Basketball is a fast-paced, high-scoring game with a wide global appeal. According to <a href="https://sportforbusiness.com/the-worlds-most-watched-sports/" target="_blank" title="">TV viewing statistics</a>, it’s the joint 9th most watched sport worldwide, with an estimated 400 million viewers.&nbsp;

With such high-scoring games, ties at the end of regular time are relatively rare. However, regulations don’t allow basketball games to remain tied.&nbsp;

If the teams are tied at the end of regular time, periods of overtime are played until there’s a clear winner.

Overtime adds an extra layer of excitement to basketball games, as both teams push hard to outscore their opponents during the added time.&nbsp;

When betting on basketball, it’s good to know if your bet includes overtime. Somewhat annoyingly, the short answer to this is “it depends”!&nbsp;

Bookmaker and exchange overtime rules differ widely, with no apparent logic behind these differences. Because of this, if you’re betting on basketball, it’s a good idea to know how overtime could affect your bets before placing them.&nbsp;

This is especially important if you’re doing a <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/matched-betting-faq" target="_blank" title="">Matched Betting</a> offer involving basketball. You should always ensure the bookmaker's overtime rules for your bet match those at the exchange, to avoid potentially losing money on your bets.&nbsp;

In this article, you’ll find out how overtime works, how often NBA games go to extra time, and the overtime rules for a wide range of bookmakers and <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/what-is-a-betting-exchange" target="_blank" title="">betting exchanges</a>.&nbsp;

How Long is Regular Time in a Basketball Game?

The length of regular time (also called regulation time) in a basketball game depends on the organisation that oversees the game.&nbsp;

Here’s a summary of how the different organisations divide up their basketball games.&nbsp;

The allotted time for each period is actual playing time, with the clock being stopped while there’s no active play.&nbsp;

This means that basketball games tend to take a lot longer than the stated regular time, typically around 2 hours, even if no overtime is played.

If the scores are level at the end of the 4th quarter (or the end of the 2nd half in men’s NCAA games), a period of overtime must be played to attempt to break the deadlock. Overtime is played with the same ‘5 versus 5’ format (five players per team) as regular time.

Overtime periods last 5 minutes, although high school basketball overtime periods are contested over 4 minutes.&nbsp;

If the teams are still tied after the first overtime period, additional overtime periods of the same length are played until there’s a clear winner at the end of the extra period.&nbsp;

According to the <a href="https://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/world-records/428821-longest-nba-basketball-game#:~:text=The%20longest%20NBA%20basketball%20game,be%20a%20six%2Dovertime%20game." target="_blank" title="">Guinness World Records</a>, the longest game in NBA history was a 1951 fixture between Rochester Royals and Indianapolis Olympians.&nbsp;

Indianapolis Olympians won the match 75-73, but only after a record six periods of overtime were played. There were 78 playing minutes in total: 48 in regular time and 30 in overtime.&nbsp;

Despite the very long game, the final score was relatively low compared to more modern games, where teams score around 115 points on average.&nbsp;

How Often Do Basketball Games Go to Overtime?

According to several internet sources, including this one, about 6% of NBA games go to overtime, which is around 1 in 17.

NBA seasons involve each of the 30 teams playing 41 home games and 41 away games.&nbsp;

An easy way to work out the total number of games played is to multiply the number of home games each team plays by the number of teams. This avoids counting games twice (once for the home team and once for the away team).

The overall number of games played by NBA teams during a season can then be easily worked out:

Total Number of Games in an NBA Season = 41 x 30 = 1230

If around 6% of these games go to overtime, this means that about 74 games per season will require periods of overtime, on average.&nbsp;

There's very little consistency with bookmaker and exchange basketball overtime rules. However, there are a couple of general rules that are helpful to bear in mind.&nbsp;

If a market is offered for regular time and has a ‘draw’ option, overtime will not count. These are 3-Way markets, where you can bet on either team to win, or the draw.&nbsp;

On the VBet screenshot below, you can see they have a 2-way ‘Match Winner’ market (often called ‘Moneyline’). Overtime counts with this market.&nbsp;

Below this is a Match Result (Regular Time), where overtime does not count.

