Monday, May 8, 2017

Combination bet: What is it? How does it work?



A combination bet is creating multiple bets based on a specific number of selections. The goal of combination betting is minimizing the risk while maximizing the profit. The main advantage of a combination bet over a regular single, double or accumulator bet is that there is coverage. The coverage ensures that you still earn some return even if one of the teams picked does not win.

A good example is a punter who wants to spend Ksh 1000 on a given betting day. Instead of using all that money on a single team, the punter may decide to pick 3 teams and use those teams to create a combination bet. If the teams picked are Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool, all to win, combining them may ensure that not all the stake is lost if one of the teams loses. The combination bet may include singles like Chelsea to win @Ksh 200, Manchester United to win @Ksh 200, Liverpool to win @Ksh 200, Manchester and Chelsea both to win @Ksh 100, Chelsea and Liverpool both to win @Ksh 100, Manchester United and Liverpool both to win @Ksh 100, and Manchester United, Chelsea and Liverpool all to win @Ksh 100. This is a huge combination bet with Ksh 1000, but it allows you to win something if one or two teams do not win.

How does a combination bet work?

For combination betting, you need to first decide how much stake you intend to use and then to cut down your risk by breaking down your stake into smaller outlays placed on different combinations of selections. There are several types of combination bets derived from different selections, such as the Yankee, Trixie, Patent, Canadian, and Lucky 15 among others. The combination bets are broadly divided into Full Cover Bets and Full Cover Bets with Singles.


 A Full Cover Bet (without singles) only creates doubles, trebles and accumulators from a given selection of teams; singles are not created. Examples of Full Cover Bets are the Trixie, Yankee, Heinz and Canadian, for they don’t include singles. On the contrary, Full Cover Bets with Singles expand their coverage to include singles and requires a larger stake outlay to complete all the selections. Examples are the Patent and Lucky 15.

(a)     Trixie: It is a Full Cover Bet built from 3 selections. It includes 3 doubles and 1 treble, meaning that if two of the selections win then you get some return.
(b)     Patent: It is a Full Cover Bet with Singles, built from 3 selections. It includes 7 bets of 3 singles, 3 doubles and 1 treble. You get some return if just one team wins.
(c)     Yankee: Built from 4 selections combined into 6 doubles, 4 trebles and a fourfold accumulator. You win some money if at least two selections win.
(d)     Lucky 15: This is one of the most popular combination bets around. It uses 4 selections to produce 4 singles, 6 doubles, 4 trebles and a fourfold accumulator. Lucky 15 is basically a Yankee plus 4 singles.