Want to bet? Bet Slip Explained: Understand the basic concepts!

What is a bet slip? How does the bet slip work? How to write a betting slip double, a system (perm) bet and how to add bankers? What are the most common types of bets?

Wouldn’t it be great if you could get the hang of all these essential sports betting concepts and start wagering straight away?

It might sound overwhelming at first, but it’s not…

Register with this top bookie and try out online sports betting right now!

Voila, here it is: when you finish reading this betting tutorial you’ll know how to place any type of sports bet, whether online or at the betting shops.

Quickly navigate to your desired topic:

1. Betting Terminology Explained
2. Types of Bet Slips Explained: Singles, Accas, System Bets & Bankers
3. Most Popular Betting Markets Explained
4. Legal Bookies UK

 

Betting Terminology Explained

You don’t have to be a betting fanatic to understand the basic sports betting terminology. In fact, some of those gamblers who spend hours daily at the various betting shops in the UK don’t even understand all these concepts! It’s perfectly fine to have a bet on the horses every now and then or to place a footy acca to spice up the weekend, but first, make sure that you grasp these terms:

• Bet / Wager: To put money on the prediction of an outcome
• Bookmaker / Bookie: Person/company licensed to offer odds and accept wagers on events
• Bettor / Punter: Anyone who places a bet
• Odds / Price: Coefficient that indicates potential returns, derived from the likelihood of that outcome to happen (More Information: Betting Odds Explained)
• Stake / Bet size: The amount of money risked on a bet
• Winnings / Return: The amount of money earned from correctly picking the outcome of an event, which is equal to the result of multiplying the total stake by the odds

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Types of Bet Slips Explained

There’s no better way to introduce you to this basic sports betting element other than displaying the definition and meaning of a bet slip.

Bet Slip / Ticket: A bet slip is the equivalent of a receipt for the bets you place, a physical (paper) or electronic form that stores the predictions, odds and the stake you’ve risked for a particular bet.

You also want to know what a Fold is: Each selection in your betting ticket can be referred to as a fold. E.g. if your Premier League slip includes Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City to win you’ve got yourself a four-fold accumulator. We’ve placed these 4 selections on a William Hill online betting slip to show you an example of a four-fold footy acca:

Although the multiple bet options might be accessible through a different layout with other betting sites, you’ll still find the same types of wagers with Sun Bets, Paddy Power, Bet365 sports and so on.

These are the forms of betting slips you’ll be able to place with bookies from the UK:

Single: A bet placed on only one outcome. E.g. if a punter wagers £50 on decimal odds of 2.50 (or 6/4 fractional) and the bet wins, the bet slip will return £125, thus a £75 profit. Note that pro punters prefer single bets because they offer the best payout.

Accumulator / Multi Bet / Acca Bet / Parlay: Bets involving a minimum of two selections, where all selections must be successful for the bet to win. To calculate the potential returns of an accumulator bet slip, you’ll have to multiply each of the individual odds into the next and then to the total stake. E.g. a winning acca that included 3 selections with odds of 2.00 and had a £50 initial stake will return £400. A regular acca bet with two selections is called a double, whereas one with three selections is called a treble. Our advice is to stick with doubles & trebles if you want to increase your hit rate because it is enough for one selection on the bet slip to let you down to make the entire bet lose.

Unable to place an accumulator bet with your bookie? Check if you have a bet selected that’s not available for combination; In this case, you’ll have to remove one of the highlighted selections or register with this highly recommended UK bookie.

 

Combination / Permutations / System Bet / Perm Bet: Bet slip that can be won even when one ore more selections fail to win. A system bet slip requires a minimum of three selections. E.g. a 2/3 system bet has three possible outcome combinations, which means that the total staked amount shall be divided into 3 equal amounts. Find out more about System Bets.

Banker: A combination bet with one ore more defined selections that will be included on all betting combinations. All the selections that are marked as bankers must be correct for the bet slip to win. Punters can reduce the number of combinations by adding bankers. (More Information: Find out more about Banker Bets)

As you can see, multiple betting options are not as intricated as you might have thought. Placing a footy acca or any other kind of sports bet with multiple selections is pretty straightforward: It involves picking the outcomes you want to wager on, choosing the desired bet type and entering the stake.

You don’t have to write a bet slip on paper when you’re wagering online, so you don’t have to worry too much about making mistakes before you confirm the bet, as everything can be rapidly changed without any effort whatsoever; it’s an online bet slip after all. Top online sportsbooks have many benefits when they are compared to high street betting shops: the comfort of remote 24/7 availability, high odds, tons of promotions such as betting bonuses or free bets, several sporting events and bet types, the cash-out feature and the rest. Here’s a guide about how to choose the best UK online bookmakers to get you started straight away.

Making accurate predictions won’t turn you into a prosperous punter. There’s one more thing you need to do to be successful betting footy accas: you should follow a proven money management plan. The most common and easy to apply strategies are the flat stake and the unit staking method. Find out more about them here.