Almost all bookmakers, and all exchanges, include overtime with the 2-way match result / moneyline market.&nbsp;

The only bookmaker listed in the section below that doesn’t include overtime in these 2-way match result markets, according to their bettings rules, is Kwiff.&nbsp;

This means that if you’re Matched Betting, you can safely back and lay your basketball 2-way match result bets at any exchange, with any bookmaker other than Kwiff.&nbsp;

The bookmakers and exchanges in the list below are split into two sections - those that include overtime in all markets apart from 3-Way markets, and those with more complicated overtime rules.&nbsp;

The rules for <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/what-is-a-prop-bet" target="_blank" title="">prop bets</a> (proposition bets) differ significantly between bookmakers, as you’ll see below.&nbsp;

There are also major differences between bookmakers in the way they treat overtime in bets based on quarters or halves.

Bookmakers and Exchanges Where Overtime Counts for All Markets (Except 3-Way Markets, if Included)

N.B. Please bear in mind that the terms are subject to change, and you should always check to be sure of the latest rules.&nbsp;

Bookmakers and Exchanges with More Complicated Overtime Rules

Overtime is relatively rare in basketball, affecting only around 6% of NBA games. Even so, if you’re betting on the sport, it’s useful to know whether overtime is included with your bets.&nbsp;

Matched Bettors need to ensure that the overtime rules on their bookmaker basketball bets match those at the exchange they’re using, to avoid potentially losing money on their bets. The good news is that the 2-way Match Winner / Moneyline market includes overtime for all betting exchanges, and all bookmakers, except for Kwiff.

<a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/matched-betting-faq" target="_blank" title="">Matched Betting</a> allows you to lock in a profit on your bets, whether you’re betting on basketball or other sports, so you don’t have to leave your bets up to chance.

You can find out about a free Matched Betting trial at outplayed.com <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/free-matched-betting-trial" target="_blank" title="">here</a>.&nbsp;

Does Overtime Count in NBA Betting?

<a href="https://www.ufc.com/" target="_blank" title="">UFC</a> (Ultimate Fighting Championship) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) organisation, founded in 1993.&nbsp;

Featuring a roster of the <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/sports-betting-guide" target="_blank" title=""></a><a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/sports-betting-guide" target="_blank" title="">sport</a>’s most recognisable names, extensive worldwide coverage, and high-profile events, UFC is the clear leader in the world of mixed martial arts.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Most bookmakers and some <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/what-is-a-betting-exchange" target="_blank" title="">betting exchanges</a> have embraced the popularity of MMA, particularly UFC, and offer betting markets for fights.&nbsp;

In this guide, we’ll look into the history of mixed martial arts, techniques used, rules, common disciplines, important competitors, UFC betting markets, and where you can place your bets. 

Mixed martial arts is a full-contact combat sport that has grown dramatically in popularity in recent years.&nbsp;

Participants incorporate a combination of martial arts from around the world. Techniques used can be broken into striking and grappling categories.&nbsp;

Although these are the main focuses of mixed martial artists, defensive blocking techniques are also used to a lesser extent.&nbsp;

These are holds used to close in on and control the opponent, often in preparation for a takedown or throw, or to prevent an opponent from moving away or striking.

These are holds used as a ground fighting technique that pin the opponent to the ground. Mixed martial artists can’t win from a pinning hold, but they have several important uses:

These are holds intended to force the opponent to submit to avoid extreme pain, injury, or unconsciousness. A submission is indicated by tapping the opponent with the hand. There are a range of types of submission holds:

These involve using the legs to attack the opponent’s legs to unbalance them and make them fall to the ground.&nbsp;

A takedown is a technique that off-balances an opponent, causing them to fall to the ground, normally with the attacker landing on top of them.

