Bet Types Explained

Multi-bets exist because a straight accumulator is unforgiving: get three out of four selections right and you still get nothing back. Each format below spreads the same selections across multiple smaller bets, so a losing leg costs you that one combination rather than the entire stake. The trade-off is cost — you're paying for several bets at once, so the total stake is higher than a single accumulator at the same unit price, and the combined odds on any individual winning combination are lower than the full accumulator would have paid.

Double and treble

A double is one bet on two selections and a treble is one bet on three. Every selection must win: the return from the first selection rolls onto the next. They are the building blocks of every bet below — a patent, a yankee or a heinz is a set of doubles, trebles and larger accumulators placed together. Work one out with the double bet calculator or the treble bet calculator.

Trixie

A trixie takes three selections and places four bets: three doubles and one treble. There are no singles, so two selections must win for any return. See what it pays with the trixie bet calculator.

Patent

A patent uses three selections and splits them into seven bets: three singles, three doubles, and one treble. Because three of the seven bets are singles, a patent pays out something even if only one selection wins, which is why bettors use it as a way of getting some return from a small selection group without needing every pick to land. The trade-off is that a patent costs seven times your unit stake rather than one times, so it's a larger outlay for the same three picks.

Work it out with the patent bet calculator.

Yankee

A yankee takes four selections and turns them into eleven bets: six doubles, four trebles, and one four-fold accumulator. Unlike a patent, a yankee contains no singles, so at least two selections need to win before you see any return — but from there, the more legs that come in, the larger the payout across the combined doubles, trebles and the four-fold. It's a common choice for bettors who like backing four picks but want partial insurance if one lets them down.

Work it out with the yankee bet calculator.

Lucky 15, Lucky 31 and Lucky 63

The Lucky bets are a yankee, canadian and heinz with the singles added, so a single winner returns something. A Lucky 15 is 15 bets on four selections: four singles, six doubles, four trebles and a four-fold. A Lucky 31 is 31 bets on five selections: five singles, ten doubles, ten trebles, five four-folds and a five-fold. A Lucky 63 is 63 bets on six selections: six singles, fifteen doubles, twenty trebles, fifteen four-folds, six five-folds and a six-fold. The cost rises with the count: a £1 Lucky 63 is a £63 stake. Calculators: Lucky 15, Lucky 31 and Lucky 63. We cover two of them in more depth in the Lucky 15 guide and the Lucky 63 guide.

Canadian (Super Yankee)

A canadian, also called a super yankee, extends the same idea to five selections across twenty-six bets: ten doubles, ten trebles, five four-folds, and one five-fold. As with the yankee, there are no singles, so a minimum of two winners is needed for any return. The larger number of combinations means a canadian can produce a substantial payout if most or all of the five selections win, but the twenty-six-bet stake makes it considerably more expensive than a smaller multi-bet.

Work it out with the canadian bet calculator, and there is more in the canadian bet guide.

Heinz and Super Heinz

A heinz covers six selections across fifty-seven bets: fifteen doubles, twenty trebles, fifteen four-folds, six five-folds, and one six-fold. A super heinz goes one further, covering seven selections across a hundred and twenty bets (twenty-one doubles, thirty-five trebles, thirty-five four-folds, twenty-one five-folds, seven six-folds, and one seven-fold). Both formats are aimed at bettors with a larger group of fancied selections who want the bet structured so that a few losers don't sink the whole thing, at the cost of a much bigger total stake since every extra selection multiplies the number of underlying bets.

Work it out with the heinz bet calculator or the super heinz calculator.

Goliath

A goliath is the largest of the standard full-cover bets: eight selections across 247 bets — 28 doubles, 56 trebles, 70 four-folds, 56 five-folds, 28 six-folds, eight seven-folds and one eight-fold. There are no singles, so two winners are needed for a return, and a £1 goliath costs £247. Check the stake and the returns before placing one with the goliath bet calculator.

Banker bets

A banker bet works on a different principle. Rather than treating every selection equally, you nominate one pick as the "banker" — your most confident selection — and it's included in every combination alongside your other selections. If the banker loses, every bet involving it loses too, so the whole point is only using it on a selection you're genuinely confident about; if the banker wins, it still doesn't guarantee the other combinations do, since the remaining selections still need to come in for those bets to pay out.

What they all have in common

Across all of these formats, the underlying logic is the same: more bets built from the same selections means more chances of a partial return, but a higher total stake and, generally, a lower headline return than a single accumulator that landed in full. Work out the total cost — the number of bets multiplied by your unit stake — before placing anything, since it's easy to underestimate how quickly the outlay adds up on a heinz or super heinz.

Only bet with money you can afford to lose, and treat any of the worked examples above as illustrations of the maths rather than a suggestion that any particular outcome is likely. If betting stops feeling like fun, free, confidential support is available in the UK from BeGambleAware.org.