Acca Calculator: See What an Accumulator Pays Before Kick-Off

The formula behind an accumulator calculator

Each price is first turned into decimal odds, which is the fraction plus one: 11/10 becomes 2.10 and 5/6 becomes 1.8333. The calculator then multiplies the decimal prices together and multiplies that product by the stake.

• Return = stake × d1 × d2 × … × dn
• Profit = return − stake
• A lost leg counts as zero, so the slip returns nothing.
• A void leg counts as 1.00 and drops out of the sum.
• A dead heat of two counts the leg at half its decimal price; a dead heat of three at a third.

Worked example: a five-fold football accumulator

Five match results at 11/10, 5/6, 12/5, 7/4 and 3/5, with a stake of 5. The last column shows how the stake grows as each leg is added.

The combined decimal price is 57.596, a shade under 57/1 in fractional terms. The slip returns 287.98 and the profit is 282.98.

Rounding matters more than it looks. Type the second leg as 1.83 instead of 5/6 and the slip shows 287.46, 52p short, because the small error is multiplied by every other leg. Enter prices in the form the site displays them, and the acca calculator keeps a typed fraction exact.

The same acca with a void leg

Say the 12/5 match is postponed and settled as void under the site's rules. That leg now counts as 1.00, and the slip becomes a four-fold at the other prices: 5 × 2.10 × 1.8333 × 2.75 × 1.60 = 84.70, a profit of 79.70. The bet is not lost; it is simply shorter and cheaper.

A dead heat works differently. If the 7/4 leg were a joint win in a two-way tie, that leg would count at 2.75 ÷ 2 = 1.375 and the full five-fold would return 143.99, exactly half of 287.98.

Each-way accas on horses

An each-way acca is two accumulators placed together: one on every horse winning, one on every horse placing. A stake of 5 each way on four horses costs 10 in total. The place part pays at a fraction of each horse's price, and with 1/5 terms a 5/1 shot counts as 1/1 in the place acca.

The win part loses, because B and D did not win. The place part pays 5 × 1.80 × 2.00 × 2.20 × 1.60 = 63.36, so the slip returns 63.36 for a 10 outlay, a profit of 53.36. Had all four won, the win part would add 5 × 5 × 6 × 7 × 4 = 4,200, for a total of 4,263.36. One horse out of the places and both parts are lost.

Place terms are set by the site and the race: how many places are paid and at what fraction depends on the size of the field and whether the race is a handicap. The horse racing betting guide sets out how the terms change.

Why acca margins compound

Every price carries the bookmaker's margin, and an accumulator multiplies it along with the odds. Take a two-way market priced at 1.90 on both sides. Each side implies 52.63%, the book adds up to 105.26%, and the fair price without a margin would be 2.00. A single at 1.90 pays 95% of the fair figure. Put five such legs together and that 95% is multiplied five times.

At five legs, a stake of 10 returns 247.61 against a fair 320.00. A 5% shortfall on each leg has become a shortfall of about 22.6% on the slip. At ten legs, about four-tenths of the fair return has gone.

The practical point: a thinner margin on each leg matters far more in an acca than in a single. Measure a market's margin with the odds and margin converter, and compare prices on the best odds betting sites.

What the acca calculator does not include

• Acca insurance. Many sites refund the stake, often as bonus credit, when one leg lets the slip down. The calculator treats that slip as lost.
• Acca boosts. A percentage added to winnings for a set number of legs is not in the figures; you see the return at the quoted prices.
• Other bonuses and price promotions, which depend on each site's terms.
• Rule 4. In racing, a withdrawn runner after the market has formed reduces fixed-odds winnings on the other horses.
• Maximum payout per bet. A long acca can promise more than a site will pay on one slip.

Big accas: withdrawal ceilings and identity checks

Long accumulators are the bets that turn a small stake into a return hundreds of times larger, and that is where the site's terms start to bite. Three numbers decide how a big acca is paid at a site that lets you bet without documents at sign-up.

1. The maximum payout on a single bet. A return above it is cut to the cap, whatever the calculator shows.
2. The withdrawal ceiling per day, week or month. A return above it stays in the account and comes out in instalments.
3. The identity trigger. Opening an account without documents does not mean they are never requested. Terms usually allow a check once a single withdrawal or the running total of withdrawals passes a set amount, or when a win is far out of line with the account's history. A landed 15-fold can do both at once.

Read those three lines in the terms before the slip goes on, not after the last leg comes in. The fast withdrawal betting sites page compares how quickly sites pay.

Building a football accumulator the numbers favour

Our view: every leg has to earn its place. Adding a 1/4 favourite raises the return by a quarter but adds a full extra margin and one more way to lose, so short prices are rarely worth carrying. Fewer legs at well-priced markets usually beat a long slip of near-certainties. The draw also matters more than bettors expect; the football betting guide explains why a team at evens is not a coin flip.

If you would rather a single loser did not end the bet, a full-cover bet such as a Yankee spreads the same selections across doubles, trebles and bigger multiples. The bet calculator for every slip type works those out.

If you want to place these bets without sending documents first, start with our list of no ID betting sites.

From the same desk: Lucky 15 calculator, Yankee calculator and all betting calculators.

Bitcasino.ioSportsbook

US$2,500When ID can be asked

Open