There are some extremely popular system bets available that most punters will be aware of, such as a Patent, Trixie and the always endearing Lucky 15 and Yankee, which are pretty much staples of seasoned punters who like a flutter on the horses. There are also many other System Bets available that are not quite as common as some of those aforementioned ones.
Multis v System Bets
The appeal of a system bet is being able to get something back from your wager even if all the selections don’t win. If you were to build a multi (accumulator) with four selections then you would need them all to win. There’s no margin for error. With four selections thrown into a system bet then you can create some margin for error by needing only two or three of them to win and this is where variations in playing system bets can be useful.
Here we will take a quick look at some of the differences between the system bets that are available on the lower end of things. By that, we mean looking at systems bets which can be created with just a few selections.
System Bet Format Explained
When you see a system bet you are going to see options presented like 2/3, 4/3, 4/7, 5/8, 7/8 and that kind of thing. What does this mean? The second number is how many picks that you are putting into the wager and the first number is the minimum number of those selections that you need to be successful in order to win something.
So on a System 2/3 Bet, you would need at least two of the three picks to win in order to get something out of this. If you step that up to four selections then this is where things get a little interesting because it means that you can start getting a little more control over things.
With four sections you can choose either a 2/4 or 3/4 System bet meaning that you would need either two or three selections at the minimum to come up, depending on which you choose. Let’s break it down.
2/4 System v 3/4 System
- A 2/4 System is created of six 2-selection multis. So you would need at least need two teams to win to collect winnings.
- A 3/4 System Bet is created of three 3-selection multis and therefore you need a minimum of three selections out of the four, to be correct.
So basically you are going to pick between a 4 selection system bet; one consisting of trebles (3/4 system) or one consisting of six doubles (2/4).
So there is your choice and this a choice which obviously comes with a cost. The amount that you get back depends obviously on the odds of which selections win and how many of the selections prove correct. The more correct picks that you end up having, the higher the winnings. The different System Bets have different amount of bets included, so that will affect your stake and potential return as well.
General Philosophy
The general approach to System bets is to go for the longer odds options and a bigger stake as well. This is to try and combat a lack of returns if not all of the selections in a system bet come up. In staking, you are placing an individual stake on each of the bets available in a System Bet. So for example in a 2/4 system there are six bets in total meaning that if you were playing a 1 2/4 System Bet, your actual stake is 6.
System Bet Bankers
System Bets can also be played with Bankers. The Banker selections in a wager have to come up to get a return. So for example in a 2/4 you selected, Liverpool, Chelsea, Arsenal and Spurs all to win, but Liverpool as the banker. If Liverpool failed to win, but two of other three did, then you don’t win because Liverpool, as the banker, didn’t deliver. A banker has to win.