If anyone has looked over on Facebook or Twitter accumulators are all the rage with punters seeking out that huge win from punting a few quid on multiple outcomes.
Personally I’m a little sceptical of the so called “Tipsters” on Facebook and Twitter pushing these multiples, which are often poorly researched and while they do ocassionally win, they seem to scream more about their wins and then skirt over the inevitable losses.
Still accumulators are a fun way to bet and for the patient bettor can be extrememly rewarding.
A question I often get asked from readers is what the hell is a lucky 15 bet?
This is a faily complex bet considering of the following elements.
A Lucky 15 Bet
Single | 1, 2, 3, 4 | 4 |
Double | 12, 13, 14, 23, 24, 34 | 6 |
Treble | 123, 124, 134, 234 | 4 |
Four-Fold | 1234 | 1 |
Total: | 15 |
So in total you place 15 bets over 4 outcomes. With a lucky 15 you cover every possible single, double, treble and four fold. The maximum payout would be if you had 4 winners, this would ensure all 15 bets won. With 3/4 winners you would have 7 winning bets. With 2/4 winners you would have 3 winning bets, with 1 winner 1 winning single bet. And with zero winners all bets would lose.
Let’s take a look at an example below to see the possibilities of this method.
Here are some bets I placed myself.
Switzerland Super League | Thun | Basel | Basel WIN | 1.83 | ladbrokes | 5 | Won |
England Premier League | Bournemouth | Manchester City | Man City to win | 1.46 | ladbrokes | 5 | Won |
England Championship | Brighton | Burton | Brighton to win | 1.5 | ladbrokes | 5 | Won |
Belgium Jupiler League | Anderlecht | Waregem | Anderlecht to win | 1.53 | ladbrokes | 5 | Won |
So with all bets winning what would I win if I placed a £15 Lucky 15?
Result:
£15 Lucky 15
Return = 43.03
Outlay = 15
Profit = 28.03
So as you can see from the results above my profit is roughly 2 X my £15 outlay. at £28.63. As singles the profit would only be £8.70
But what happens if one bet loses? Let’s take out one winner.
Switzerland Super League | Thun | Basel | Basel WIN | 1.83 | ladbrokes | 5 | Won |
England Premier League | Bournemouth | Manchester City | Man City to win | 1.46 | ladbrokes | 5 | lost |
England Championship | Brighton | Burton | Brighton to win | 1.5 | ladbrokes | 5 | Won |
Belgium Jupiler League | Anderlecht | Waregem | Anderlecht to win | 1.53 | ladbrokes | 5 | Won |
Result:
£15 Lucky 15
Return = 16.90
Outlay = 15
Profit = 1.90
As you can see with 1 leg letting us down the profits are much smaller, but its still a profit so we know we only need 3/4 and with the bets all odds on, it is not that unfeasible to get 3/4. However betting your £15 at singles (£15 total) would result in a higher profit (£3.225)
Let’s now try 2/4
Switzerland Super League | Thun | Basel | Basel WIN | 1.83 | Ladbrokes | 5 | Won |
England Premier League | Bournemouth | Manchester City | Man City to win | 1.46 | Ladbrokes | 5 | lost |
England Championship | Brighton | Burton | Brighton to win | 1.5 | Ladbrokes | 5 | lost |
Belgium Jupiler League | Anderlecht | Waregem | Anderlecht to win | 1.53 | Ladbrokes | 5 | Won |
Result:
£15 Lucky 15
Return = 6.16
Outlay = 15
Profit = minus 8.84
As you can see with just two winners we have lost nearly half our bank. This highlights the risks of a lucky 15, as with 2/4 we would have made less of a loss betting the 4 as singles (total bet £15, total loss £4.80)
Conclusion
My thoughts of the Lucky 15 based on this example are that its only worth more than betting singles if you win all 4. For me this over complicates things I would rather have my main bets as singles at higher amounts and if I want a cheeky accumulator I can simply opt for a four fold on top of my singles bets.
That said this example is at low odds, and the accumulator will work differently at higher odds and returns be far greater, however the odds of hitting it become much more remote.
So if you’re patient by all means hit the accumulators but remember if you lose a leg, single bets are often much better profits!
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