What Does 'Accept All Odds Movement' Mean?

If you’re not an experienced bettor, you can find a confusing array of terminology on a bookie’s website. As well as endless abbreviations (SP? BOG? W/O?) you’ll have to navigate a variety of terms that the bookies seem to think are so self-explanatory that there’s no need to tell you what they mean.

If you’ve found yourself looking at the ‘accept all odds movement’ option and wondering what exactly will happen if you click it, you’re not alone. But you don’t need to wonder any longer - in this article, we’ll explain exactly what it does and whether you should choose it when sports betting.

What Does ‘Accept All Odds Movement’ Mean?

‘Accept All Odds Movement’ is an option that, if you choose it, means that your bet will be placed even if the odds change between your adding a selection to your betslip and your bet being placed.

This may not happen frequently if you tend to place single bets, but it’s much more common when placing multiples. As it takes longer to add all your selections to your bet slip, the chances of the odds on at least one of those selections changing before you place your bet becomes higher.

If you don’t have the ‘accept all odds movement’ option ticked, if you try to place your bet and the odds have shifted, you’ll see an alert to let you know of the change in odds. Your bet won’t be placed until you confirm you’re happy with the new odds.

Without knowing exactly what it means, people sometimes make the assumption that this option means you accept all odds changes right up until the start of the event. This makes a certain amount of sense - after all, it does say ‘all’ odds movement - but that isn’t actually the case. This option refers only to changes in odds between adding a selection to your betslip and the bet being successfully placed.

Where Is ‘Accept All Odds Movement’ Applied?

You won’t always see the ‘accept all odds movement’ option in the same place. Some bookies won’t display this option at all, while others will show it in the betslip, and some in the main settings page of your account. For example, PaddyPower show the option at the bottom of your betslip when you click to enter a stake:

BetMGM, meanwhile, allow you to choose an overall preference from your account settings:

As you can see, BetMGM allow for a slightly more nuanced approach - you can choose between automatically accepting any odds changes, accepting only those where the odds have gone up (thereby giving you a higher potential profit, which should always be a good thing), or asking for approval every time.

Why Do The Odds Change?

There can be a lot of reasons for odds to change, because betting odds are determined by a number of factors. These reasons can be divided roughly into two different categories, however.

1. The likelihood of an outcome has changed

To most people, this is the most obvious reason for odds to be adjusted. A bookie might have discovered that a particular horse or jockey is showing signs of not being on form, or that a football team might be missing one of its star players. Similarly, the weather forecast might have changed, which could favour some competitors but not others. Whatever the reason, a shift in the likelihood of a particular competitor winning an event will result in the odds moving for all other competitors as well.

2. The volume of betting is unbalanced

This is the less obvious side of oddsmaking to most casual bettors. A bookie will aim to have roughly even liability on either side (or on all sides) of an event, so that their profit remains the same regardless of the outcome. If betting becomes skewed too much towards one competitor (or several), bookies will adjust the odds to make the others more attractive, encouraging bettors to put their money on them.

Odds tend to move much more rapidly just before an event begins, so you’re far more likely to find yourself getting caught out when betting shortly before a race or match. They continue to change apace during the course of the event, which can make in-play betting something that requires a brisk pace - though it can be all the more exciting for it.

Are Bookies Allowed To Change Their Odds?

Yes, there’s nothing nefarious about a bookie changing their odds. It’s part of how their systems work, and it doesn’t always work against you - sometimes, the odds for your selection will increase, meaning you’ll end up making more money (if you win) than you’d originally expected.

As annoying it can be to start placing your bet only to have your expected odds swept out from under you, it is entirely legitimate. Without this system in place, it’d be very easy for punters to take advantage of shifting odds if having a selection in your betslip allowed you to reserve the odds at the time. Bettors would be able to hold a variety of selections in their betslip and wait for the odds on some of those selections to go down, before placing their bets at inflated odds. While this would be very nice for bettors, it would take a pretty significant slice out of bookies’ profits, which is, as you might expect, not something a bookie wishes to happen.

Should You Accept An Odds Change?

It might not sound like the most helpful answer, but really it depends. If you’re betting on an event because you think (or hope) that a certain team or competitor has a good chance of winning, it’s possible that you won’t care all that much exactly what the odds are. If so, it’s entirely up to you whether you think it’s still worthwhile to place your bet at the updated odds (obviously, there isn’t really any reason not to accept higher odds than originally offered).

As a rule, though, we’d advise against selecting the ‘accept all odds movement’ option. If the odds change, you’re always given the option to accept the new odds and place your bet anyway. Not choosing the ‘accept all odds movement’ option means you may spend a few more seconds placing your bet, but ensures that you always have the chance to consider the new odds first, rather than being landed with worse odds no matter what.

Accept All Odds Movement And Matched Betting

If you’re getting started with Matched Betting (or even an experienced matched bettor), a change of odds can be more of a spanner in the works. Your expected profit will change, sometimes significantly, if the odds move while you’re placing a bet, and for this reason it’s definitely not a good idea to turn on ‘accept all odds movement’ if you’re a matched bettor.

If the odds do change just as you’re adding a selection to your betslip, it’s best to adjust them in the oddsmatcher calculator to check whether your qualifying loss or profit is still at an acceptable level. If not, we’d recommend removing the selection from your betslip and finding an alternative match to bet on.

If the odds change on the exchange after you’ve placed your back bet, however, there’s less you can do. In this situation, it’s best to amend the odds in the oddsmatcher and place your lay bet at the new available odds (although you can hang around to see if the odds go back up again - but you’re risking them decreasing further as well). Hopefully, the change won’t reduce your profit by much.

What’s The Difference Between Accept All Odds Movement And Starting Price (SP)?

Starting Price (SP) in horse racing refers to the official odds on a horse at the start of the race. These are standardised across bookies, roughly based on the average odds being offered across all major bookies at that time (for a detailed breakdown, check out our full guide to SP).

It’s not at all uncommon to get these two concepts mixed up. If you haven’t quite understood how the ‘accept all odds movement’ function works, it’s relatively logical to assume that doing so will result in your eventual odds being those offered when the race begins.

However, these are two completely different concepts. While ‘accept all odds movement’ does, confusingly, use the word ‘all’, it refers only to movement between your choosing a selection and actually placing a bet. Your odds won’t continue to change until they end up at the SP at the off. After all, if they did, what would be the point of having a separate ‘SP’ option available on a racecard?

Summary

‘Accept all odds movement’ may save a bit of time if you’re betting in a hurry, but we’d certainly recommend keeping the option turned off. You’ll always be given the opportunity to accept the new odds anyway, and having the chance to change your mind if the odds have become worse is definitely a good thing.

For matched bettors, this is even more the case. Your profits can be significantly reduced if a change of odds means your match is no longer as close, so it’s definitely much better to have the chance to review the new odds before deciding if you want to go ahead with your bet.

Unless you’re betting solely as a fan of a team or player, and aren’t fussed about the odds you get, we’d firmly recommend keeping ‘accept all odds movement’ off.