A throw is a type of takedown that either involves off-balancing or lifting an opponent, then throwing them to the ground

UFC and other MMA events have far fewer betting markets than many other sports. With lower-profile fights, bookmakers and betting exchanges will often only have the Match Winner Market.&nbsp;

This is a bet on one of the fighters to win the fight.&nbsp;

Bookmakers tend to have 2-way markets, which do not include the draw. In the unlikely event that the bout ends as a draw, bets will be voided and stakes returned.&nbsp;

As of the writing of this article, there have only been six draws in UFC title fights. Four were split draws and the other two were majority draws.

This doesn’t include draws due to the maximum allowed time being reached, like the rematch in UFC5 between Ken Shamrock and Royce Gracie, which was declared a draw after 36 minutes.&nbsp;

The Match Winner market goes by many other names, including Moneyline, Fight Result, Bout <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/how-to-read-betting-odds" target="_blank" title="">Odds</a>, Winner, Fight Betting, Match Winner, To Win The Fight

The betting exchange Smarkets lists it as Winner (<a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/what-is-draw-no-bet" target="_blank" title="">Draw No Bet</a>), to emphasise that in the event of a draw, all bets are void and stakes or liabilities will be returned.&nbsp;

Here’s an example of a featured fight on <a href="https://outplayed.com/betfred-review" target="_blank" title="">Betfred</a>, in which the only available betting market is the Match Winner market:

Another common market is betting on the total number of rounds. These are two-way markets, where you can bet on over or under a certain number of rounds.&nbsp;

To avoid the possibility of a draw, the number of rounds will always end in .5. Here’s are examples where you can bet on Over/Under 2.5 rounds or Over/Under 4.5 rounds:

For bigger fights like title fights, additional markets may also be available.

A popular market in combat sports is Winning Method, which sometimes has other names like Fight Outcome or Method of Victory. With this market,&nbsp; you are betting on how the bout will be won.

As of the writing of this article, there aren’t any UFC markets of this type, but here’s a boxing Fight Outcome market, which will be very similar:

Round Betting is another market you might come across. Here, you’re betting on which round the fight will end in.

You might also see Round and Winning Method markets, which are common in boxing. With these markets, you’re betting on a specific round for the fight to end and the method of victory. This market will have much higher odds than either the Round Betting or Winning Method markets, due to the more specific nature of the bets.

Most bookmakers have MMA betting markets. The betting exchanges offering MMA odds are Matchbook, Smarkets, and Betfair Exchange.

If a bookmaker or exchange has MMA odds, these will be found under sections titled MMA, UFC/MMA, or Mixed Martial Arts. 

A Very Brief History of Mixed Martial Arts

Martial arts (fighting arts) date back thousands of years, with different countries developing their own systems.&nbsp;

A natural later development was to combine the best parts of a variety of martial arts to create a hybrid or mixed martial arts style.&nbsp;

Ancient China had a mixed combat sport called Leitai, which combined Chinese martial arts, <a href="https://outplayed.com/boxing-betting" target="_blank" title="">boxing</a>, and wrestling. Bouts took place on a raised platform with no barriers called a lei tai. A competitor would be defeated if they submitted, were incapacitated, or thrown from the stage.&nbsp;

The ancient Greeks had a combat sport called pankration, which combined wrestling, grappling and striking. It was introduced into the Greek Olympic Games in 648 BC.

Later, other countries developed their own mixed martial arts, including Savate in France, Vale Tudo in Brazil, catch wrestling in England, and Sambo in Russia.&nbsp;

In 1964, renowned martial artist Bruce Lee developed a hybrid martial art called Jeet Kune Do. He had trained in boxing in the 50s, studied Wing Chun with his teacher Ip Man, and also trained in a wide range of other Chinese martial arts.&nbsp;

After moving to the United States, he was also greatly influenced by Muhammad Ali’s boxing style, incorporating his footwork into his martial arts style.&nbsp;

Jeet Kune Do was Bruce Lee’s attempt to take the best parts of martial arts from around the world to create the most effective unarmed combat possible. Current UFC President Dana White has described Bruce Lee as the “father of mixed martial arts.”

