How to back winning Bet Builders
Bet Builders have become one of the most popular types of punts in the UK betting scene. But how easy are they to win on — and how can you improve your chances of success?
We take a closer look at the rise of the Bet Builder, assess their pros and cons and provide some tips to boost your prospects when it comes to placing them.
What is a Bet Builder?
A bet builder is essentially a collection of bets combined together from one single sports event. This is where they differ from accumulators, which combine selections from across multiple games or events.
Each of the individual bets which make up the selections are referred to as 'legs'. Most bet builders usually feature at least three legs.
Most sportsbooks offer a wide range of selections to be included in the bet builder. Using football/soccer as the example, the most common markets to be offered on bet builders are:
- Match result
- Player goals
- Over/under amount of goals
- Both teams to score
- Player cards
- Over/under amount of cards
- Over/under amount of corners
Like accumulators, bet builders tend to offer a higher potential return due to the combination of the multiple legs within the bet. Naturally, more legs mean an increased chance of the bet losing due to the higher number of variables at play.
Which bookmakers offer Bet Builders?
Most UK bookmakers now offer punters the opportunity to place Bet Builder bets on football matches in some shape or form.
Here are a few of the most mainstream bookies to offer them:
Bet365
Ladbrokes
Coral
Betfred
Betfair
Paddy Power
William Hill
Sky Bet
Bet MGM
Bet Victor
As mentioned, the number of markets offered in the Bet Builder section vary from company to company. However, most should offer at least seven or eight different options to compose with.
Advantages of placing Bet Builders
Bet Builders are incredibly popular across the betting landscape for a number of reasons.
Entertainment
One of the main reasons bet builders are so popular is because of how they appeal to the casual punter.
The diverse range of markets available to be included allow bettors to cover more aspects of the game as opposed to solely focusing on the match result.
The ability to combine these selections also mean a potential higher return from a relatively small stake should the bet win.
All in all, a bet builder offers a huge fun factor for those looking to enhance their enjoyment of a match with a small flutter.
Flexibility
An increased range of markets to choose from also allows bet builders to offer a more flexible betting approach.
Bettors are able to personalise their selections to only cover areas they feel most confident about, leaving other bits out as they so choose.
Bet builders also allow punters to combine selections which tend to compliment each other and therefore are more likely to come in.
An example would be backing Team A to win whilst also having more corners, as such outcomes tend to go hand-in-hand.
Combining props markets
Companies like Bet365 and Betfair allow combinations on what are known as props markets, such as specific players to receive a card, make a foul, take a certain number of shots or complete a certain number of passes.
This allows more data-driven punters to drill down on any edge they may feel they have in these markets and combine picks for handsome rewards.
This gives bet builders an appeal to both the casual and hardcore betting circles.
Disadvantages of placing Bet Builders
While there are definitely perks to using bet builders, they also carry their fair share of cons too.
Temptation to add too many legs
As mentioned above, the ability to combine selections often means a higher potential return should the bet come in. However, this can also lead to adding one or more legs too many and jeapardising the entire bet.
The best practise when using bet builders is to keep things as simple as possible to reduce the chances of scuppering what may have started out as a winning selection.
Difficult to create value
Bookmakers generally offer slightly less value on every market. They calculate the probability of something occuring and offer odds the equivalent of a slightly lower percentage chance.
Therefore, the more different legs you combine, the less likely you are to have placed a value bet — unless one or all of your picks boast positive expected value (+EV).
Tough to manage risk
Once a game starts, cash out offers on these types of bets usually disappear entirely —or show a paltry figure.
The chances of reducing loss or locking in a suitable amount of profit via cash out is therefore even slimmer than usual. And cash out is not exactly a punter's best friend at the best of times!
It is also tricky to place cover bets given there are usually multiple legs in play.
Should Bet Builders be avoided?
We've now talked through the advantages and disadvantages of using bet builders. So, should they be used or avoided?
They no doubt provide a more entertaining betting approach, particulalry for more casual punters, while also allowing a flexible means of covering a diverse range of markets.
This does of course carry more risk, though. Not only can the temptation to bite off more than you can chew with legs scupper a potentially winning bet, but it's also difficult to find a bet builder which holds strong value.
Essentially, bet builders can be a very useful addition to your betting armoury but they require significant research and intelligent strategy to be used if the punter is to profit from them in the long term.