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All bookmakers build margins into the markets they take bets on, in order to hopefully guarantee themselves a profit.

Therefore, as a punter if you have the ability to calculate betting margins using a simple formula, then you can easily identify which bookies are offering the best odds.

The “True Odds”

The best way to explain how this works is using the classic coin toss scenario. In any coin toss the probability of heads is 50% and tails is 50%. So the true odds for both outcome is evens (2.0). 50% + 50% = 100%. Making this a fair, or “round” market.

However, if a bookmaker offered the above true odds on a coin toss and took an equal amount of money on each outcome, they would just break even and not make any money. For example, if they took £100 on heads and £100 on tails, at these odds of evens (2.0) they would be paying out £200 regardless of the result, meaning a profit of £0.

Therefore, bookmakers will offer lower odds than the true odds in order to build in a profit margin. Keeping with the coin toss example, a bookmaker might instead offer odds of 10/11 (1.91) on both heads and tails outcomes. This is now implying that both have a 52.36% probability of being the correct outcome. 52.36% + 52.36% = 104.72%, making this an “overround” market, where the bookmakers margin is 4.72%.

So now if they took £100 on heads and £100 on tails, at these new odds of 10/11 (1.91), and the result is heads, the bookie would pay out £191 (£100 x 1.91) on heads and be left with £9 profit. Likewise, if the result is tails they would pay £191 out on tails and still have a £9 profit.

Now bookmaking is a business, so it’s fair enough that the bookies have their margins, however as punters we should always be looking for the best value for our money, and by this we mean the betting sites that have the lowest margins and offer as close to the true odds as possible.

Example:

Let’s compare the odds offered by Skybet and Marathon for the Tottenham v Man Utd match.

Skybet are offering: Tottenham 5/4 (2.25), Draw 12/5 (3.4), Man Utd 23/10 (3.3)

Marathon are offering: Tottenham 69/50 (2.38), Draw 121/50 (3.42), Man Utd 23/10 (3.3)

To calculate each bookies margin here we make the following calculation using the decimal odds:

Skybet: 100/2.25 + 100/3.4 + 100/3.3 = 104.16%

Marathon: 100/2.38 + 100/3.42 + 100/3.3 = 101.56%

From this simple calculation we can see that skybet’s margin is considerably bigger on this match than marathon bets, so Marathon bet are the best value by a long way.! If you do this for every Premier League match (as we do over on our Premier League Margins page) you will be able to see the bigger picture, and which bookies consistently offer the best value for money.

This formula can be used on any market in any sport. Remember, the lower the bookies margin the better value it is to you!

Suppose we take the match between Arsenal and Everton at the Emirates as an example, and compare the odds offered by Betsafe and Paddy Power.

To calculate each bookies margin here we make the following calculation using the decimal odds:

Betsafe: 100/1.32 + 100/5.8 + 100/11 = 102.09%

Paddy Power: 100/1.25 + 100/5.5 + 100/10 = 108.18%

One simple calculation shows us that there is a huge difference in the betting margins of these two firms, with Betsafe offering a better price on all three outcomes for the match result, and betting to an ultra competitive margin of 102.09%. Where as Paddy’s are betting to a stingy 108%! Let’s say we decide to also look at the betting for Leicester v Swansea:

And we calculate the margins again using the decimal odds:

Betsafe: 100/1.8 + 100/3.6 + 100/5.2 = 102.56%

Paddy Power: 100/1.66 + 100/3.6 + 100/5 = 108.09%

Once again Betsafe are offering much better value with a low margin of just 102.56% and better prices on two of the outcomes, and the same price on the other outcome over poor old Paddy. Now imagine if we want to place a £10 double bet on Everton to get a shock win at Arsenal and Leicester to beat Swansea. The value of betting with the low margin firms such as betsafe becomes even more apparent:

Betsafe: £10 @ 11.00 x 1.80 = £198

Paddys: £10 @ 10.00 x 1.66 = £166

So we would be better off to the tune of £32 if we placed this bet with Betsafe. And that’s just on a double. The difference in your returns will keep growing as you add more and more selections and the extra value offered by the low margin bookies is compounded.

The lesson is, make sure you shop around and look at the prices before placing your Premier League bets, particularly if you place accumulators. It’s not always a case of the biggest firms who shout loudest with the biggest tv marketing campaigns offering the best value odds, in fact it’s the complete opposite!

Taking the 2.15 Chepstow race as an example, let’s compare the odds offered by William Hill and ComeOn to calculate what margins they have built into their books:

2.15 Chepstow race

To calculate each bookies margin here we make the following calculation using the decimal odds:

William Hill: 100/2.25 + 100/2.75 + 100/4.5 + 100/8 + 100/29 + 100/101 + 100/101 = 120.96%

ComeOn: 100/2.38 + 100/2.75 + 100/4.5 + 100/8.5 + 100/29 + 100/101 + 100/126 = 117.60%

The above shows that ComeOn have built in a lower margin here compared to William Hill, and are therefore offering the better value odds to customers.

In this particular case ComeOn are either equal to or better than the price offered by William Hill for every single horse in the race. This will not always be the case but the bookmaker with the lower overall margin built into a race will, by definition, also be the one with the better odds on the majority of runners in that race.

So, the lesson is, shop around before placing your horse racing bets. Don’t assume that the older more established bookmakers have the best prices, as more often than not, they don’t!

Accumulator betting is one of the most common ways to bet on football and each week people from around the world will place accumulator bets on the big games. The draw of an accumulator bet is that you have the chance to win a huge amount of money from one bet, and the stakes can be kept small. Winning big for a small stake is the type of betting that appeals to many people.

