What is a goliath bet?
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Within the 'Goliath' bet, there is a total of 247 bets which make up this large scale bet, spanning across a range of eight selections. The Goliath includes the following; 28 doubles, 56 trebles, 70 four-fold accumulators, 56 five-fold accumulators, 28 six-fold accumulators, 8 seven-fold accumulators and 1 eigh-fold accumulator.
As the name suggests, a goliath bet allows for a huge range of bets to be made in one wager. Named after the biblical story of David's battle with the giant Goliath, it includes a massive 247 bets (from eight selections) and represents one of the most expansive bets a bettor can make.
Due to this high volume of selections, goliaths should only be undertaken by bettors with a high level of experience, a clear understanding of the sport they are betting on and good knowledge of the competitors who they are selecting. Those who do not have this knowledge may find themselves losing out.
Adding further complexity is the fact that the goliath bet is expensive to place. As 247 bets are being made, the original stake is multiplied by 247. This means that if a bettor were to place a unit stake of £2, the actual amount of money they would be betting is £494.
Goliath bet
Like other forms of multiple bets, a goliath bet cannot be placed on the same event. Bettors who want to place a goliath bet must make their selections across a range of events, usually either on the same day or over the same weekend. For example, if the bettor were looking to place a goliath bet on a day of horse racing, they would need to select eight different races and eight different horses. Any bettors who want to make several selections within the same event should instead consider a forecast bet.
It is easy to see how a goliath bet can work when applied to a real-world scenario. Imagine that a bettor were to place this kind of a bet on a round of Champions League games. They could make these selections:
- Real Madrid to beat Lyon
- Paris Saint Germain to beat Barcelona
- Manchester United to beat Copenhagen
- Atletico Madrid to beat AC Milan
- Juventus to beat Inter Milan
- Liverpool to beat CSKA Moscow
- Celtic to beat Ajax
- Bayern Munich to beat Lille
Within the goliath, the following wagers are being made to total up to the 247 overall bets: 70 four-selection accumulators, 56 treble bets, 56 five-selection accumulators, 28 six-selection accumulators, 28 double bets, 8 seven-selection accumulators and finally one eight-selection accumulator.
The 26 double bets cover any possible variation of two teams winning and the others losing. So, for example, if Real Madrid and Paris Saint Germain, or Atletico Madrid and Liverpool, or Celtic and Manchester United (or any other variation) were to win and the other teams were to fail to win, one of the double bets would make a return.
The same is true of the 56 treble bets, but for one of these to pay out, three of the teams would need to win. So if Real Madrid, Paris Saint Germain and Bayern Munich won and all the other teams selected failed to win, one of the treble bets would pay out. Again, this applies to any variation of three of the selected teams winning. The 56 treble bets cover every single possible permutation of three teams winning and the others not.
In the four, five, six and seven fold accumulators, bettors will make a return if those numbers of teams win. If, for example, Juventus, Liverpool, Celtic and Bayern Munich were to win but none of the other teams did, then the bettor would win one of the four-fold accumulator bets. If all the teams but one were to win, the bettor would win the seven-fold accumulator bet. Of course, if all the selected teams were to win, the bettor would win with the eight-fold accumulator bet.
As it is much more difficult to predict that each and every one of these selections will win than it is to select just two of the winners, the payouts within a goliath bet greatly differ. One of the double bets would pay less than the treble bet, which would pay out less than the four-fold accumulator and so on. The return would be very high if the eight-fold accumulator were to win.
This is one of the reasons why the goliath bet can be very tempting to some bettors. There are fail safes built into the goliath bet which mean that even if some of the selections made by the bettor do not win, there will still be a good chance of some kind of a payout. The only scenario in which a bettor would fail to make any kind of a return would be if just one of the selections were to win and every one of the others lost. This is because there are no single bets being made as part of the goliath bet.
Other kinds of multiple bets
A goliath bet is an expansive form of multiple bet. A multiple bet allows punters to make a range of different selections or bets in a bundle. As already mentioned, some multiple bets are quite small: double bets and treble bets ask the bettor to make just two and three selections respectively. If those selections win, then the bet is won.
There are also more complicated forms of multiple bet. A Trixie bet allows bettors to make three selections and place four different bets: three double bets and one treble bet. This means that the bettor is covering a variety of different possible outcomes. If all three selections win, then the bettor makes a return. If just two selections win, the bettor also makes a return. The only scenario in which they do not make a return is if just one selection wins.
More complex forms of multiple bets are the patent bet, the Canadian bet, the Yankee bet, the Lucky 15, the heinz bet and the super heinz bet. These all require that the bettor makes even more selections and even more bets are bundled together as a result. They are expensive to place but can result in very high returns if all the selections win.
Plus, don't forget to check out our bet calculator, where you can calculate your winnings.