Combination Bets Explained
- Combination Bets Explained
- Combination Bets Explained Odds
- How To Play Combination Bet
- Combination Bets Explained Games
- Combination Bets Explained Against
- Combination Bets Explained Meaning
All bets which allow you to select more than one event, are called combination or accumulator bets. A system bet constitutes a special variation of the accumulator bet. As a general rule, three selections or more have to be made on the betting slip. Across the board (US horse racing) This wager is just an easy way to combine win, place and show bets on a single selection. It’s effectively three wagers in one, so a $2 across the board wager costs us $6. It consists of a $2 win bet, a $2 place bet and a $2 show bet. Each bet is on the same horse. A Trixie consists of 4 bets involving 3 selections in different events. The bet includes 3 doubles and 1 treble. A minimum of 2 of your selections must be successful to get a return. For example, if your 3 selections were A, B and C, then your 4 bets would be AB, AC, BC, and ABC. The smallest combination you can make is a double – two selections combined into one bet. Since you have 3 selections in total, you can make 3 doubles. Furthermore, 3 selections can be combined into a Treble, which is another part of the Trixie. For example, let’s call the selections A, B, and C. Combination betting refers to the practice of placing multiple bets on a series of selections in order to reduce risk and maximise potential gain. Unlike an accumulator (parlay) or single bet, it does not fail if a single selection is wrong.
Find below some useful betting charts and tables showing the number of selections for various permutations. Also shown are the numbers of bets for some of the well know bet types offered and promoted by bookmakers like Lucky 15, 31, 63, yankee, canadian, heinz, goliath. TIP:Have you noticed that bookmakers advertise and promote multi selection bets and permutations everywhere and when you see a big win announced in the newspaper its always about a lucky gambler who placed a small bet on a multi-selection permutation like a Super-Heinz and who won £500,000 on a £60 bet??? There is a good reason for this. Multi selection bets and permutations usually offer the gambler very poor value and making profit from such bets is very difficult. Just 1 selection failing to win can effectively wipe out any profits on certain permutations. The bookmakers don't mind the occasional big winner as they make a fortune from the millions of other gamblers who are wasting their money on such permutations. Our advice: Don't bother placing these type of bets and stick to Singles, Each/Way, forecasts with maybe the odd double or treble. If you do wish to place bets using some of the large permutation bet types like Heinz etc, always stick to very small stakes and its probably best to consider them as fun bets. Systems like Racing Synergy below use sound logic to select value horses to bet as singles either to win or EW. Take a look today. |
What is a Combination Forecast bet?
A combination forecast bet is a wager that is built from three or more selections. From the selections made, the prediction that is being targeted is the exact finishing order of the top two in a particular event, such as a horse race.
While the result of a combination forecast is exactly the same as that of a straight forecast, a combination bet differs because of the number of selections that it uses. In a straight forecast, you pick two selections who you think are going to finish in the exact order of 1st and 2nd.
The more selections that your bet starts with, the more combinations of different bets are going to be made. Each combination needs its own unit of stake. Because the bet covers all possible combinations of outcomes from the selections, just one of those combinations are needed for the bet to win.
How does a Combination Forecast bet work?
In a combination forecast bet you can name three or more selections from which the finishing order is predicted. By picking more selections you are creating a scenario of more combinations of finishing order. For example, if you make three selections then those can be combined to give a total of six different 1-2 finish outcomes.
| Number of Selections | Number of Combinations |
| 3 | 6 |
| 4 | 12 |
| 5 | 20 |
| 6 | 30 |
Combination Bets Explained
The formula for figuring out how many combinations are made from a number of selections is n(n – 1) where n = number of selections. So for 5 selections, that’s 5 x (5 -1) = 20.
Winning Example of a Combination Forecast in Horse Racing
For an example of the options that they create in a combination bet, here is a fictional combination forecast made from three selections. Even though you make three selections, the prediction in the bet is the first two finishers in the exact order.
Selections:
Beware The Bear
Chic Name
Impulsive Star
Those selections create six bets. So if this was a £1 combination forecast then the total stake is £6.
| 1st Place | 2nd Place | |
| Combination 1 | Beware The Bear | Chic Name |
| Combination 2 | Chic Name | Beware The Bear |
| Combination 3 | Beware The Bear | Impulsive Star |
| Combination 4 | Impulsive Star | Beware The Bear |
| Combination 5 | Chic Name | Impulsive Star |
| Combination 6 | Impulsive Star | Chic Name |
| Total Stake x6 Unit Stake |
Combination Bets Explained Odds
You are not going to find set fixed odds for a combination forecast bet. These types of bets you have to create in a betting slip first and then the odds-calculation (Dividend) will be settled from the Starting Prices at the end of the event. Whatever the dividend is tha the bookmaker gives you at that point, you multiply that by the unit stake of your winning combination.
The unit stake in this example is £1 and Combination 5 wins for you. That means your payout would be £1 x Dividend as only the stake from the winning combination used to calculate the returns. The rest of the unit stakes on the other combinations in the bet are not returned (because they lost).
Losing Example of a Combination Forecast in Horse Racing
Because of the nature of the bet, namely the coverage of different outcomes from your selections, it makes for an appealing bet. But there is of course still risk involved and that comes from not enough of your selections getting in the frame.
How To Play Combination Bet
For example, if Chic Name were to lose in the example it would immediately break four of the combinations included in the bet. But the bet still could be won if Beware The Bear and Impulsive Star were to finish in the top two. If neither of the other two got into the top two, then the entire bet loses.
Combination Bets Explained Games
| 1st Place | 2nd Place | |
| Combination 1 | Beware The Bear | Chic Name |
| Combination 2 | Chic Name | Beware The Bear |
| Combination 3 | Beware The Bear | Impulsive Star |
| Combination 4 | Impulsive Star | Beware The Bear |
| Combination 5 | Chic Name | Impulsive Star |
| Combination 6 | Impulsive Star | Chic Name |
| Total Stake x6 Unit Stake |
The thing about a combination forecast is that while there are plenty of those combinations created from the selections, there is still the rest of the field in that particular race to worry about. If this race had 10 runners for example, there are then seven other runners aside from the three selections that can disrupt the bet. The race just isn’t solely about your three runners.
Combination Forecast Strategy
Combination Bets Explained Against
Remember that the bigger the number of selections, the bigger the stake is going to be. The combination forecast bet does increase the chance of you winning, as opposed to a straight forecast bet. Still, a strategy for the combination forecast is to throw the two strongest runners in the field into the mix. Then decide which of the other runners are most likely to muscle their way into a place finish. Look for races with smaller fields to increase chances as well.
Combination Bets Explained Meaning
You really still need to be backing those who are most likely to win. It’s not really a sound strategy to build the selections out of underdogs, because while one may come through to win, you will still be relying on a second one to come second. That’s the difficulty of forecast bets, the challenge of getting two predictions right. That becomes increasingly more difficult when selecting horses with outside chances.