+18 | Commercial Content | T&C's Apply | Play Responsibly | Publishing Principles
What is a Bet Builder
Tom Fuller

What is a Bet Builder: Explaining how Bet Builders work

Learn all about bet builders with our guide that explains exactly what a bet builder is and how to place them in 2024.

What is a Bet Builder?

In its simplest form, a bet builder is just a collection of odds and selections from a single football match, all compiled into one bigger bet.

This usually applies to a bet with three or more selections in it, these are then individually called legs.

Most betting sites have dedicated bet builder menus, with all of the possible selections that can be added included in this window, but the most commonly used legs are:

  • Result
  • Goals Over/Unders
  • Both Teams To Score
  • Player Shots/Shots on Target
  • Team Shots/Shots on Target
  • Corners Over/Unders
  • Player Cards
  • Cards Over/Unders
  • Handicaps

These above are the most commonly found but some bookmakers offer wider selections than these, sometimes bringing in markets like:

  • Player Passes/Tackles/Fouls/Offsides
  • Team Passes/Tackles/Fouls/Offsides
  • Free Kicks
  • Goal Kicks
  • Throw Ins

Only a few bookmakers offer these sorts of markets though, so don’t bank on these always being available.

The best thing about bet builders is that they allow users to get far better odds than just betting on singles.

This is because the odds of every single leg within are multiplied together to give the whole overall odds of the bet builder.

However, with this comes increased risk because you need all of the legs to come in, in order for your bet to cash instead of just one occurrence.

Despite this, bet builders are an extremely popular method of betting, not only because of the improved odds one can get but also because you can get more involved with different aspects of a single game, instead of just looking for a goalscorer or the result.

How to work out the odds of your Bet Builder

Working out the odds for your bet builder is quite straightforward and simple, once we know how to do it.

All you have to do is convert the fractional odds into decimal numbers and +1. Once this is done multiply all the odds together in sequence. Then -1 from this total. Then simply turn this back into a fraction

Take this as an example:

  • Kevin De Bryune over 56.5 Passes @ 2/1
  • Manchester City to Win @ 1/1
  • Erling Haaland Shot on Target @ 1/5
  • Over 10.5 Match Corners @ 4/1

This then turns in to:

  • 2/1 becomes 2 + 1 = 3
  • 1/1 becomes 1 + 1 = 2
  • 1/5 becomes 0.2 + 1 = 1.2
  • 4/1 becomes 4 + 1 = 5

Then 3 x 2 x 1.2 x 5 = 36.

Then 36 - 1 = 35

So the eventual odds of your bet builder is 35/1.

Nevertheless, do not worry if all of this seems a bit complicated as all bookmakers will automatically calculate the odds of the builder for you. This will then be shown in your betslip.

The Best Bookmakers to Use for Bet Builders

bet365

bet365 are one of the best bookmakers in the UK and therefore it is no surprise that they top this list.

This is because of their incredibly impressive range of markets and selection that they provide that are able to be included in player's bet builders.

Providing odds for everything from results, goals over/unders and corners, but also the incredibly popular and increasingly rare player shots on targets, passes, tackles and even offsides.

This permits players much more variation and freedom when placing their bets, allowing them to wager on far more in-game occurrences than most other bookmakers.

William Hill

William Hill have long been one of the UK’s favourite betting sites and have made this list not only for their wide bet building options but also the promotions players can claim for this.

Their options for players creating bet builders are excellent, including all of the core components like results, corners and both teams to score, but also the extremely popular player markets like shots, shots on target, passes and even tackles.

They also provide some of the best promotions around allowing players to either boost the odds of their builder or add some insurance to this, whereby if your bet builder fails by one leg, you can get your stake back as a free bet.

This is a rarity among bookmakers allowing their users to choose between two separate promotions to place on their bet builders.

Betfred

Betfred are another extremely popular bookmaker in the UK and their bet building offerings are also quite strong.

Players are able to bet on a wide selection of bet building markets, including the massively popular player shots on target, these proving to be one of the core components of many user's builders.

They also provide some exemplary odds for all of these selections, oftentimes rivalling or betting many other betting sites.

10bet

10bet are a relative newcomer in the UK betting industry but have been making a name for themselves due to their impressively valuable football odds and their excellent user interface.

This extends to their bet building markets, where players can oftentimes see some of the best odds among all bookmakers. Creating a builder is also incredibly easy with them, with flawless navigation.

This makes it remarkably straightforward to create these bet builders whereas with many other sites, it is not at all this simple.

Unibet

Unibet are another great option for any players looking to create bet builders with them and have made this list due to their impressive promotion for these markets.

Not only do they provide some great selections that can be included in a user's builder like the very popular player shots on target and bookings, but these can often be found at some extremely competitive odds and prices.

Players can also claim their impressive bet builder boosts. These enhance the odds of a user's created builder. This can be done for almost any football match, but they also have specific Champions and Europa League boosts pertaining to the same thing.

This bonus allows players to see their odds boosted beyond their regular price and can sometimes provide them with the best price around.

Bet Builder FAQs

What is a Bet Builder?

A bet builder is essentially a multi-leg bet on a single match of football. Including three or more in-game occurrences like results, goals, corners and player shots on target.

Which bookmakers do Bet Builders?

Almost every single bookmaker now has a bet building service, this can be found within each single game window on the betting site.

However, some of the best bookmakers for this have to be either bet365 or William Hill.

How do I do a Bet Builder?

Creating a bet builder is super simple and easy to do, with it taking at most a few minutes to create and place this.

All you need to do is go to your bookmaker of choice, find the game of football you want, click into it and head over to their bet builder menu.

Once here choose all of the selections you want to include and click add to bet slip, if they haven't already been placed there automatically.

Then check out the odds, choose your stake and place your bet.

Can you cash out bet builders?

Yes, you can cash out bet builders with almost every bookmaker but be sure to check this beforehand.

It can also sometimes be more profitable when cashing out bet builders, especially if three of the legs have come in. The bookmaker will take this into account when calculating your cash out amount.