What Is The Maximum a Bookmaker Will Payout?
The small stake big return bet is the dream of many punters – hence the popularity of the Lucky 15 bets in horse racing and the wonderful football acca. Hitting four out of four reasonably priced winners in a Lucky 15 or finally landing that elusive 13-fold on the weekend football action will all but guarantee a handsome payout.
However, in the case of the most spectacular bets, exactly how big this windfall is may depend upon the Maximum Payout of the bookmaker with whom you place the bet.
Why Do Maximum Payouts Vary?
Not all Maximum Payouts are created equally in the online bookmaking world. Far from it, in fact, with the Maximum Payout varying from one bookmaker to the next, between individual sports with the same bookmaker, and across different markets within the same sport.
Varying Maximum Payouts Between Bookmakers
The rule of thumb here is – the bigger the bookmaker, the bigger the Maximum Payout. When determining their Maximum Payout, bookmakers must strike a balance between providing an attractive offer for customers and not placing their business at risk.
To take an extreme example. Consider your local independent one-shop high-street bookmaker, who may take £10,000 in bets on a busy Saturday. Offering a Maximum Payout of £2m on a football acca would be way too risky for this operator. Whilst possible/probable that no punter would ever be lucky enough to hit this amount – if they did, the company would likely go out of business. In contrast, a major online bookmaker, with turnover in the millions rather than the tens of thousands, is far better placed to withstand such a hit.
Varying Maximum Payouts Between Sports
The reason Maximum Payouts vary across sports is also fairly easy to understand. You will find the biggest Maximum Payouts on the highest profile sports, e.g. Premier League football and UK horseracing. Bookmakers are far more willing to take on higher risks in these events for two reasons.
The first is the high overall turnover on the sport, which should hopefully help balance the books in the event of a big win.
Secondly, these top-level events are (almost) guaranteed to play out legitimately, i.e. without the influence of individuals attempting to influence or fix the result. Lower league football or minority sports don’t possess the same level of security.
Again, taking an extreme example, any bookmaker offering a £2m payout on the Amateur Staffordshire County Senior League would likely soon find themselves out of business – it certainly isn’t beyond the realms of possibility that the unpaid playing personnel would collude to fix results to land an outrageous bet.
Varying Maximum Payouts Between Markets
The reasons for this are manifold and vary from sport to sport. Taking Premier League football as an example, William Hill offers a Maximum Payout of £2m on Match Results and outright winner markets. However, if you wish to back a specific Brazilian footballer to pick up a card in a game, your winnings are restricted to £100,000. This serves as a solid example of a bookmaker attempting to provide value without leaving themselves open to exploitation.
How Much Do Maximum Payouts vary Between Sports?
Quite a lot, as it happens. The table below shows the Maximum Payouts offered by William Hill across a selection of sports.
How Much Do Maximum Payouts vary Between Bookmakers
As explained above, the biggest online bookmakers are in a position to offer higher Maximum Payout levels. However, that doesn’t mean the leading operators agree on how high those levels should be. The table below shows the Maximum Payouts for the most popular betting sports of horse racing and football across seven leading companies.
Maximum Payout: Important to Be Aware Of
Unless you truly are a punting genius, you probably won't land a monstrous payout very often. But hey, you only need to do it once, right? To ensure your big win is truly life-changing, always place your bets with a bookmaker offering the maximum potential value.
One thing to note is that some bookmakers will accept a bet with the potential to exceed their Maximum Payout. However, even if you receive a 27-fold bet slip which states that your potential winnings are £14,000,000, you will still “only” receive the Maximum Payout of that bookmaker if successful – which, as we can see in the above table, is likely to be £2,000,000 at best.
The best advice here is - never to place an acca bet with the potential to exceed the Maximum Payout. Instead, do one of two things:
- Reduce your stake until the potential returns drop to the Maximum Payout level. Why risk £5 in pursuit of £2million if you only need to risk £2
- Remove selections from your bet until the potential returns drop to the Maximum Payout level. The fewer selections you have, the more likely you are to win. Selections which take the payout above the maximum level increase your chance of losing with no potential upside due to the payout cap.
