What is a bet builder?
So, at a basic level, what is a bet builder? Well, a bet builder offers sports betting customers a way of creating their own unique bet by combining odds on a selected event.
This can also be done over several events in what is a ‘multi-match bet builder'. Punters can choose from various sports. Bet builders are available for football, tennis, the NFL, Formula 1, basketball, and other sports. Mostly, football fans ask, “What is a bet builder?” The world's most popular sport offers tons of bet-building options, and it is now the source of various bet-builder tips on popular websites.
How to place a bet builder
What is a bet builder and how do you place one? Many new sports betting customers ask this very question.
Once you get the hang of them, they are pretty easy to place in truth. That's not to say they should be placed routinely, in fact we've offered some tips on bet builders below.
We'll show you exactly what steps are needed to place your own bet builder.
Placing a bet builder with Ladbrokes
For the Ladbrokes example, we're going with a Premier League football match (Arsenal v Chelsea). These are the steps to take:
- Select your match as usual. You can do this from the main page or from within the ‘football' section.
- After clicking on your chosen match, look for the ‘bet builder' option and click on it.
- From here, you can choose from around 50 different sections. Within each, for example, ‘anytime goalscorer', you see all the individual options from both teams and their odds.
- Choose your selections. We've gone for Arsenal to win the game over 90 minutes, over 7.5 corners between both teams, Bukayo Saka to have 3+ shots and Declan Rice to produce 1+ assists. After clicking on each bet, click ‘add to bet builder'.
- Your bet builds as you add selections. When finished, it looks like this:
- Click on the odds/'place bet' tab. As usual, this adds the bet to your bet slip, where you can choose your stake and make the bet.
Some of the sections offered include cash out. If you make sure your bet-building options have cash out, you can get out of your bet early when you're in profit. If you don't yet have a Ladbrokes account, you can get the new customer offer when signing up. Here's another example:
How to place a bet builder on mobile
What is a bet builder on mobile? It works exactly the same way as on desktop. To show you another example of how they work, we've picked out a different football game via the bet365 mobile site:
- On your mobile site or app, head to ‘soccer'.
- Choose your game, in this case, Crystal Palace v Newcastle United.
- At the top of this game section, tap on Bet Builder.
- Make your selections. We've gone for Alexander Isak to score any time, Newcastle to win, more than 2 goals in the game, over 7 corners and Anthony Gordon to produce at least one assist. This came to 14/1.
- Tap ‘add to bet slip'. You can choose your stake from there and then hit ‘place bet'.
Those asking “What is a bet builder bet?” often just can't visualise it. As you can see, placing a bet builder is very simple, and the number of selections has a high limit. The combinations, in fact, are almost endless.
Betting sites offering bet builders
To answer the question, “What is a bet builder?” We need to see what each brand offers in this regard.
Not every bookie is the same. This feature was really born in the social media age. Punters could tweet various brands and ask for odds on a certain outcome, something that perhaps wasn't available on the main site.
As of now, these are some of the best UK bookmakers to offer bet builders:
- bet365
- BetVictor
- Betway
- Coral
- Ladbrokes
- Paddy Power
- Unibet
- William Hill
bet365 bet builder
This is one of the more popular bet builders on the market. Bet365 seems to make it its business to keep up with the best technology in the industry, which they've done with their version of this product.
bet365 also has Bet Builder+, available to those who sign up using the bet365 bonus code. This amounts to what is a multi-match bet builder. The multi-match bet builder is something you can use to create your own bets across various events rather than just one game.
You can put Man City to win, Bruno Guimareas to score, Lewis Hamilton to finish on the podium, and Cameron Norrie to win the first set all into one bet builder.
Coral bet builder
In this case, Coral offers what is a bet builder promoted as ‘Build Your Bet'. It works the same way as most of the others, though it's all about football with this brand.
Build Your Bet with Coral is available in over 100 leagues and events. You can choose similar selections to other such products, such as cards, scorers, results, total goals, etc., and you can cash out on some of these if they are placed through the Match Markets tab.
The brand does warn that odds can fluctuate, but this is standard.
William Hill bet builder
Similarly, William Hill promotes what is a bet builder like any other but under the banner Build #YourOdds. This is a throwback to when a punter must message on Twitter using #YourOdds to have their bet priced up.
You can choose from hundreds of markets on goals, shots, cards, corners etc. These are available for any game in the Premier League, EFL, Champions League, Europa League and many more.
As one of the originals on the market, this bet builder remains one of the most popular.
Bet builder tips
Before you get involved with any of the bookies named here, be sure to keep in mind our top bet builder tips:
- Don't use bet builders for the sake of it. This is a great way of giving bookies your money, much like long and ambitious accumulators. Use a bet builder when you think you have multiple predictions for a game that will come true.
- Keep predictions realistic. A centre-back to score twice is a losing bet, no matter how tempting the odds may be.
- Use bet builders to your advantage when you're already sure what you want to bet on. You may already like a team to win and may think they'll score more than once. These bets are fine. Adding in any old punt to build up the odds is a mistake.
- Don't play teams off on each other. Bet builders work better with one-sided games. It usually doesn't pay to bet on one team to win, while betting on goalscorers etc for the other team.
That last point is crucial. In Man City v Man United, many would take Man City to win but Bruno Fernandes to produce an assist.
The thing is, as a punter, why would you want to cheer Fernandes creating a goal when you have his opposition to win?
Bet builders work best when you are trying to boost the odds of a favourite. If there's no value in backing a team who are 1/4 favourites to win, adding in cards, corners, scorers, etc. is one way to try and increase that value.
Bet builder advantages and disadvantages
What is a bet builder if not something great for the punter?
Similar to placing a treble bet, there are in fact both pros and cons to using bet builders. Here are the main advantages and disadvantages of using this product with an online bookmaker.
Bet builder advantages
Bet builder disadvantages
If you consider the advantages of bet builders we've listed here and use them alongside the tips we give above, you should be able to make the most of this valuable product.
Bet builder FAQs
Which sports can I use the bet builder on?
This can differ from site to site. In the main, you can use bet builders on football, tennis, basketball, baseball, American football, rugby, ice hockey, boxing/MMA and pre-race on Formula 1.
What is the Bet Builder+ on bet365?
Bet Builder+ is a bet365 promo that allows punters to combine odds on popular markets from certain events all into one bet. You can combine bets from certain sports into your bet builder.
What's the difference between a bet builder and an accumulator?
In some ways, bet builders and accumulators are similar; both bets are multiples with potential winnings that are ‘accumulating'. Instead of picking out a result in more than one event, bet builders allow punters to use several selections from within the same event and add them up.
What is a multi-match bet builder?
A multi-match bet builder is a feature offered by some betting platforms that allows users to create custom bets involving multiple matches or events within a single bet slip. It provides flexibility by enabling bettors to combine various outcomes from different games into one cohesive wager, often with adjusted odds reflecting the combined probabilities. This feature adds a layer of excitement and strategy for bettors seeking more dynamic betting experiences across multiple sporting events simultaneously.
