An accumulator is a bet that combines four or more selections into a single wager that gains a return only when all parts win.
The advantage of an accumulator is that winnings are much higher at the expense of increased risk, only a single selection need lose for the entire bet to lose.
In the case of a non-runner, returns are calculated as though the accumulator hadn't contained the selection i.e. a six-fold would become a five-fold. Dead heats for a winning position are settled at reduced odds using standard rules. Bonuses of a fixed percentage and enhanced accumulator odds are regularly made available at bookmakers including bet365 and skybet.
Accumulators are available for all sports, however bookmakers vary in their rules on combining selections from more than one to create a single bet. Selections from the same event cannot be combined into a single accumulator, this is to prevent anyone trying to place several bets on the same runner, more formally the selections must be mutually independent.
Due to the all or nothing nature of the accumulator some punters like to hedge their risk by placing bets on the folds of their wager so that it is still possible to gain a return event when not all selections win e.g. a person placing a 6-fold accumulator might also place a stake on the 6 smaller 5-fold accumulators so that should one selection fail to win, not everything is lost.
Types of Accumulator
An accumulator is a bet of 4 or more selections, those with fewer than 4 behave the same but have different names as detailed below:
| Number of selections | Bet Name |
|---|---|
| 2 | Double |
| 3 | Treble |
| 4 | Four-Fold Accumulator |
| 5 | Five-Fold Accumulator |
| 6 | Six-Fold Accumulator |
| 7 | Seven-Fold Accumulator |
| 8 | Eight-Fold Accumulator |
