from event to event and bookie to bookie but in a standard horse race of eight or more runners you may get the top three paying at ¼ of the odds. In such a case, if your horse finishes third you lose half your stake but win with the other half, at the reduced odds of course. If the horse wins, both sides of the bet pay out.

A forecast is bet on the top two finishers in a race or event, in the correct order.

A Goliath, as the name suggests, is a huge bet that comprises eight selections and covers all 247 possible bets excluding the eight singles. That’s 28 doubles, 56 trebles, 70 four-folds, 56 five-folds, 28 six-folds, eight seven-folds and one eight-fold, with at least two winners needed for a return but probably four or more to see a profit (depending on the odds).

Handicap can mean a type of horse race, where the horses are given different weights (handicapped) to even out competition, as well as the process of handicapping itself. Alternatively it is a type of bet applicable to any sport where one side is given a theoretical head start” to make the betting closer or offer different bets. For example, in football, one side may be given a handicap of +2 (goals), meaning all they have to do for the bet to win is avoid defeat by two goals or more.

These are three different types – 15, 31 or 63 - of full cover with singles bets covering four selections, five selections and six respectively. For example a Lucky 15 includes four singles, six doubles, four trebles and one four-fold acca.

A patent is a multiple bet with three selections and a total of seven bets – a treble, three doubles and three singles and as such is a full cover with singles bet.

A reverse forecast is like forecast, in that you must select the top two finishers in a race or event but they can finish in either order. As with a combination tricast, this is a bet that covers multiple options – in this case two – so a €10 reverse forecast, sometimes called just a reverse, would cost €20.

A single is the most basic form of bet, just a single selection on one event.

A Super Heinz is a multiple bet that includes a grand total of 120 bets, with seven selections offering up a single seven-fold accumulator, 21 doubles and everything in between but not the seven singles. Depending on the odds of your winning selections you will probably need at least three and possibly four to make an overall profit as there are 120 bets, each with individual stakes.

A treble is a basic acca involving three selections, all of which must win for your bet to return anything.

A tricast is a bet on which horses, dogs or other competitors will finish in the top three of a given event and to win they must all be in the correct order, as opposed to a combination tricast in which they can be in any order.

In a manner similar to a “Patent’ (see our glossary below), a Trixie is a multiple bet with three selections that excludes singles. Its a total of four bets, with three doubles and a treble and two selections needed to return anything at all.

Win refers to a simple bet on a given outcome, as opposed to an each way or place bet.

A Yankee is another multiple bet, this time one which has four selections or legs and a total of 11 bets, with six doubles, four trebles and a single four way accumulator.