New betting slip programs are pretty intuitive, however, as a general rule of the thumb, never place a wager unless you fully understand it. Just pay attention when you enter the amount you would like to wager in the box corresponding to the bet slip type you intend to bet on and don’t play with the banker betting menu unless you really intend to use it. Remember that this form of betting allows punters to generate some return even when one or more of the selections on the bet fail to win.

This online bookmaker offers Acca Insurance for 5+ fold football accumulator bets

 

Most Popular Betting Markets Explained

You don’t have to be a genius to win at sports betting, and you don’t have to watch 20 years of football, horse racing or any other sport to be fruitful. You’ll know that’s true if you look at the journalists who know their sport inside out: history, head to heads, team news, match results, stats and whatnot. They aren’t lucrative punters at the end of the day…

Our betting guide allows punters to understand the everyday bets available on UK gambling sites. In a couple of minutes, you’ll be able to do much more than just wager on Manchester United’s Premier League victory against arch-rivals Liverpool. Here are the typical bets explained:

Moneyline – The most straightforward bet of all implies picking the final result. It is also referred to as 3-way betting in football and other sports that involve three possible outcomes: 1 for the home team to win, 2 for the away team to win and X for the draw.

Note that the match result stands for 90 minutes plus injury time only with most online bookmakers, unless mentioned otherwise. This rule applies with most sports markets that are available on UK gambling sites.

Double Chance (DC): 1X, 12 & X2 – A bet market that combines two of the three possible outcomes: 1 or X, 1 or 2 and X or 2. The odds are lower than the odds from the moneyline, but so is the risk.

Totals: Over / Under – The standard bet refers to the number of goals scored by both teams in a match (unless stated otherwise). The typical main betting line is 2.5 goals. Three or more goals are required to win an Over 2.5 wager; whereas an Under 2.5 bet will be successful when no more than 2 goals have been scored (0, 1 or 2 goals will generate a win).

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Both Teams To Score (BTTS or BTS) – This pretty self-explanatory bet comes with two options available: Yes (both teams have to score at least one goal for the bet to win) and No (at least one of the two teams has to keep a clean sheet in order for the wager to win).

Each-Way – A combination of two bets, with half stake on each bet, that is most commonly used on racing events (horse racing, greyhounds, cycling, motorsport etc.) but also on outright bets. One bet is placed on the respective selection to win, and the other on it to Place, e.g. in the top two or three (depending on the number of participants and the bookie’s rules).

No need to use a bet calculator: Learn how to calculate value bets right now!

 

Handicap Betting

Handicap betting has become an increasingly popular betting market in recent years. Bookies invented handicap betting to encourage punters to wager more often, turning David vs. Goliath battles in more even contests by adding virtual points to the underdog. Handicaps come in positive or negative amounts and can be assigned to teams, players, various scorelines and can represent goals, points, sets, games, seconds etc.

There are two types of handicaps in sports betting; European Handicap bets are three-way bets and thus provide three options: home win, draw and away win, whereas Asian Handicap only come with two options: home or away, under or over etc.

Contrary to popular belief, handicap bets can also be used to minimise risk, not necessarily to increase it. For example, the 0 Asian Handicap bet in football is s exactly the same wager as Draw No Bet (the initial staked amount is refunded if the match ends in a draw). In some football matches, you will find lines that allow you to bet +3.5 on the underdog, as well as +1.0 on the join-favourite. Respectable bookies have several options available. So do not avoid these sports markets because having more Asian Handicap selections on a footy acca betting slip can drastically increase your chances of success.

This is our favourite bookmaker for Asian Handicap betting

 

Legal Bookies UK

Although some punters prefer to head to the betting shops to place their bets, all professional punters wager online, so the offline vs online betting dispute can only have one winner. If you want to stay on the safe side of things mind the bookies that are licensed by the UK Gambling Commission, admitting that the best odds and higher limits can be found with other bookmakers, such as this one or this other one, with the former having an absolutely stellar reputation amongst pro punters.

These are the best bookmakers in our experience:

• Bet365 – Editor's Pick. Every punter should register here – See Bonus
• William Hill – Incredibly-high limits & fast payments  – See Free Bet
• Betfred – Excellent for mobile app users & live betting – See Free Bet
• Paddy Power – Some of the best football promotions – See Free Bet
• Betfair – Best Betting Exchange on the planet – See Free Bet
• BoyleSports – Get your Acca Insurance – See Free Bet

 

Don’t let a promotion code grab your full attention! We’re not trying to say you should ignore the bonus codes, such as bet365 bonus code that gets you £100 worth betting credits, but to make you aware of the other factors you have to look out for before registering a new sports betting account. In fact, if you have your bets placed with various online bookies, you’ll maximise profits by always backing the most valuable odds at hand. Did you enjoy our betting guide?