Bet Builders have become very popular within sports betting over the last few years. Their basis comes from the social media-inspired ‘request a bet’ idea, something that took off when bookmakers used Twitter and the like to offer punters a way to ask for specific odds on multiple bets. Now, Bet Builders are plumbed into online sports betting sites.
Bet Builder tools can offer pre-determined multiple bets on one sporting event, or give you the chance to build up your own. The Bet Builder will offer you a range of markets, for instance, on a football game, allowing you to select odds on each of them which then multiply. In some cases, these are pre-determined by the bookie.
How Does the Bet Builder Tool Work?
A pre-determined bet builder
Bookmakers offer bet builders for their own selfish reasons, make no bones about that. We’ll go into that in some more detail later on. If you understand how they work though, you can use them to your advantage in order to squeeze some good betting value out of a particular match.
Simply head to the section you’re looking for, i.e., ‘football’, then look for the Bet Builder tool, which will be clearly marked. If your bookie offers only pre-determined Bet Builders then you can simply click into each game and see what is on offer.
If you’re building your own bet from scratch, then click on the tool and then on each of the markets to peruse the odds, selecting as you go. The multiplied odds should change automatically as you add selections, with some bookmakers offering a maximum of six per bet.
Typical Football Markets When Building a Bet
Typical markets to choose from when building a bet for a football match are:
- Player to Score – First, last or any time
- Cards – Players to be booked or sent off
- Result – Home, draw, away
- Double Chance – Home or draw, draw or away, home or away
- Total Goals – Over, exactly or under a certain amount for home side, away side or both combined
- Corners – As above, but with corners rather than goals
- Free Kicks & Throw-Ins – Over or under a certain amount
- Both Teams to Score – Yes or no
Other markets include, but are not limited to: shots, offsides, tackles, assists, half-time/full-time, half with most goals, etc. The list is potentially endless and will change from bookmaker to bookmaker. Here’s an example of a pre-determined Bet Builder, with a bet boost thrown in:
In the below example, we’ve chosen ourselves in Leeds v Wolves to take the following opinion on the game:
Doing this allows us to greatly increase interest in this game, by getting odds of 17/2 on our selection rather than simply taking prohibitive odds on one team to win. Even getting odds of 8½ to 1 in this case was done with just four, rather conservative selections. We’re aiming for Wolves to not lose the game, so a win for them or a draw will do just fine.
We’ve also gone for simply more than one goal to be scored in the match for both teams, so as long as they score at least two between them then that selection comes in. Both teams need to be given 8 or more corners between them, which is also common while lastly, we reckon that as the teams tire most of the goals scored will be in the second half.
Advantages of Building a Bet
Depending on the way you bet, Bet Builders can work for you in a variety of ways. The main advantages of building a bet on a football match are:
- Being able to get high-paying multiple bets on a single game
- Making your own multiple (in some cases), rather than getting a pre-determined one
- Multiplying bet builders with other bets into an even bigger multiplier
- Squeezing the best value possible from a betting market
As mentioned above, once you finish building your bet and you add it to a bet slip, it counts as one bet. Therefore, your bet builder can be added in with other bet builders or straight bets to form multiples. You could build a bet worth 14/1 on one football match, then add it in with 5/1 and 4/1 selections from other games or even other sports to make a 449/1 treble.
Disadvantages of Bet Builders
Ask yourself in the first instance why bookmakers allow Bet Builders to exist. The bookmaking business aims to make money and, as the saying goes, ‘the house always wins’.
With a bet builder, the more legs you are tempted to add to a multiple bet, and this includes with a Bet Builder, the more chances there are for something to go wrong and thus the bet becoming a loser. The other angle bookies take with Bet Builders is squeezing the odds. Because they are offering you a ‘service’ in being able to add your own selections to a Bet Builder, they don’t have to remain too competitive with their odds within each of the individual markets.
Try to remember this: Broccoli doesn’t have a sticker on it at the supermarket telling you it’s healthy. It’s obvious. When something is labelled as ‘low sugar’ or ‘light’, the chances are it’s not good for you. It’s just not as bad for you as the full-fat alternative. That’s how marketing works. If a bookie is offering a bet boost or is pushing you towards a Bet Builder, it’s because they know the bet has a big chance of losing, which is an advantage to them.
How to Make Best Use of a Bet Builder
Despite the above, you can use Bet Builder to your advantage if you think smart.
Be Conservative
You can still come up with a good value punt using a Bet Builder without going for wild selections. Remember that your built-up bet can form part of a larger multiplier anyway.
Stick to the Obvious
In line with the above; sticking to obvious goal totals, winners, scorers, etc. can still land you a 2/1, 3/1, 5/1 bet, which is simply way better than taking odds-on for your team to win. This is the best way to mitigate the reasons bookies have for offering Bet Builders in the first place. They want you to chase the big money, knowing that almost every bet of this type will lose. Don’t be greedy with it and you may stay ahead.