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Combination Bets: How To Best Place Combo Bets

Publish Date: 25/01/2024
Fact checked by: Josh Schwartz

Have you heard the saying “don’t put all your eggs in one basket”? When you use combination bet strategy, you simply are not putting all your eggs in one basket. Keep reading to see the best combination bets!

Combination bet is a betting type which involves placing multiple bets on a series of selections in order to reduce risk and maximize potential gain. Unlike an accumulator bet or single bet, it does not fail if a single selection is wrong. It is the “bullet proof plan” because of the minimal risk exposure it offers the gambler.

Interesting Facts about Combination Bet

  • They have big value over an accumulator
  • Risks are greatly reduced using combination bet
  • Combination bets risk exposure can be controlled just like a fan knob.

What are Combination Bets?

Let's have combination bets explained a little further. A combination bet is a bet which contains multiple bets on a set of selections. Usually, each bets in the selection has the same stake.  The Combination bet is otherwise called permutation betting and its closest betting companions are the accumulators and multiples, since they also involve making bets on multiple selections. The difference is that all your selections do not have to win before you get returns.

Accumulator and multiple bets are both independent bets with more than one selection, selections which all need to win if punter is to have any returns. Permutation betting simply put, is betting on sets of wagers  covering multiple selections which are combined differently, which means that you get to have some returns even if some of the bets don’t win.  understanding accumulators and multiple bets will help you to know how this bet type work.

Multiples

Multiple betting is a betting type that allows punters to place a series of bets on one betting slip. There are a few different forms of multiple but the simplest is the humble accumulator. For an accumulator bet to be successful, all the results must come in – if even one bet fails to win then the whole bet will be lost and you will have lost your stake.

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Combo bets - What is a combo bet?

Combo bets or Parlays or accumulators as they are known are multiples that consist of four or more bets. These may also be known as 4 fold, 5 fold, 6 fold etc. Depending on how many bets are in the accumulator. Still wondering 'What is a combo bet?' Let's have a look at an example:

Assuming a horse race with six races is scheduled, all in one day and a punter has planned to wager $24 on these games. Placing a straight bet of $24 on a horse in the first race would mean that, if the horse loses, the wager is lost no matter how high the odds are, a total loss of time and cash.

On the other hand, the punter might decide to place $8 wagers on selected horses to win in the first three races, and his total stake would amount to $24. This is a “combination bet” made up of three straight bets. If at only one of the selections wins at odds of higher than 3/1, profit is made. In like manner, if two of the selections win at average odds of above 2/3, profit is also made, and if the punter is having a profitable day and all three win, his profits gets even better.

As illustrated above, combination bet reduces the risk in betting. A lose or two loses is not a total loss of entire wager. The risk is even further reduced if the punter betting $24 on six races, stakes $4 on the horses selected in the six races.

The catch is that the more the bests are spread around different selections, the lesser the chances of winning big.  Only a small profit is gained unless several selections win.

We will now take a second example which is based on two soccer matches;

Let’s assume that LA Galaxy and Dallas FC each have matches against other teams and you suspect that both of these matches will have home wins, you have a choice of placing double bets on Dallas FC and LA Galaxy. You then choose to bet double on the teams with $30. Now, if you are fortunate and both teams win, that would mean that you get a return of $77.70, that is, $30 wager money + $47.70.This return is calculated based on 2.59 odds, after multiplying the odds for the first match with that of the second match. The disadvantage in this bet type is that if one of the bets is lost, you lose the entire wager and your wager money.

Now we are going to assume that you decided to cover the bet using the combination betting instead. This implies that you will place three bets and these bets are; a straight bet on Dallas FC to win, a straight bet on LA Galaxy to win, and a single double bet. This time, you decided to put in more wager money this time, $60 and you place $20 on each of these bets.

If both LA Galaxy and Dallas FC, you would win all three of your bets and expect the following returns and profit;

$20 on Dallas FC at odds of 1.85 odds returns $37 plus stake ($17profit)

$20 on LA Galaxy at odds of 1.40 returns $28 plus stake ($8.00 profit)

$20 on the double at odds of 2.59 returns $51.80 plus stake ($31.80 profit)

At the end of the day, your total profit would be equal to 56.80. This would be less that the profit that would have been made if you had placed $60 on a double. The good news is even if only one the teams win, you still get some money.

How Combination Bet Works - Forms of Combination Bets

There is a sizeable number of combination bets. Part of these are There are; the Yankee, the Super Yankee, the Lucky 15, the Patent and the Canadian, these bets offer punters different sets of bets which could be in different selections.

Of utmost importance is the need to know the difference between a Full Cover Bet and a Full Cover Bet with Singles. The full cover bet only contains doubles, trebles and accumulators in the selections, examples of such bets are Trixie, Yankee, Canadian, Heinz, it does not offer the single bets. On the other hands, bets like the Patent and the Lucky 15 are full cover bets with singles because they offer single bets as well as double, trebles and the rest. A requirement of this bet type is that it requires a much larger wager money.

