Types of Bets Explained: Singles, Accumulators, Lucky 15s and More

Start with a single, one selection at one price, because you can see exactly what you stand to win or lose. Everything else is a way of combining singles (doubles, trebles, accumulators and the full-cover bets), splitting a stake in two (each-way), or choosing a different market on the same event (handicaps, both teams to score, over/under).

The bet type decides how many selections must come in and how many separate bets your stake is spread across. The market decides what you are predicting. A Lucky 15 is a bet type; "Team A to win" is a market. Slips mix the two, and keeping them apart makes the rest of this page easier to follow.

Odds on this page are fractional, as on most UK slips. If 11/10 or 6/4 looks unfamiliar, betting odds explained covers the notation, and the bet calculator will check the returns on any bet below.

A single is one selection. £10 on a team at 6/4 returns £25.00 if it wins: your £10 stake plus £15.00 profit. If it loses, the £10 is gone, and nothing else on the slip affects it.

A double links two selections, a treble three, and an accumulator (the "acca") any number from two upwards. Every selection must win. The return from the first leg becomes the stake on the second, and so on down the line, which is why a multiple can pay a lot more than its parts and why one beaten leg ends the whole bet.

Here is a £10 treble on three football results at 11/10, 6/4 and 2/1. In decimal terms those prices are 2.10, 2.50 and 3.00, so the return is £10 × 2.10 × 2.50 × 3.00 = £157.50, a profit of £147.50. Lose any one leg and the return is £0. The same three selections as a £10 treble and as a three-leg accumulator are the same bet; the name changes with the number of legs.

A double on the first two prices, 11/10 and 6/4, returns £52.50 from £10. The bet calculator does this arithmetic for any prices you type in, including void legs, which drop out so the bet carries on with the remaining legs.

The outcome depends heavily on how many selections win: four winners pay far more than one. Take four football matches, each backed to win: the first at evens, the second at 11/10, the third at 6/4 and the fourth at 2/1, with £1 on every line.

An each-way bet is two equal bets on one selection: one for it to win and one for it to place. A £10 each-way bet costs £20. The win part pays at the full price. The place part pays at a fraction of the price, set by the place terms, if the selection finishes in the places paid.

Say you back a golfer at 5/1 with terms of 1/4 the odds for the first three places. If the golfer wins, you are paid £60.00 on the win part and £22.50 on the place part, £82.50 in all. If the golfer finishes second, only the place part pays: £10 × (1 + 5/4) = £22.50, which leaves a profit of £2.50 on the £20 outlay. Outside the places, both parts lose.

The terms vary by sport and event, so read them on the slip before you confirm. Tournament golf and big handicap events usually carry each-way markets, and the each-way calculator handles different terms, Rule 4 deductions and dead heats. Racing has further pool and forecast bets of its own (forecasts, tricasts, Tote bets), which exist but are outside this guide.

One match offers many markets, and each is a separate bet you can use as a single or as a leg in a multiple. These are the ones you will see most often on UK football:

Football markets

Match result (1X2): home win, draw or away win after 90 minutes plus stoppage time. Extra time and penalties do not count unless the market says so. Double chance covers two of the three results in one bet (home or draw, for instance), so the price is shorter. Draw no bet removes the draw: if it ends level, your stake is returned.

Both teams to score: yes or no, whatever the result. Over/under goals: whether the total goals in the match land above or below a line such as 2.5. Over 2.5 needs three or more; under 2.5 wins with two or fewer. Correct score asks for the exact final score and is the hardest to land.

Handicaps give one side a head start. In a European handicap a team starting at -1 must win by two or more for you to win, and a one-goal win becomes a draw on the handicap line. An Asian handicap removes the draw, with half-goal lines (-0.5, +1.5) giving two outcomes, and quarter-goal lines (-0.25, +0.75) splitting the stake over two adjacent lines, so a result can pay half a win or return half a stake.

Tennis, darts and cricket

In tennis you can back the match winner, the set score (2-0 or 2-1 in a best-of-three) or a games handicap. Darts has match winner, leg or set handicaps and the highest checkout. Cricket offers match winner (with the draw as an option in Test matches), top batter and total runs lines. All of these work as singles or as multiple legs; the rules for void and abandoned matches are on each bookmaker's terms.

A bet builder (same-game multiple) combines several markets from one match into a single bet, for example a team to win, both teams to score and over 2.5 goals. Every part must come in.

These selections are linked: when both teams score, over 2.5 goals is more likely too, so the parts tend to land together more often than separate bets would suggest. Because the outcomes are correlated, the bookmaker prices the combination as a whole rather than multiplying the individual prices, so you cannot reproduce the odds by multiplying the single prices in a calculator. Check the price on the slip, and note that the same selections can be offered at a different price by different firms.

Because every leg must land, a builder has the same all-or-nothing shape as an accumulator.

A pre-match bet is placed before the event starts at a price that holds until kick-off. An in-play (live) bet is placed while the event is under way, and prices move with the score, the clock and the action. In football, a team's price lengthens after it goes a goal behind.

In-play markets can be suspended for a moment after a goal or a red card and reopen at new prices. A price you saw a second ago may not be the price you get, so confirm the slip before you place it. The pace is a reason to set your limits before the match kicks off, and the responsible gambling page lists deposit limits and other tools.

Cash out is a bookmaker feature that lets you settle a bet before the event ends, at a price the bookmaker calculates from the current odds. If your selections are going well, the offer is less than the full return but more than your stake; if they are going badly, it may be less than the stake. A partial cash out settles part of the bet and leaves the rest running.

It is a feature, not a bet type. Whether it is available depends on the bookmaker, the market and the moment, and it can be withdrawn or suspended at any point, so you cannot count on it as a way out.