Bet Builder Guide

Bet builders have come a long way since they launched across the best UK sportsbooks a few years ago and these days there’s barely a sporting fixture going that isn’t compatible with building your own bet.

Whether you bet on football, tennis, NFL or any other sport, the fact that bet builders exist means you’re in total control of what you wager on.

But if you’re unfamiliar with a bet builder then you might, understandably, be a bit uncertain of how to get the most from this wagering structure.

Well, here’s where we can help. In this guide, we will take you through why you should place a bet builder, and offer a number of bet building tips.

You’ll learn how bet builders work, how to place a bet builder and understand the difference between them and accumulators. Once you’ve read through it, you’ll be able to enter the Bet UK sportsbook with more confidence and choose your personalised wagers that suit you!

How does a bet builder work?

Bet builders work by combining a series of interconnected bets on one sporting event into a single bigger wager. In doing so, bet builders enhance your odds and therefore grow your potential profits.

They are considered one of the most important bet structures in the online sports betting community because of their malleability, which means every punter gets to bet on the exact outcome they wish.

Let’s use a football game between England and Netherlands as the example of a bet builder in action, as this is football where this wager is most commonly used. A fan may choose to bet on England to win but also want to wager on the total goals scored, a player being shown a yellow card and there being a goal scored in the first 15 minutes.

Our fan could bet on these incidents individually or combine them in a wider wager. This combination is where the bet builder comes in. Doing this enhances the fan’s odds as each outcome needs to win in order to fulfil the overall bet.

Bet builder vs accumulator explained

You might think a bet builder is the same as an accumulator – and yes, they are quite similar. However, the difference between a bet builder and an acca is that the builder is focused on one event, and the acca over a number of events.

The reason for this difference is down to the event itself. With a bet builder your sportsbook recognises when you’ve made two incompatible choices. For example: England to beat Netherlands and England not to score. This is impossible, and the bet builder will recognise this and prevent you from placing the bet.

An acca is a series of unrelated events combined into one mega wager. So, for example, it could be England to beat Netherlands, France to beat Germany and Spain to beat Sweden in a three-fold acca.

An acca spans multiple games; a bet builder is a bet on multiple events within the same game.

How bet builder odds are calculated

The other big difference between bet builders and accumulators is how odds are calculated. Whereas in accas the individual odds are simply multiplied together to create the overall price, with bet builders the sportsbook will determine the eventual odds.

That’s because in a bet builder one event on your betslip affects another. Betting on England to beat Netherlands, score +2.5 goals and keep a clean sheet are interconnected bets. And so the odds are calculated to reflect this.

Accumulator odds aren’t affected in the same way because each leg of an acca is unconnected to the rest, which means one outcome doesn’t affect the likelihood of another outcome happening.

Bookmakers use algorithms to work out the likelihood of bet builders winning, and set their recalculated odds accordingly. The best way to work out your bet builder odds is to build it in the Bet UK betslip and check out the price there.

Are bet builders good value?

This is a question many football betting fans ask because bet builders have lower odds than accumulators. However, they are still better value than placing individual wagers on a single match because bet builders are the only way to combine bets on said event.

Remember, bookmakers have to factor in numerous variables when setting their bet builder odds. The bet builder rules mean one goal affects not only the course of the match but also the likelihood of many other markets, such as over/unders, handicaps and goalscorer betting. Likewise, a red card can send the algorithm spinning, and bookmakers need to factor this in when setting their pre-match bet builder prices.

Best sports to use bet builders

Bet builders can be applied to practically every sport but by far the most popular is football. That’s because, on the whole, sports betting fans in the UK are very well clued up on their football knowledge – and this means there is a demand for structures such as bet builders.

Bet builders can be used on other sports such as NFL and rugby but the algorithm with football is so precise that this has become the go-to sport for these sorts of wagers.

Best bet builder tips

When building a bet for the first time it’s worth considering how one leg of your wager might affect another. For example, if you’re banking on England to beat Netherlands, then also betting on the Dutch to score +3.5 goals is perhaps a little farfetched. This sort of combination will naturally increase your odds – but is it actually going to materialise?

So, when online betting and bet building you need to consider the end result, and many fans work backwards from here. If you think England will win but via a slender margin, and the game will feature its fair share of bad challenges, then you need to build a bet that complements these outcomes.

A good example is this:

England win England score +1.5 goals +4.5 yellow cards in the match England keep clean sheet

In this example, England can win 2-0 or more and you win your bet, so long as those fouls come in hard and the Dutch fail to score.

A bad example is this:

• England win
• 1.5 goals
• Netherlands +5.5 shots

In this example, England would have to win 1-0 in order for you to win your bet, but you’ve also banked on the Dutch missing a spate of chances. Is this bet really worth the risk, instead of just backing the Three Lions to win 1-0?

How to place a bet builder

Placing a bet builder is easy. All you need to do is find the match or sporting event you want to wager on, and click on the ‘bet builder’ tab at the top of the listing. If there isn’t a ‘bet builder’ tab then you can still add multiple selections in your bet slip.

What the bet builder tab does is cut out any impossible bets once you’ve made your first choices. So, once you back England to win, you can’t also add a 0-0 result to your betslip. And, if you bet on Netherlands not to score, you can’t then include a Dutch player from the first goalscorer market.

Once you’ve structured your bet, simply enter your desired stake in the betslip, check your risk and potential payout, and hit Place Bet to complete the process.

Bet builder FAQs

If you’re still stuck on how bet builders work or the best way to create a bet, here are some quick tips from our FAQs section…

What is a bet builder?

A bet builder is a section of the Bet UK sportsbook where you can make your own bet by adding multiple wagers from the same match into one big bet.

How can I build a bet?

You can build a bet by clicking the ‘bet builder’ tab on your chosen sporting event and then clicking the numerous odds to craft your desired wager.

Does a bet builder work on live sports?

Yes. You can use the bet builder on live sports and in-play events. However, be aware that the odds are constantly changing and some options may fall off the bet builder in the event of a goal, red card, etc.

Can I cash out a bet builder?

Yes. Like most sports bets you can cash out whenever you like.

How do I know my bet builder odds?

You can see your bet builder odds in the betslip once you have made your selections. You can also enter your stake in the betslip to display how much profit you stand to make.

Is bet builder better than acca?

It depends. If you want to bet on one sporting event then the bet builder is your ideal structure. Accas are used for combining wagers on multiple events into one mega bet, and these odds are usually larger because each leg of the bet cannot affect another.