Types of Full Cover Bets

Trixie: this involves three different set of bets which contains four separate bets made up of three doubles and a treble

Yankee: it involves four different selections that contain 11 individual bets spread across six doubles, four trebles and a fourfold accumulator

Heinz: this involves a set of six selections containing 57 individual bets spread across 15 doubles, 20 trebles, 15 four folds, 6 five folds and a six fold accumulator

Super Heinz:  it consists of seven different selections with 120 bets divided in 21 doubles, 35 trebles, 35 four folds, 21 five folds, 7 six folds and a seven fold accumulator

Goliath: this bet type consists of eight different sets each of which contains a number of bets numbering up to 247 independent bets. The bets contains 28 doubles, 56 trebles, 70 four folds, 56 five folds, 28 six folds, 8 seven folds and an eight fold accumulator.

Combination Bets with Singles

The most common combination bets with singles are listed below;

Patent:  this involves seven selections spread across one treble, three doubles and three singles

Lucky 15: This consists of 14 bets spread across four singles, six doubles, four trebles and one 4-fold

Lucky 31:  This contains 31 bets in total which are divided into 5 singles, 10 doubles, 10 trebles, five 4-folds and one 5-fold.

Lucky 63:  This covers 63 bets; 6 singles, 15 doubles, 20 trebles, 15 four-folds, six 5-folds, and one 6-fold accumulator.

Pros and Cons of Using the Combination Bets
Pros and Cons of Using the Combination Bets
  • They give Punters the opportunity to lock-up a big win, without relying on any particular team winning at very long odds
  • There is a big advantage because of the coverage it allows with minimal risk exposure
  • It doesn't require all of the selections in the wager to win in order to return something as opposed to a regular bet on a single or double bet
  • You have to sacrifice some of your potential returns in exchange for risk reduction, which is basically the main appeal of combination betting

Which Operators Offer the Best Combination Bet Deals?

Everyone interested can try their hands at combination betting as much as they want because of the cool profit returns they stand to gain at minimal risk.  However, not all betting sites offer cool odds as well as fast return payments. We have done the grunt work for you by researching which sport bookies would suit you best, all you need do is to visit our sports betting comparison page and choose which operator you would like the most.

Whichever operator you choose will profit you maximally by offering you the best odds. Be sure to shop around for the best bonus deals too - why not take a look at the latest 888sport welcome offer or Resorts sportsbook promo code to get you started?

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Conclusion: Combination Bet and the Low Risk Punter

The basic idea of combination betting is to maximize the chances of making a return when backing multiple selections. Using the best combination bets is a way to still benefit from the higher payouts that accumulators and multiples offer, without being exposed to the risk of losing your entire stake if just one of your selections loses. You do this by covering your selections in different combinations.

So now that we've had combination bets explained explained, it's time to put them into action. Our bookmakers for combination bets are trustworthy and their services are of high quality, they always deliver when it comes to top notch services, hence we can confidently recommend them to you. On our sports betting comparison page, you can expect to have the best knowledge from the best bookies on how to earn cool cash from your combination bets. All of which means you won't have to answer the question of 'What is a combo bet? anymore.

Combination Bets Explained FAQ

❓How do I use a combination bet calculator?

Read our guide to having combination bets explained and you’ll quickly get to see the best way to use a combination bet calculator. After all, these are bets that can take in a few different selections and so you’ll need some kind of calculator to figure out what kinds of winnings you could make. All of which should set you up nicely for making some awesome combination bets at the best online sportsbooks in the US

⚡What is the meaning of combination bet?

Check out our guide to combination betting to have combination bets explained in simple terms and with useful examples. This means that you should be able to get started with one of the most powerful sports bets there is. Plus things get even more interesting when you use a combination bet in conjunction with one of the best sports betting bonuses in the US. All of which should make it perfectly clear what a combination bet is.

🏇What is a combined horse bet?

We can’t talk about combination betting and not see how it works in conjunction with betting on horse racing. So make sure you read our guide to have combination bets explained and you’ll quickly see how this is an awesome bet to try at the best horse betting sites in the US. Our guide will reveal how you put a combination horse racing bet down, and even give you some tips for getting this tricky bet to work.

⭐How does a combi bet work?

Our guide will have combination bets explained in simple terms so that you won’t ever have to worry about what combi bets are anymore. We’ll even help you understand whether you can legally put down combi bets in your US state. After all, online gambling in the US is subject to some fairly complicated laws, and you’ll want to be sure that you can put your knowledge of combi bets to good use.

👀What are the different types of multiple bets?

Read our guide to have combination bets explained and see the many different kinds of multiple bets there are. All of which should give you plenty of different ways to put down lots of weird and wonderful bets at your favorite sportsbook. Just remember that multiple bets can be tricky to calculate and even harder to get right. So don’t forget that we can also help you find the best online casino in the US for some light relief!

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