Football Accumulator Betting Guide

A football accumulator or Acca has become one of the most popular football betting markets in recent years, with many football fans up and down the country trying their hand with an accumulator.

So, what does a football accumulator consist of? You can find all you need to know in our handy football accumulator guide. We’ll explain how football accumulator bets work and throw in some football accumulator tips too.

Overview of Football Accumulator Bets

So, how do football accumulator bets work? In a nutshell, a football accumulator is a bet which consists of four or more selections in a single bet, and you only get a return if all your selections win. A bet on two selections is usually called a double and a bet on three is usually called a treble, whereas anything of four and above is an Acca.

To place an accumulator bet you simply add four or more selections to your betting slip and the combined odds will appear before giving you the option of how much you would like to stake on the accumulator.

Accas used to just cover the winners of matches, but today you can include a variety of bets within an accumulator. They include:

• Match Result
• Both Teams to Score
• Over 2.5 goals
• Both Teams to Score in Both Halves
• Full Time Result & BTTS
• Total Match Goals
• Both Score No Draw
• Handicaps
• Double Chance
• Draw No Bet

Here at Grosvenor Sport, we regularly enhance a number of accumulators ahead of kick-off to boost your potential winnings. And you can see them all in one place, for each and every week of the football season, right here.

In comparison to a single bet, an accumulator bet increases your potential return, depending on the number of games you opt to include in your accumulator. The more selections you make, the bigger the return you could receive if all your selections go in your favour, but it does mean you have to get the correct outcome of more results right.

With so many live games happening over the course of a midweek or weekend round of fixtures across the globe, it certainly adds to the thrill of football betting. On numerous occasions you can be sitting on the edge of your seat waiting for one late goal to turn an unsuccessful accumulator into a profitable one, and that type of drama is rarely rivalled in betting.

But what if a game in your accumulator doesn’t take place for whatever reason? You don’t have to worry, because that match will simply be taken off your selection and the odds recalculated on all remaining games within your accumulator.

How Football Accumulator Odds Work

With football accumulator bets, each of your chosen matches or outcomes will have certain odds. When you combine these bets together, the odds for each selection are multiplied by each other and by the initial stake to determine the total winnings. Yet, if one selection loses, the whole football accumulator bet will be lost.

Remember, the probability of all your outcomes coming in is much lower than just one of them coming in. This is then reflected in the odds. Before you place your bet, you’ll see the odds for the accumulator as a whole.

Plus, there are handy tools to help you work out how much a potential accumulator could earn you if it comes in, like our bet calculator.

When using the calculator you can vary the bet type, the way in which the odds are displayed (fractional, decimal, or American), your stake, and finally whether your bet is each way or not.

Rather than just placing a single bet on one result, an accumulator allows you to include multiple outcomes into one bet.

For example, if you were to place a £5 bet on a fivefold on Man Utd, Wolves, Leicester, Leeds and Bristol Rovers to win with respective odds of 2/5, 4/1, 2/1, 11/10 and 4/5, the calculator will automatically work out your potential return of £396.90, leaving you with a profit of £391.90.

Football Accumulator Betting Strategies

Placing a football Acca shouldn’t be a shot in the dark. With some high potential for winnings, you need to put the right strategy behind your betting. Here are some football accumulator tips to help you out:

Do Your Research

Yes, football is a “funny old game”, but form does play a huge part. If Manchester City are on one of their winning streaks for example, it’s likely they’ll add another win to their run. It feels like a safe bet.

When you make an Acca, you need to thoroughly research each of the teams you want to bet on. How is their form across their last few matches? Do they often slip up against this particular team? Are they missing key players through injury or suspension? These are all important questions to ask.

Look for Value Picks

A value pick is a match where the outcome may be much more likely than the odds provided. Look for matches where the top sides are playing those towards the bottom of the table, and you’ll often see that the odds are quite decent. This is especially the case if they’re playing away from home. Often the odds will take some kind of home advantage into account, even if the away team is steamrolling every team they face up against.

Look through all the fixtures on a match day or weekend and there will be plenty of these value picks. List them, then it’s just a case of removing the ones that you’re not sure about.

Find Some Solid Selections Too

Value picks are great, but you’ll likely be chancing your arm too much if you only go for them. You need some solid selections too, to minimise your chances of losing. Solid selections consist of the games that feature strong home teams with reasonable odds of winning. By choosing solid selections, you’re hedging your bets but also ensuring you get a decent payout at the same time.

Concentrate on Home Wins

You might look at a few away wins in your value picks, but the main home wins are the way to go with your accumulator betting. Most teams perform well at home, even the bottom sides in the Premier League tend to do well at their own patch – it’s often their away form that has them fighting for survival.

The home team is familiar with their surroundings, and they have the home support behind them. Home advantage is also a key factor if you’re betting on a match featuring two teams that are fairly close in league position. If you’re planning on placing an Acca across a full weekend of football fixtures for example, you’ll find plenty of home teams to bet on with decent odds.

Common Accumulator Mistakes

Don’t let your accumulator betting strategy go to waste – avoid these common accumulator mistakes.

Throwing Another Team in Just for Fun

If you’ve heavily researched all your selections but then decide to throw another team in, just to increase your potential payout, don’t do it. Just one unresearched selection can bring your entire Acca tumbling down.

Betting on Your Own Team

A football accumulator betting strategy should be based on cold hard facts and thorough research. By throwing the team you follow into the mix, your judgement can be clouded. For example, you may pick them to win away when you could have found a much stronger value pick. This could let your accumulator down. Remember, lead with your head not your heart.

Choosing Big Odds

Big odds are big for a reason, and they reflect the decreased likelihood of the bet coming in. Whilst big odds may dramatically increase your potential payout, they also dramatically decrease the probability of all your bets coming in. However, if your research is telling you that the bookmakers may be wrong in this case, go for it, but this shouldn’t form part of your usual strategy.

Going for the Impossible

Yes, in the FA Cup, we occasionally see giant killings where a low placed team does the business against a top team. The reason we always remember these for years to come is that it’s a freak event. Betting on freak events doesn’t make for successful Acca betting.

Picking Short-Priced Favourites

Favourites with short odds might look like a sure thing, but there are always so many of these matches available. If you pack your Acca with too many of these bets, it will mean your accumulator bet will struggle to reach its potential heights.

Selecting Draws

Draws have decent odds, but they are difficult to call and can be unpredictable. We advise against adding them into your Acca.

Cash Out

It is possible to cash out on your football accumulator bet early, before all your matches finish. The amount you cash out depends on the probability of your bet winning and will be provided by your chosen bookmaker.

Let’s have a look at how it works. Say you bet on Manchester City to win the early game, Liverpool to win at 15:00 and Manchester United to win at 17.30. If both City and Liverpool win, but you think that United might slip up having seen their line-up, you can cash out on your bet. You won’t win the full amount, but you will get a decent payout.

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