<a href="https://www.ufc.com/" target="_blank" title="">Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)</a> was founded on 12th November 1993 by businessman Art Davie, and Brazilian martial artist Rorion Gracie.&nbsp;

Rorion Gracie is a member of the Gracie family, a family of Brazilian martial artists who developed Gracie jiu-jitsu (which later became known as Brazilian jiu-jitsu) in the mid-1920s.&nbsp;

Pre-dating the formation of the UFC, members of the Gracie family offered an open invitation to martial artists of any discipline to fight in a Vale Tudo (anything goes) contest.

This was known as the Gracie Challenge, and the intention was to demonstrate the superiority of Brazilian jiu-jitsu over other martial arts.&nbsp;

In the early days of the UFC, there were minimal rules and no weight categories, partly because the Gracie family wanted to demonstrate that Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioners could defeat heavier and stronger opponents.&nbsp;

The first UFC tournament, now referred to as UFC1, pitted competitors from a range of disciplines against each other, including Taekwon-do, karate, savate, kickboxing, shootfighting, sumo wrestling, and Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

The final of UFC1 featured savate fighter Gerard Gordeau against a member of the Gracie Family, Royce Gracie.

Ultimately, Gracie won by submission by rear naked choke hold after performing a takedown on Gordeau, who was unable to perform any strikes.&nbsp;

Weight categories were later introduced in UFC12 in February 1997. Gloves became mandatory from UFC14 in July 1997, which also banned kicks to the head of a downed opponent. Five-minute rounds were introduced in UFC21 in July 1999.&nbsp;

UFC100 in July 2009 saw a big surge in the sport's popularity. It was the most bought UFC pay-per-view ever at the time, with a buyrate of 1.6 million.&nbsp;

The main event featured UFC Heavyweight Champion and WWE Champion Brock Lesnar’s rematch and championship unification bout with Interim UFC Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir. Lesnar won the bout with a technical knockout in the 2nd round.&nbsp;

In November 2012, Dana White, who has been UFC President since 2001, announced that UFC would feature women in future events. 

MMA competitors train in a range of disciplines to improve their striking and grappling abilities. These can be broken down into disciplines that help to develop striking, clinching (controlling the opponent whilst standing), and ground grappling

Here’s a breakdown of some of the important disciplines that MMA fighters train in. 

The UFC has evolved since its early days, when there were no weight divisions. There are currently 8 men’s and 3 women’s weight divisions.

UFC Betting Guide

In many ways, <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/sports-betting-guide">the world of sports betting</a> mirrors the financial world, with tiers of professional traders harnessing the betting industry to turn a profit.

Betting brokers are just one example of those traders, making money by acting as a middleman between customers placing bets and bookmakers (and also some exchange sites).

So what is the advantage to bettors of using a broker, and how does it work? Is it something the average sports bettor should look into? And what are the downsides?

In this article, we’ll go into everything you need to know before signing up with a betting broker, so that you know for sure whether it’s worth your while.

A betting broker - or betting agent - acts as a middleman between you and a bookmaker.

Through a single account with the broker, you can place bets with any bookie they offer, and the broker makes money by charging you commission on your stake.

Brokers tend to focus mostly on Asian bookies, which usually have a somewhat different business model to western bookmakers.

Asian bookmakers are what’s known as ‘sharp’ bookies, offering much more <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/how-to-read-betting-odds">competitive odds</a> than the typical British bookie (known as ‘soft’ bookies).

Sharp bookies have much lower margins on their odds, and aim to make their odds as close as possible to true probability, meaning that the customer gets much better value for money.

In contrast, soft bookies have <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/how-betting-sites-make-money">a high margin on their odds</a>, and focus more on promotions to draw in customers, rather than competitive value on the bets themselves.

Sharp bookies are also far more willing to accept profitable, winning customers than soft bookies, who will usually start <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/top-tips-to-avoid-being-gubbed">gubbing or stake restricting</a> any customers who are too successful.

For this reason, sharp Asian bookmakers are obvious choices for expert sports bettors, who have the knowledge and experience to consistently make money from their sports betting, usually through <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/what-is-value-betting">value betting tactics</a>.

Betting agents make it much easier for these bettors to access sharp bookies and to place their bets.

