An increasingly popular bet type we are seeing at Bookmakers is a "create your own bet" style of feature often referred to as Bet Builder Bets.
It allows you to select multiple different markets in a match and then gives you the odds for your custom bet (think of an accumulator but with all of your selections on the same match).
You will find offers on Outplayed that involve placing bets on these markets.
Each bookmaker has its own name for this DIY betting feature. Sky Bet call it "RequestABet", Betfair Sportsbook have "Same Game Multi", ComeOn's version is "YourBet" and you'll see many other names across the various bookies.
It all amounts to the same thing though - creating your own bet by selecting multiple markets in the same match.
Here is an example using Betfair's "Same Game Multi" option:
I have selected West Brom to win, Dwight Gayle to score first and there to also be over 2.5 goals scored in the match. Betfair have then given me this as one bet with total odds of 12.19.
With all these weird and wonderful combinations, these bets can be difficult to lay.
However, if we're clever about it, we can sometimes combine our selections to make sure they have a corresponding lay market so we can have a small qualifying loss rather than gambling the whole back stake amount.
COMMON MARKETS THAT WE CAN LAY
Depending on the terms of the offer, we can lay our bets to make sure that we're getting a guaranteed profit rather than having to punt the Build A Bet. These can be laid using the calculator.
You are building a back bet on the bookmaker and laying a single pre-existing lay market on the exchange that corresponds to your builder back bet. You are not laying as a multiple.
Here are some common markets that we can create and then lay. Always make sure that the terms of the offer will allow for the bet you're placing.
Quick List
Here is a quick list of bets you can make and the lay markets for them. If you want to see a more detailed explanation for each then read on past this section.
| Back Bet | Lay Market | No. Of Selections |
|---|---|---|
| Winner, Over 0.5 Goals (doesn't work for Draw) | Match Winner | 2 |
| Winner, BTTS | Winner and Both Teams to Score | 2 |
| Winner, Over/Under 2.5 Goals | Winner and Over/Under 2.5 | 2 |
| Draw, Double Chance Draw/Team | Draw | 2 |
| Draw, BTTS - No | 0-0 Correct Score | 2 |
| Team To Win, Under 1.5 Goals | 1-0 Correct Score | 2 |
| Draw, Under 2.5 Goals, BTTS - Yes | 1-1 Correct Score | 3 |
| Team To Win, Under 3.5 Goals, BTTS - Yes | 2-1 Correct Score | 3 |
| Team To Win, Under 2.5 Goals, Over 1.5 Goals, BTTS - No | 2-0 Correct Score | 4 |
Winner & Both Teams To Score
This is a bet with two selections - Match Winner and also Both Teams To Score (you could pick yes or no for this, whichever you like).
You can lay this bet at the exchange and it looks like this:
Smarkets
Matchbook
Betfair Exchange
Winner & Over/Under 2.5 Goals
This is a bet with two selections - Match Winner and also an Over/Under 2.5 Total Goals selection.
You can lay this bet at the exchange and it looks like this:
Smarkets
Matchbook
You cannot lay this market on Matchbook.
Betfair Exchange
Draw, Under 2.5 Goals, Both Teams To Score - Yes
This is a bet with three selections - The result of the match to be a Draw, Under 2.5 Total Goals and also Both Teams To Score - Yes.
This can be laid off at any exchange by laying the 1-1 Correct Score market since a game that finishes a draw, has under 2.5 goals and where both teams score has to finish 1-1.
Draw, Under X Goals where X can be anything, Both Teams To Score - No.
This is a bet with three selections - The result of the match to be a Draw, Under any amount of Total Goals (whichever you want to choose) and also Both Teams To Score - No. Note can also be done without the under X goals if you can do two selections for the offer instead of three.
This can be laid off at any exchange by laying the 0-0 Correct Score market since a game that finishes a draw, has under any amount of goals and where both teams do not score has to finish 0-0.
Team To Win, Under 1.5 Goals, Both Teams To Score - No.
This is a bet with three selections - The result of the match to be a team winning (you can pick whichever team you like), Under 1.5 total goals and also Both Teams To Score - No.
This can be laid off at any exchange by laying the 1-0 Correct Score market (note that this has to be 1-0 to the team that you selected to win in your back bet) since a game that finishes with your selection winning, has under 1.5 goals and where both teams do not score has to finish 1-0.
Team To Win, Under 3.5 Goals, Both Teams To Score - Yes.
This is a bet with three selections - The result of the match to be a team winning (you can pick whichever team you like), Under 3.5 total goals and also Both Teams To Score - Yes.
This can be laid off at any exchange by laying the 2-1 Correct Score market (note that this has to be 2-1 to the team that you selected to win in your back bet) since a game that finishes with your selection winning, has under 3.5 goals and where both teams score has to finish 2-1.
ADVANTAGE PLAY
Occasionally the terms of the offer will not allow you to create a bet that can be laid off. This could be due to minimum odds or because you need four or more selections. If this is the case then the offer needs to be treated as advantage play (where you don't lay your bet but you will still get a bonus from the bookmaker to make the offer good value in the long run).
MULTI LAY BETS CALCULATOR
Even more Bet Builder options are available with the Multi Lay Bets Calculator.
Once you've grasped the basics of placing the single lay Bet Builder Bets outlined above, it's well worth also learning about the Multi Lay Bets Calculator. This calculator enables you to use Bet Builder Bets at the bookmakers that require you to place multiple lay bets in order for you to cover them.
An example is the 'Draw and Under 2.5 Goals'. To lay this correctly we need to place 2 lays bets - one against the correct score to be 0-0 and one against the correct score to be 1-1. The Multi Lay Bets Calculator can do this for us.