There are numerous types of bets. Below we have listed some of the more common ones that are used by UK betting sites and bookmakers. Don’t worry about dealing with the more complex bets either, they are easy enough to understand.
Standard Bets
Here are the more common standard bets that can be placed by normal punters. You can place these bets using betting sites or sports betting shops.
Single Bet
A single bet is a bet placed on an individual selection or outcome. This is the simplest and most common betting type. These have higher minimum bet requirements.
This also does not have to be a bet on whether a team wins or loses, a single bet can also be a bet on whether or not a team goes above a certain goal count or score count.
Examples of Single Bets
- Betting on a football team to win
- A horse racing bet on whether a horse finishes under a certain time frame
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Pro-Tip
When playing single bets, check out the betting markets to see which bookmakers offer the best betting odds. Go with the bookie that has the best minimum odds.
Win, Place, and Each Way Bet
These terms are more often associated with horse racing bets but they also apply to bets on other sports. Let us break it down.
Win Bet
As the name suggests, you will be placing a bet that your team or your horse wins the race or the match.
Place Bet
A place bet is betting that the team, contender, or animal you are betting on will at least place in the top 10 or in the top 3 or a race or a tournament.
This can apply to horse racing, tennis matches, World Cups, Olympic events, and more.
Each Way Bet
An Each Way bet combines the win and the place bets. Usually, a bet stake is placed on both outcomes. With an each-way bet, you can place bets that your chosen football team will win the World Cup and you can also place a bet that they will make it to the quarter-finals.
Accumulator Bet or Multiple Bets
Multiple bets are also referred to as accumulator bets. It can be as few as a double bet, a triple bet, known as a treble bet, or it can go as high as you want, known as X Fold Accumulator bets.
For multiple bets to have a return, each of the single bets placed must win. Some bookies allowed for multiple bets to have fixed odds, regardless of the value of the real odds.
Acca Bets
Accumulator bets are also known as Acca bets. They are considered low-value bets are one of the most popular bet types in the UK.
Complex Bets
Before the advent of online sports betting, complex bets were often reserved for expert or professional gamblers. They also used to be reserved for sports betting shops and were mostly only used in horse racing bets.
Sports bookies have since opened up complex bets to a wider range of bettors and other sports betting. Some of the more common types of complex bets are discussed below.
Spread Betting
Spread betting is a non-fixed odds betting type of bet. It is mostly used in the financial world but is also being used in sports betting.
With spread betting, you don’t necessarily bet on the outcome - win or lose. It is not an outright bet. Instead, you bet on the outcome meeting certain criteria. Like you will spread bet on whether the horse makes it into the top 3 or if a team makes it the quarters.
Handicap Betting
Handicap bets are bet types that take into consideration the handicap of a contestant, team, horse, or group. Before you bet, you will be told of the handicap that the players are running with.
Common handicaps include weights on a horse in horse racing, or goal advantages in football.
Forecast Bets
Mostly used in horse racing but it can be used in other sports too. As its name suggests, you bet on a forecast of the outcome of an event.
For horse racing, this is typically done forecasting the finishing order of the horses. The same can be done for football or tennis where you forecast the order of the finishes.
Full Cover Bet
A full cover bet or full cover betting is a bet type where you bet on a wide range of selections. That way you have a higher chance of selection wins. An example of this is a Yankee bet.
Yankee Bet
A Yankee Bet is a bet made of four-fold accumulator bets, four treble bets, and six double bets. With this type of bet, only two of your selections need to win in order for you to get a qualifying bet.
Sports Betting
Sports bets are one of the more popular types of bets. Some of the most common and most popular sports bets in the UK are listed below.
Football Betting
Football is one of the world’s most popular sports. Is it, therefore, any wonder that it is also one of the most popular types of sports bet in the UK?
It attracts more betting markets than any other sport. You can place both standard and complex wagers as football bets. Other bet types used include:
- Handicap bets
- Spread betting
- Forecast bets
Tennis Betting
Tennis is another sport that is widely popular in the UK. Some of the most common bet types that are placed when betting on tennis include:
- Single Bets
- Multiple Bets
- Full Cover Bet
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Horse Race Bets
Of the sports bets mentioned here, horse racing has the most complex bet types used. These can include:
- Win Bet
- Place Bet
- Each Way Bet
- Multiple Bets
- Full Cover Bet
- Forecast Bet
- Spread Betting
Other Bet Types
There are many other bet types out there, some of the more common ones you may encounter include the Round Robin Bet and the Union Jack or Union Jack Round Robin bet.
Round Robin Bet
Categorized as multiple bets or full cover bets, Round Robin bets is a bet made on three selections, hence the name. It is made up of 10 bets. It is also known as a Trixie bet.
Union Jack Bet
A Union Jack bet is a specialty bet. You will place a wager on nine selections. These are then placed on a three-by-three grid. As your selections win, they will create a pattern on the grid. Certain patterns produce a return.