The broker allows them to compare odds between the various bookies to find the very best value, and to place bets all from within one account, without having to navigate between a long list of bookie sites.

For an expert sports bettor, consistently profiting from their betting, it’s well worth the commission a betting broker charges for the sake of the ease of use and time saving aspects its service offers.

What Are The Benefits Of Using A Betting Broker?

One of the chief reasons to use a betting broker is to avoid the risk of a bookie placing restrictions on your account.

The biggest problem for sports bettors looking to make consistent profits is that most western bookies don’t look too kindly on any customers who make a success of their betting activity.

Consistent winning will inevitably result in a customer being stake restricted, meaning that they won’t be able to stake enough money to make any real profits anymore.

Asian sharp bookies are much less likely to restrict their customers, but customers from much of the world may not be able to access accounts with those bookies.

A betting broker therefore provides a means of access to those bookies - and the betting broker’s business model means that they really don’t care how much you win, as they earn their commission regardless.

Generally speaking, it’s possible to access much better value odds from Asian sharp bookmakers than from British ones.

Professional bettors’ profits hinge on finding the very best value bets available - so it’s easy to see why they’d be keen to bet with these bookies.

Of course, <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/what-is-a-betting-exchange">betting exchange sites</a> will also allow bettors to access highly competitive odds, and when betting at relatively low volumes using an exchange can be a solid strategy.

But even exchanges will start to impose some limitations for the most profitable bettors, asking for higher commission rates, or requiring the bettor to pay commission on all their bets, whether they’re wins or losses.

For bettors making serious money, betting brokers can be a much more satisfactory alternative.

As well as this, betting brokers make it a breeze to compare the odds available from various bookies, and to place bets from the same interface.

This saves the bettor valuable minutes in checking through different sites - and given the speed at which odds can move, that time saving can result in a significant amount of extra profit in the long run.

Even better, many betting brokers allow the bettor to set up a bet but require the software to wait to place it until it’s available at specified minimum odds.

This saves the bettor a lot of time in waiting around for the odds to improve; the technology does it all for them.

What Are The Drawbacks Of Using A Betting Broker?

While betting brokers do offer some major advantages to high volume sports bettors, there are also a number of downsides to balance those out.

The most significant of these are as follows:

Betting brokers generally have a much more limited range of sports available than traditional bookies.

You’ll still be able to access the most popular sports, but it’s often impossible to branch out into more niche sports.

This probably won’t trouble you if you only ever deposit via card anyway, but betting brokers generally have quite a limited range of payment methods available.

Unfortunately, you can’t <a href="https://outplayed.com/what-is-matched-betting">make money from Matched Betting</a> while using a betting broker - profitable offers simply won’t be available to you.

Crucially for UK-based bettors, many betting brokers don’t offer a service to a number of countries.

For a number of brokers, you simply won’t be able to sign up at all. There are some available to UK customers, but the available options are somewhat limited.

Betting brokers tend to cater to high volume customers, and they may therefore require you to stake a certain amount of money per month, or to wager your deposits a certain number of times, to avoid paying additional fees or to continue to use their services.

Many betting brokers limit the number of withdrawals customers can make free of charge.

Their services are designed to be used on an ongoing basis, so they expect you to leave a significant amount of money in your account.

You can usually withdraw free of charge once per month, but that does mean that you’ll need to be confident you won’t need urgent access to any of the funds you might have tied up in a broker account.

Betting brokers tend to focus on sports betting at a very basic level, meaning that you aren’t likely to encounter much in the way of promotions or bonuses. The value to the customer comes in the form of the odds they see.

As a betting broker is acting as a third party broker, they are not necessarily directly offering betting services themselves, so may not have a UK gambling licence.

Because of this, it won’t necessarily meet UK requirements for gambling operators, and your funds may not be as secure as they would with a UK licensed bookie.

Which Are The Best Betting Brokers Available?

If you’re based in the UK, your main challenge will be tracking down a betting broker willing to accept your custom; many of the most popular ones don’t accept customers from the UK.