There is also a lot of pride involved when landing an accumulator, so be sure to tell your friends and when you land one! Choosing a winning bet is not easy, you have to predict many different results correctly and hope that they all come in. You need every single one of your selections to win for you to get a return for the bookmakers, but landing an accumulator will give you a great feeling. It is that feeling that accumulator punters look for, and one that you will never forget after landing your first big bet.

What is an Accumulator Bet?

An accumulator (or Acca) bet is one single bet that you place on a number of selections. For you to get a return you have to pick out winners from all the games you choose, if just one lets you down then you will not get a return. Staking an accumulator is easy, it is one bet so costs the same as your stake, a £10 acca will cost you a total of £10.

Although there are many teams involved, by having just one bet on them all makes an accumulator a very simple bet. While other bets may give you more coverage on your selections, they can often become expensive and complicated, whereas an accumulator is easy to place, easy to stake and very easy to work out whether you have won or not. Many newcomers to football betting begin by placing accumulators on teams they think will win, simply because this is an easy bet to understand.

Why Place an Accumulator Bet?

The simple reason as to why you should place an accumulator bet is because they give you the chance to win a large amount of cash for just a small outlay. When you are placing an accumulator, with each winner on your bet the money rolls up and goes onto the next selections. This builds up to give you a big sum, so you don’t need to be placing a large bet to win big, if you have enough selections on your bet then you can win big from just a small stake. That is why the accumulator bet appeals to many different people, and why they often stick to accumulator bets and nothing else.

Finding the Right Balance

The hardest part of placing accumulator bets is finding the right balance when it comes to the number of selections to put in your bet. There is no right or wrong answer to this, it is a personal choice that you have to make. Try to make things realistic, but remember the fundamental values of an accumulator, the aim is to win a big amount of money from a small stake, so don’t be too concerned about putting selections in.

When you are looking at the teams you are going to bet on, after you have picked some take a look at the bet and what you would win if you added no more to the bet. If you are happy with the amount of money you would stand to win then go with the bet and don’t add any more. However if you want to win more then add another couple of selections and repeat the same again, seeing what you would win. A trap that many fall into is putting too many selections in their bet, they will stand to win a lot of money but it is highly unlikely the bet will land. Keep things realistic and you will eventually find the right balance between a realistic bet and one that wins you a lot of money.

Shop Around to get the Best Odds

When you place any bet at all you should always look around for the best odds and an accumulator is no different. When you are backing multiple selections in an accumulator, even just a slight difference in the odds that you take can have a huge impact on the returns you will receive if you win the bet. By not taking the best odds when you place a bet you are leaving profit behind and never taking full advantage of your winning, so be sure to look around when you are betting. The best punters not only pick successful selections, but they also bet the right way and taking the best odds is part of doing that.

The Premier League is one of the biggest leagues in the world, and a huge league for betting in. The bookmaker margins for this league can be looked at, so you can see where the best odds are likely to be found. For example, Marathon Bet have the lowest margin so compared to any other bookmakers they will generally offer the best odds. BetSafe, Betfair, Bet365 and BetVictor also offer a very low margin so these should also be looked at when you are trying to find the best odds for your bet. By taking the best cumulative odds every time you bet, you will leave nothing on the table and always be as profitable as you can possibly be.

Acca Insurance

Acca insurance is a great offer from selected bookmakers that will give you your money back should your accumulator fail by just one selection. If you are getting close to landing a big win, but you find yourself missing out by one then acca insurance could be the offer for you. There are a handful of bookmakers that offer acca insurance and the best offer to be found currently is with Ladbrokes. They offer acca insurance on bets with five selections or more, which is lower than other bookmakers and the refund they offer is up to £25, which is one of the biggest.

Acca Bonuses

Some bookmakers will offer you a bonus payment on top of your winnings if you manage to land an accumulator, and this is something you need to check out. This will increase the return you get, and with big bonuses out there to be had, you could find yourself winning a lot more than the odds suggest, which is great for your profit. These bonuses start from bets with just three selections with selected bookmakers, with BetStars, Bet365, NetBet and SportNation offering a bonus on bets with three selections. Bet365 and BetStars offer a 5% bonus for this, making them the highest when it comes to bonuses for three winners.

Bet365 and BetStars also offer the biggest bonuses, both of them offer a 100% bonus for a 14 team winning accumulator, meaning if you are lucky enough to land a huge 14-fold bet, you will be paid out at double what the odds suggest thanks to the great bonus on offer. If you are looking for variety when using an acca bonus offer then BetStars are the ones to go with. They offer the chance to win an acca bonus on all football leagues from around the world, whereas some bookmakers restrict the leagues that you can win bonuses on. They also allow you to use eight different markets in an attempt to win a bonus, compared to just one or two with some bookmakers, so you can place a wide variety of bets, anywhere in the world to try and pick up your bonus.

Cash Out

Being able to cash out your bets is something that is becoming increasingly popular, with many bookmakers offering punters the choice to do this. Some people like to cash out bets when they have the chance to win a nice profit, and even if this is something you haven’t done before, it is nice to have the choice. Alongside standard cash out, some bookmakers are now offering partial cash out where you can cash out part of your accumulator, and leave the rest of your stake running. This gives you the chance to take a profit from your bet, and also continue to cheer it on in the hope of winning some more money.

Bookmakers 10Bet, Bet365, Betfair and BetVictor all offer partial cash out alongside offering standard cash out so if you want your betting to be flexible then these are the places to check out. You don’t always have to cash out either fully or partially, but putting yourself in the most flexible betting position possible means that you have many options open to you. This will then allow you to assess each situation and each bet individually, and hopefully you will be able to make the right decision for each bet you have.