- Combination Bets Explained Odds
- What Is A Combination Bet
- Combination Bets Explained
- Combination Bets Explained Against
The Double will give you 10 individual multi bets each containing 2 legs. The 10 bets cover all possible combinations of your 5 selections in lots of 2. Place the same bet as a Treble and you will get 10 multi bets, each one of which contains 3 legs. As with the Double, this includes all the possible combinations. Combination Tote Swinger bets You can also place a Tote Swinger bet featuring more than two horses to give yourself a greater opportunity of naming two horses that finish in the first three places. 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. Types as they often put the odds massively in favour of the bookie. In particular, the combination bets like Canadian, Heinz, Yankee etc, are very risky as even 1 losing. Betting Charts, Permutations, Number of Selections. 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.
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 Odds
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
What Is A Combination Bet
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 |
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).
Combination Bets Explained
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.
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.
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
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 Against
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.