The most reputable betting brokers with at least some services available to customers in the UK are as follows:

Is It Worth My While To Use A Betting Broker?

Betting brokers are designed for professional sports bettors, and consequently, they’re only really worthwhile for high volume, expert bettors who are making too much in profit to avoid being restricted by traditional bookies.

If you’re making a serious living from sports betting, then it’s certainly worth your while looking into betting brokers as a way to continue and maximise your profits.

For recreational bettors, however, the disadvantages are likely to outweigh the benefits. Instead, we’d recommend casual sports bettors looking to increase their profits to <a href="https://outplayed.com/news/matched-betting/how-much-can-you-make-from-matched-betting">give Matched Betting a go</a>.

Matched Betting involves placing bets both for and against a certain outcome to earn free bets, which allow you to make a profit regardless of the result - meaning that you can make reliable, guaranteed profits, so long as you follow the instructions correctly.

Most offers run along the lines of ‘Bet £10 and get a £10 free bet’. By matching the first bet, you break even - and you’re then able to make a profit on the free bet.

To find out more, take a look at our <a href="https://outplayed.com/what-is-matched-betting">beginner’s guide to Matched Betting</a>.

Alternatively, if you already know roughly how it works and want to get started, <a href="https://outplayed.com/user/register#1">sign up here for our free trial</a> and gain access to bookie offers worth over £850 in profit.

For expert sports bettors making a living from their gambling, betting brokers can be a huge boon, allowing them access to the best possible odds while reducing or eliminating the risk of account restrictions.

However, the more casual sports bettor isn’t likely to gain enough from using a betting broker to make up for the downsides - and that’s if they can even find a broker that operates in their country.

Realistically, most recreational bettors are likely to be more profitable if they try their hand at Matched Betting.

If you’re keen to get the most value from sports betting, sign up for our <a href="https://outplayed.com/user/register#1">free Matched Betting trial</a> to start making profits today.

Stephanie Sorrell

What Is A Betting Broker?

<a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/what-is-an-accumulator-bet">Accumulator bets</a>, often referred to as "accas," are a popular choice among bettors who want to turn small stakes into potentially big wins.

By combining multiple selections into a single bet, the potential payout grows significantly with each added selection.

However, not all accumulators are created equal and in fact, there is a huge range or acca bets you can place.

In this article, we’ll break down the main types of accumulator bets, explain how they work and help you choose the right one for your betting strategy.

Let’s walk through how to place an Accumulator bet and because it’s the most bet on sport in the UK, we’ll use football as an example and look at upcoming fixtures in the <a href="https://www.premierleague.com/">Premier League</a>.<a href="https://www.premierleague.com/"> </a>

Having looked at the fixtures and done some research, you have decided to pick the following four selections:

To place the bet, just head over to the market at your chosen bookies and then select your predictions.&nbsp; Using Bet365 for this example, this is what your bet slip will look like once you have added the four selections:

Next, choose the stake you want to use and click the ‘Place Bet’ option and that’s it, you’re done.

Obviously, you can add more selections to make it say a five or six-fold Accumulator.

As we mentioned earlier, you can mix and match the betting markets to form your chosen Accumulator bet.&nbsp; If you were to place the bets from our initial five-fold acca example, this is what the bet would look like:

Whilst we have used three different types of markets, you can literally use any <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/sports-betting-guide">sports betting</a><a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/sports-betting-guide"> </a>markets you like.

You don’t even have to pick out a result from a given match or race either.&nbsp; You can opt to bet on the winner of the Premier League, the winner of the UK National Hunt Jockeys Championship, the winner of the PGA Golf Tour and the winner of the Rugby Six Nations tournament for example.

Alternatively, you can consider other types of markets.&nbsp; Sticking with the football markets, you could look at <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/first-goalscorer-bets">first goal scorer</a>, goals scored, fouls, corners or goalkeeper saves.&nbsp; Provided you only pick one selection from each match, you can create an acca from it.&nbsp;

Once you add more than one selection from a specific game, you’re then entering the realms of <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/what-is-a-bet-builder">Bet Builders</a><a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/what-is-a-bet-builder"> </a>which isn’t the same as Accumulator bets.

