Understanding Handicap Accumulators When Betting on Soccer

Soccer accumulator bets have never been so popular. Every weekend, soccer betting customers like to log in to the best soccer betting sites and pick out a plethora of teams that they predict will win their respective games. After they have populated the online bet slip with these teams, they will then place an “acca” in the hope of striking it rich.

It’s easy to understand the appeal of an accumulator bet. Firstly, you don’t have to risk a large amount of money in order to enjoy a substantial return. Backing Manchester City at -300 doesn’t hold a lot of appeal for the recreational bettor; although putting City in an acca with other teams can see the odds build up to +1000 or higher.

Match Odds Accumulator v Handicap Odds Accumulator

The downfall of many 1X2 multiples is that bettors can be lured in by the large odds that come with picking six or more selections. This can often lead to one or two teams letting you down although if you make a lower number of selections as part of your accumulator, then you end up getting a potentially smaller return as a result.

However, when it comes to match handicap betting, a multiple bet that features just two or three teams can offer an attractive return, with the handicap market allowing you to plump for sides to effectively win by a bigger margin than just one goal.

Alternatively, a match handicap bet might see you go for the outsider with something like a +2 goal start which means the team could still lose by a single goal for you to win on your bet as you’ve backed them with a two goal advantage.

How to Place a Winning Accumulator Bet

Bettors aren’t the only ones who like soccer accumulators. They’re also generally great from a bookmaker point-of-view, with the operator knowing that customers largely get greedy and put any number of selections into their multiple bet without doing a great deal of research in the process.

While you might think your soccer acca is bombproof when you put in soccer teams trading at -200 or lower, it’s often the case that at least one side will let you down and soccer is never that predictable a sport. A team might be given a soft penalty or there could even be a red card in the match which affects the outcome.

Therefore, we advise customers to tread carefully when it comes to soccer accumulators. Sometimes, less is more. For example, you might want to simply place a treble on three teams that you strongly fancy rather than add a further three teams in order to boost the odds for that particular bet.

Can Accumulators Ever Be Value Bets?

Yes they can. Some people regard accas as “mug bets” but that’s not always the case. Naturally, some bettors will load up any number of selections in the happy knowledge that they’re unlikely to get a return although that’s largely akin to picking out some lottery numbers.

A shrewder bettor might go through a soccer coupon and pick out a number of teams that they feel have a very strong chance of winning. Never forget that there are always three potential outcomes in a soccer match, which means a treble involves getting the right outcome out of twenty-seven possibilities.

However, if you pick out three teams and the overall odds are even money, then you might genuinely feel as though there’s a greater than 50% chance of those teams winning their respective matches.

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Narrowing Your Teams Down

By placing a handicap odds accumulator instead of a match odds accumulator, you can sometimes get as big a return from your stake by making three selections with a handicap multiple as you can by making six selections with a match odds multiple.

Having a fewer number of selections reduces the chance of a particular leg letting you down and you can focus hard on getting the right selections to put in your handicap multiple bet.

For example, you might expect Manchester City, Liverpool and Chelsea to not only win their respective matches but also win by at least two clear goals. Theoretically, each team could be -200 to win the game but +700 with a -1 goal handicap.

Therefore, by putting three -200 chances in your multiple, you are creating odds of +700 from those selections alone and you then just have to hope that the match favorites are able to win their respective matches by a comprehensive margin.

Given that English Premier League, Spanish La Liga and German Bundesliga matches are often one-sided affairs, especially when you get one of the strongest teams against one of the weakest, then the handicap market is a good route to go down whether you’re considering a single, double, treble or accumulator wager.

Bet on the Handicap Market In-Play

Many bookmakers will take more bets on the In-Play Handicap Markets than the 1X2 alternative, especially if the favorite takes an early lead and effectively renders the match noncompetitive from a 1X2 point-of-view.

Should Manchester City go 1-0 up against West Ham, then you might get the chance to back Manchester City -2 @ -200, while a bookmaker might also offer Manchester City -3 @ +100. Bettors can then consider whether what sort of margin the favorite might win by and bet accordingly.

Naturally, you can also bet on West Ham when it comes to the Handicap Market, especially if you think they can potentially work their way back into the game or alternatively keep things tight and only lose by a slender margin.