What is Bet Builder?

A Bet Builder

One of the most exciting aspects of being a betting site customer, is that the site will always try to offer its users exciting new ways to bet. In recent years, the Bet Builder bet is one that has gained an extensive following amongst bettors across the UK.

Now routinely offered by the top betting sites and a major feature when betting across an increasing range of sports, Bet Builders are becoming as common as their close relation, the accumulator bet, with sports betting fans.

So, what is a Bet Builder and what else do you need to know about it? Let’s explore everything that you need to know about this type of bet.

Bet Builder Bets Explained

In its simplest form a Bet Builder bet is an accumulator bet that is comprised of selections taken from a range of betting markets available on a single sporting event. This has typically been a football match.

However, now some companies are offering Bet Builder bets across multiple fixtures and even across multiple sports.

As with an accumulator bet, it is a single stake bet that requires all the selections you make as part of the Bet Builder to win in order for the bet to generate you a return.

What Types of Bet Builder Bets Are Available?

There are three types of Bet Builder bets available, with the availability of each bet dependent on which sports markets the site you are betting with offers for Bet Builder bets.

The standard Bet Builder bet is an accumulator bet from a variety of markets on a single fixture, such as a football game. Here you combine selections from a variety of markets all based on that one game. For example, Everton to beat Brighton and Dwight McNeil (Everton) to score at any time in the game.

If your betting site allows you to select markets from multiple fixtures, then this is the second type of Bet Builder. Again, it is made up of markets from the same sport, say football games, but can include selections from different games on the same Bet Builder bet. So, you could pick an anytime goalscorer bet in the Man City v Arsenal game and combine that with a bet on the number of corners in the Newcastle United v Aston Villa match.

Lastly, a few betting sites offer you the chance to combine Bet Builder bets from any sporting markets that they offer odds on it for. This means you can combine bet builder selections from football games, cricket matches, tennis matches, boxing fights etc on a single Bet Builder slip.

On Which Sports Do Bookmakers Offer Bet Builder Bets?

Almost all bookmakers offered Bet Builder bets on football initially. This made sense given it is a sport which is perfectly suited to this bet and it is extremely popular too.

To this day, most Bet Builder bets tend to be made on football matches.

However, some companies have now started diversifying their Bet Builder options and incorporating other sports into the Bet Builder service.

For example, bet365 Sport offer Bet Builder bets on sports such as Boxing, Basketball, Tennis, Rugby League, Rugby Union, Ice Hockey, Cricket, and American Football to name but a few. This is via the site’s Bet Builder+ service.

What’s the Difference Between a Bet Builder bet and an Accumulator?

This is a good question, and the actual answer is that a Bet Builder bet is a form of accumulator.

That’s because it is a multiple selection bet, on which all of the selections must be winners in order for the Bet Builder bet to secure a win.

Having said that, while they are essentially the same type of bet, there are two slight differences between the two. The first is apparent when it comes to picking selections for each.

Odds Format

On an accumulator, the selections you add to the bet slip show the odds for each selection. For example, Manchester United to win – 2/1, Arsenal to win 4/6, Man City to win 8/11, Everton to win 100-30 and so forth.

You add the selections to your bet slip, and you then check on your bet slip to see what the combined odds for your selections are.

With a Bet Builder, it is different. The odds shown for each selection are the combined odds for the selection plus the selections already on your bet slip.

So for example, if you added your first selection to your bet slip at even money and then added a second Bet Builder to your bet slip, also at even money, then the odds shown for that second selection would be 2/1 (the total odds for the Bet Builder bet with the selection(s) already on your bet slip and the indicated selection added to those selections).

Markets Available

The other difference between the two is in terms of which markets are available. Generally, Bet Builder bets can select from a wider range of markets than traditional accumulator bets.

For example, on a traditional accumulator bet, you can’t combine certain selections with each other. But on a Bet Builder bet, you can.

It also used to be the case that Bet Builders could only be made on a single game, whereas accumulator selections can be made from multiple matches.

But now some betting companies allow users to combine Bet Builder markets from different fixtures on the same Bet Builder bet. Some even allow bet builder bets across different sports.

Other than those slight differences, the bets are essentially the same.

Which Betting Sites Offer Bet Builder Bets?

Unsurprisingly, given its massive popularity with punters, many the top betting sites in the UK offer Bet Builder features. Some companies may use a slightly different name for their service.

Sites that offer a Bet Builder feature include:

Bet365 Sport (Bet Builder)
Unibet (Bet Builder)
William Hill (Build #YourOdds)
BetFred (Pick Your Punt)
BetVictor (PriceItUp Builder)
Betfair (Same Game Multi)
Paddy Power (Bet Builder)
Novibet (Bet Builder)
Vbet (Bet Builder)
Bwin (Acca Builder)
Ladbrokes (Bet Builder)
Coral (Build Your Bet)

What should be noted is that each site may offer different markets for their Bet Builder service and some may only offer it on football, but others may also offer Bet Builder betting on a range of other sports too.

What Happens if I Accidentally Make An Illogical Selection For a Bet Builder Bet?

One concern that many punters may have when they are planning to make a bet builder bet is what happens if they accidentally place a bet that cannot win?

For example, what if you back with one of your bet builder selections the away team to lose to nil, but then add an away team player as a selection to score at any time. Here you have an illogical bet. Your away team cannot score nil if the player scores, and similarly if the away team do fail to score, then their player cannot score either.

The good news is that the software that compiles Bet Builder bets can detect when incompatible selections are made. Some will warn you on the bet slip that the selections are not compatible (and won’t allow you to place the bet until this is rectified. Others warn you as you select an incompatible selection or will even make incompatible selections impossible to add to the bet slip.

So, whatever the method used to check and stop illogical selections, there are safeguards in place so that you will never be able to place a Bet Builder bet that cannot be a winner!

Bet Builder bets are growing in terms of the number of sports and markets you can bet on and how popular they are with customers. It is a good example of a well-thought-out betting feature that addressed a particular part of the market very successfully.

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