There’s so much depth and complexity in the world of betting that it can sometimes feel like you’re staring deep into the night sky. However, its mysteries can be unveiled with the right tools and know-how. For many people, one of the subjects most surrounded in darkness is combination bets. There’s quite a lot of confusion surrounding this and other terminology, meaning many people aren’t quite sure what this refers to.
Well, consider us the telescope and
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the rocket ship. Strap on your space boots and keep your eyes peeled – it’s going to be an enlightening journey.
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Preparing for Your Mission: What is a Combination Bet?
As far as we can tell, a big part of the confusion surrounding combination bets comes down to terminology. One of the key problems in betting generally is there’s plenty of off-putting jargon. It’s understandable for rocket scientists to say a bunch of things to each other that’s alien to the rest of us, but we think betting should be universal.
To put it simply, a combination bet is where several bets are placed on a series of selections to minimise risk and maximise potential winnings. There are many different versions of combination bets, each with its own perks and distinctive features. One thing they all have in common though is they provide multiple opportunities to win. In other words, they all allow you the chance to win if some of your selections fail.
This is very important to point out. People often confuse combination bets with
accumulator bets. They are as different as Mars and Jupiter. The idea behind combo bets is to provide as many chances to win as possible to reduce your risk. An accumulator is all about putting everything on the line for one big payout.
We think there are two key reasons for this confusion. One is that often people simply say the wrong thing. We’ve seen accumulators referred to as combos by internationally renowned bookmakers. It’s no wonder many people get them mixed up. The other reason is combination bets are often part of an accumulator. The fact that accumulators are often called multiples doesn’t help matters either.
We’re going to go through some specific examples to help light up these foggy night skies – but we want you to remember that as a basic principle. Combo bets are several separate bets, while an accumulator is one giant bet. However, that’s just the basics.
An Interstellar Example: The Trixie Bet
Of course, anyone can place several different bets. And to an extent, if you split a £20 bet across different markets, you would mitigate your risk and give yourself multiple ways to win. That is what combo bets are all about, after all.
However, what makes combination bets special is that they utilise maths and logic to optimise those benefits. There’s a huge amount of ways to do this, and we’re going to go through some of them shortly. For now though, to introduce these wider concepts to you, we’re going to stick with one of the most popular examples. This is known as the Trixie Bet.
The Trixie bet sees you pick three outcomes to back across four bets. Three of those bets are doubles and one of those bets is a triple. Both of these are types of accumulator (or multiple).
As an example of those three outcomes, we’re going to use three football Premier League examples for the sake of simplicity. Keep in mind though that this can apply to sports from all over the galaxy. Horse racing is particularly popular for combination bets.
Making the Trixie Bet Less Alien
Let’s say you pick the following for your outcomes to back with your combo bet:
- Crystal Palace to beat West Brom. Odds are 33/20. We’ll call this selection A.
- Aston Villa to beat West Ham. Odds are 19/10. We’ll call this selection B.
- Leicester to beat Fulham. Odds are 8/15. We’ll call this selection C.
You will place four bets, each with £5. In order for the Trixie bet to work, having the same stake on each is important. This means the total stake is £20.
One bet will be a double, combining selection A and B. The second double will combine B and C and the third will combine A and C. The treble will combine A, B and C.
The first combination has potential returns of £38.42. The second combination has potential returns of £22.23. The third combination has potential returns of £20.31. The treble has potential returns of £58.91.
Of course, all of these selections could lose. Losing is always a possibility in betting, but it does help mitigate losses because as long as one of your doubles wins, you get your stake back. If the treble wins, you’ve got a sizable profit.
These are just markets we selected at random for the purpose of this experiment but even so, the benefits and the appeal of the combination bet is clear to see here. It gives you both a decent chance of winning and an opportunity to mitigate losses, while retaining the chance of winning big. And it is far from the only form of combination betting.
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A Galaxy Of Combination Bets
As we said, the Trixie combination bet football example was just that, an example. Combination betting covers a whole galaxy of betting options. We would define it as pretty much any combination of bets you think gives you a strategic edge. It needs to give you multiple chances to win. It cannot be lost if one selection loses, as that would make it an accumulator. But beyond that, we view the combination betting universe to be an open and varied one. The huge amount of available combination bets is clearly evidence of this.
That said, there are some types of combination bet that are more popular than others. The Trixie bet is just one of them. With that in mind, here are some other common examples so you can get a good idea of what’s out there.
Patent bet
Like the Trixie, this combination uses three selected outcomes, but seven bets. The first three bets are single bets, each on one of the selected outcomes. Another three bets are doubles. The last bet is a treble. The way the doubles and the trebles work is exactly the same as a Trixie bet. The singles are the difference here, and they mean you can get some return so long as one pick wins.
Yankee bet
This kind of combination bet sees you pick four possible outcomes. You place six doubles, four trebles and one four-fold accumulator, all across those four outcomes. That means 11 bets in total, all of the same stake, are placed overall. The double, triples and four-fold accumulators should each combine to cover all outcomes.
Super Yankee
As the name suggests, this is a super-sized version of the previous example, following many of the same principles. This combination bet has you choose five selections and utilise 26 bets. These include 10 doubles, 10 trebles, five four-folds and a five-fold accumulator.
Lucky 15
Other combination bets can get very large indeed. Here we have four selected outcomes and 15 bets. Those bets include four singles, six doubles, four trebles and a four-fold. Once again, the aim here is to cover as many possibilities as you can with all the various combinations. You’ll have to keep your stakes low in order to avoid this one getting expensive.
Goliath bet
We felt we may as well go big for this last example. The Goliath bet comprises 247 bets overall, and only on a mere eight selections. This includes an astounding 28 doubles, 58 trebles, 70 four-fold accumulators, 28 six-fold accumulators, eight seven-fold accumulators and one eight-fold accumulator.
Captain’s Log: Why Choose Combination Betting?
Variety is what makes this planet such a fascinating place to be. Combo bets are one example of that within the betting stratosphere. They provide a way of enjoying all the perks of multiple bets, without it being an all or nothing affair. Betting is all about enhancing your enjoyment of your favourite sports, and being able to do that across many selections is great. It can keep your interest throughout long tournaments or make a day at the races something you can enjoy from start to finish.
We think part of the appeal here is that combination wagers provide a structure for which you can enjoy this kind of betting in a controlled, considered way. You can know exactly how many bets you want to put on and how you are going to do it. All you need is some selections. That’s what is most misunderstood about this type of betting. It seems complicated, but simplicity is actually its finest strength. It takes something complex and turns it into something that people can understand.
Realistically, putting on 15 bets, for instance, means you’ll often be betting without any logic. With the Lucky 15, your chances of making smart choices are much more likely. Combination bets are about allowing you to enjoy a lot of wagers in a way where you aren’t overwhelmingly likely to walk away empty-handed. They are about making lots of bets simple. They are about mitigating losses. Most of all, they are simply another way of enjoying your favourite sports.
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