It’s difficult to find a top-level sports punter who is advocating for the use of accumulators or parlays. For the most part, they consider accumulators to be representative of more risk than they are typically willing to accept. Of course, top-level sports punter represent a very small portion of the sports betting public. A majority of the folks who bet on sports do so with a limited bankroll.
At http://punterslounge.com/, a lot of the information provided is directed towards helping the average sports punter extract as much value out of their wagering bankroll as possible. One of the things an average punter enjoys the most is having coverage on a number of games or matches at a time. Therein lies the real value of betting accumulators.
What is an Accumulator
An accumulator or parley is a sports wager that includes two or more games or matches on the same betting slip. The punter is required to win each and every game or match on the ticket in order for the wager to be considered a winner. Should one game come back as a tie or push with the rest being winners, the ticket is considered a winning between with a lower return than originally anticipated. The purpose of an accumulator is to allow punters to bet on more games or matches for a lower stake and a higher potential return.
Calculating the Potential Return on an Accumulator
Accumulators can include as few as two games or matches and as many as 10 or more games, depending on the guidelines set forth by each respective online or land-based bookmaker. Obviously, the difficulty of calculating a potential return on an accumulator gets more difficult as the number of games or matches included on a betting slip rises.
The return on an accumulator is calculated by multiplying the betting odds of each successive event with the gross results then taken times the amount of the wager. For an example, three games will be used to demonstrate the process. Let’s say a punter bets a Premiere Soccer League ticket and takes Manchester United at +1.50 over Liverpool, Arsenal at +3.00 over Manchester City and Chelsea at +2.00 over Everton. Keep in mind, a $10 wager on each separate event would cost $30 for a potential net profit of $35 ($5 + $20 + $10). A $10 accumulator would calculate out as follows: 1.5 x 3.0 x 2.0 x $10 = $90 or a net profit of $80 for a $10 investment.
Using math theory, it should be apparent that the potential return on a 10-team accumulator could be enormous. Of course, the chances of hitting all 10 games would extremely unlikely, making the wager very risky.
The best time to use an accumulator is when a punter has a very strong opinion on a particular event or two. First, straight wagers should always be made on such events. Then, small accumulators tying several events together could be used to increase the value should the punter be correct on all the events involved.
Jump to top