Top 20 Betting Offers
18+. New Customers Only. Max 1 x £10 Free Bet. Qualifying bets at Odds of 1/1 or greater. Paid as Bonus Token Min 4/5 Odds Req. Skrill, Neteller, Paypal not eligible. T&Cs Apply | |||||
New customers only. 7 days to place qualifying bet of £10 at 1/1 (2.0) to receive 1 x £10 Football Free Bet, 1 x £10 Horse Racing Free Bet, 2 x £10 Free Bet Builders. 7 day expiry. Exclusions apply. Stake not returned. 18+. T&Cs apply. | |||||
Min deposit requirement. Free Bets are paid as Bet Credits and are available for use upon settlement of bets to value of qualifying deposit. Min odds, bet and payment method exclusions apply. Returns exclude Bet Credits stake. Time limits and T&Cs apply. Registration required. | |||||
18+ New UK+IRE Customers only. Min first £5 bet within 14 days of account reg at min odds 1/2 to get 4x £5 free bets. Stake not returned. Restrictions + Free bet T&Cs apply. | |||||
New customers online only. Eligibility restrictions apply. Only valid with code B10G40 on registration. £10 min qualifying bet at 1/1 (2.0) odds or greater across sports or racing (if EW then min £10 Win + £10 Place). Receive £20 Tote Credit, £10 Free Sports Bet and 50 Free Spins on Big Bass Bonanza within 48 hours of qualifying bet settlement. 7-day expiry on free bets & Tote Credit. Your first bet will be your qualifying bet. One per customer. UK & ROI customers only. 18+. Full T&Cs apply. Gambleaware.org.Full T&Cs apply. | |||||
18+ New UK+ROI Customers only. Min deposit & bet £10 at min odds 1/2 to qualify for 4 x £10 free bets. Certain deposit methods and bet types excl. Free bets valid for 7 days, stake not returned. Restrictions + T&Cs apply. | |||||
18+ New customers only. Opt in via mobile or app & bet £10+ on any football market at 2.00+ odds within 7 days. No Cash out. Get 6x £5 Free Bets on selected markets. Free bets expire in 7 days. T&Cs apply. GambleAware.org | Please gamble responsibly | |||||
New UK Customers only. Use code welcomeMB40. Sign up and place at least 3 bets of £10 or more on seperate events on your first day of betting. If account has net sportsbook losses at the end of first day's betting, Gentleman Jim will refund 50% of these as a free bet up to £40. Full Terms apply. 18+ begambleaware. | |||||
New UK Customers. Register using code BETGETSPORTS. Must bet £10 in total on 4+ legs, min odds 4.0. £20 awarded as 4 X £5 free bets once settled, AND 50 Free Spins to use on Big Bass Splash (valued at 10p per spin). Free bet T&Cs Apply. 18+. BeGambleAware.org | |||||
18+. BeGambleAware.org. New customers only. Min. £10 deposit, debit card only. Up to 50x wagering, game contributions vary, max. stake applies, 7 day expiry. See full terms. #AD | |||||
New UK customers only. Qualifying bet should be a Single or Accumulator bet, min stake £10, and min odds 1.9. Get £50 in Free bets which must be placed with a min odds of 2.0 include: 1 x £10 Free bet for horse racing, 1 x £10 Free bet on football, 2 x 10 Free bet In-play, 1 x £10 Free bet Acca (min 3 selections). To unlock the offer, complete the first deposit via the banking app. Max payout – £500. 7 day expiry. 18+. Begambleaware.org | |||||
New bettors; Code SPORT; Wager deposit & bonus 8x; Max qualifying bet stake=initial bonus; Valid 60 days; Min odds, payment method exclusions apply; New customers only. T&C apply; 18+ | |||||
18+. New Customers Only. Min deposit £20. Maximum one £10 Free Bet & two £5 Bet Builder Free Bets. Qualifying bet must be placed at odds of Evens (2.00) or greater. Paid as bonus tokens: Token 1 Min odds Req: 4/5 (1.80). Token 2 & 3 are valid for Bet Builder only and are subject to min odds of 2/1 (3.00). T&Cs Apply. | |||||
New Customers place a £25 fixed odds bet at minimum odds of 1/2. Get £50 in Free Bets as: 5 x £5 free fixed odds bets + 4 x £5 free Total Goals spread bets + 50 free spins on Starburst 18+. Full promotions terms apply. | |||||
New customers only. Register with BETFRED50. Deposit £10+ via Debit Card and place first bet £10+ at Evens (2.0)+ on Sports within 7 days to get 3 x £10 in Sports Free Bets & 2 x £10 in Acca Free Bets within 10 hours of settlement. 7-day expiry. Eligibility & payment exclusions apply. Full T&Cs apply. | |||||
New Customers. Min Deposit: £5. Maximum Free Bet: £30. First qualifying bet with 3+ selections. Overall odds: 3.00+ (2/1). If first bet loses free bets will be credited after bet settled. 100 Free Spins on Gold Blitz credited on settlement of qualifying Acca bet. 18+. BeGambleAware.org. Bet The Responsible Way. Full terms apply | |||||
New customers Deposit and place your first bet on Sports at odds of Evens (2.0) or greater. Once bet is settled you will receive 1x £10 Free Bet Token to be used on Football, 1x £10 Free Bet Token to be used on Horse Racing, and 20 Extra spins (value per spin 50p), to be used on Book of Dead. Total bonus value £30. Full terms apply. 18+ begambleaware. | |||||
£10 min deposit. First bet mins odds 1.5 placed within 14 days of sign-up. 2 x £10 in Free Bets: valid for 7 days, free bet stakes not returned. Bet Responsibly. BeGambleAware.org. 18+ T&Cs apply. | |||||
New customers only. Min deposit £10. Max one £15 Free Bet. Min Turnover £15 to qualify. Qualifying bets must be at odds of Evens (2.0) or bigger. Full Terms apply. 18+ begambleaware. | |||||
New Customers Only. Sign up with bonus code: EB20. Bet £20 and get £20 in Free Bets. Paid as £5 Free Bet on Soccer, £5 Free Bet on Horse Racing, £5 Free Bet on Multiples and a £5 Free Bet on any Market. Terms apply 18+ gambleaware.org. |