Quite simply, the sky is the limit when it comes to picking what you want to add to an Accumulator bet.

Accumulator bets are extremely popular with bettors thanks to the potential of huge returns. The common uses of acca bets include picking football results on a weekend, horses on a Saturday and also Horse at big festival meetings such as <a href="https://www.thejockeyclub.co.uk/cheltenham-festival/">Cheltenham</a>.<a href="https://www.thejockeyclub.co.uk/cheltenham-festival/"> </a>

<a href="https://www.thejockeyclub.co.uk/cheltenham-festival/"></a>The returns on Accumulator bets are much bigger than single bets thanks to odds involved.

Thankfully, calculating the potential returns from Accumulator bets is pretty easy. It’s as straight forward as multiplying the odds of your selections by the bet stake you’ve used.

Using our previous four-fold Accumulator example with the football, let’s look at the returns for the individual bets compared to the Accumulator bet:

Let’s go through the four single bets to start with.&nbsp; After placing £40 in stake money (£10 per single bet), you would end of with a profit of £73 (£20 + £28 + £17 + £8).

Alternatively, using the above four single bets in an Accumulator would return a £544 profit.&nbsp; The difference is vast as the odds are multiplied – 3.00 x 3.80 x 2.70 x 1.80 = 55.40.&nbsp; All that extra profit potential for just a £10 outlay.

Of course, this makes the Accumulator look extremely attractive.&nbsp; However, don’t forget, one loss and the whole bet goes out of the window.

Had you placed four single bets and only three of them won, you would still make a profit.&nbsp; It might not be a huge amount but it’s still a profit.

Just to make sure you’re okay with the numbers, let’s take a look at calculating the odds and returns for the five-fold example with the mixed sports involved:

So, in this example, the five single bets would return a profit of £141.40 (£40 + £20 + £35 + £45 + £1.80).

However, the five-fold acca would multiply the odds (5.00 x 3.00 x 4.50 x 5.50 x 1.14) to give total odds of 424.28.&nbsp; After deducting your stake of £10, you would make an astonishing £4,232.80.

As you can see, calculating the returns from a standard Accumulator is quite easy.&nbsp; However, an alternative to working these things out for yourself is to input the figures into the Outplayed <a href="https://outplayed.com/calculators/accumulator-calculator">Accumulator Calculator</a>.

Using the Accumulator Calculator is nice and easy too.&nbsp; You just need to input the odds for your selections and enter your stake and the calculator will do the rest for you.&nbsp;

We entered the odds from our four-fold football acca example above and this is what it looks like:

Advantages And Disadvantages Of Accumulator Bets

Given the popularity of Accumulator bets, you’d think that it must be a no brainer to place them.&nbsp; However, as is the case with any <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/types-of-bets">types of bets</a>,<a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/types-of-bets"> </a>there’s benefits and drawbacks to them so let’s take a look.

So far we’ve looked at the box standard type of Accumulator Bet.&nbsp; However, there are other variations that are also known as multiple bets.

These include the following:

<a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/what-is-a-trixie-bet">A Trixie bet</a><a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/what-is-a-trixie-bet"> </a>requires you to pick three selections which are combined into one bet.&nbsp; Trixie bets tend to be used in horse racing and football the most.

As mentioned, your three selections combine to make one bet made up of four bets as follows:

As an example, there’s a big weekend of Premier League football coming up and you fancy having a bet on three teams you regularly watch.&nbsp; Your eye has been taken by the fixtures for Tottenham v Newcastle, Aston Villa v Leicester and Brighton v Arsenal.

You feel that all of the home teams will win these fixtures so you decide to select Tottenham at odds of 3.0 (2/1), Aston Villa at odds of 4.0 (3/1) and Brighton at odds of 6.0 (5/1).&nbsp; When you place your Trixie bet, the combinations will be made up as follows:

Double Bet 1 – Tottenham and Aston Villa to win

Double Bet 2 – Tottenham and Brighton to win

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