What is a Round Robin bet?

Sometimes bettors just love to make things overly complicated. Welcome to Round Robin bets!

Round Robin bets are a type of multiple bet where you effectively re-bet any returned stakes on your next selection. It’s a little bit different to a standard accumulator or multiple bet – and we’ll explain why later in this article.

Paddy Power doesn’t offer Round Robin bets but punters are always curious about the bet structures available elsewhere in the world.

So, Paddy’s here to help cut through the jargon and explain this complicated bet type. We’ll admit that Round Robin bets are not suitable for first-time punters. They’re the sort of thing you work towards as you develop your betting knowledge.

What is a Round Robin bet?

A Round Robin bet is a multiple bet structure with additional actions built into it. There are 10 bets in a Round Robin from just three selections:

• 3x Doubles
• 1x Treble
• 3x Single Stakes Up and Downs (x6 in total)

Now, at least one selection needs to win in order for you to secure a payout. However, your payout potential dramatically changes between selections due to the single stakes up and down bet. More on that to follow.

For punters, your primary focus needs to be on finding three selections you think will win. For example, you bet on the following race day at Huntingdon:

• Race 1 – Nazuki at 4/6
• Race 2 – Completely Random at 3/1
• Race 3 – Magnum Opus at 3/1

Your Round Robin creates the following 10 bets:

Doubles

• Bet 1:  Nazuki 4/6 x Completely Random 3/1
• Bet 2:  Nazuki 4/6 x Magnum Opus 3/1
• Bet 3:  Completely Random 3/1 x Magnum Opus 3/1

Treble

• Bet 4:  Nazuki 4/6 x Completely Random 3/1 x Magnum Opus 3/1

Up and down single stakes

• Bets 5 and 6:  Nazuki 4/6 & Completely Random 3/1
• Bets 7 and 8:  Nazuki 4/6 & Magnum Opus 3/1
• Bets 9 and 10: Completely Random 3/1 & Magnum Opus 3/1

Your doubles and your treble are simple to understand. So long as the horses win, you get payouts on those respective parts of your Round Robin. However, the big focus is on the single stakes up and down.

What is a single stakes up and down bet?

Right, we’ll be honest with you. This is where betting gets a little complicated.

The main idea of a single stakes up and down bet is you can re-bet your stake from one winning selection on another. For example, say you place £5 each on your Round Robin, meaning £50 is staked overall.

Bet 5 in our above example is on Nazuki to win at 4/6. Bet 6 is on Completely Random to win at 3/1. The Round Robin allocates a £5 stake as normal on Bet 5 but, if Nazuki wins, you keep the profit and recycle your stake into the next bet. Instead of betting a fiver on Completely Random, you now bet £10.

Likewise, if Bet 7 wins (Nazuki again) then you again keep the stake and push the fiver into backing Magnum Opus.

The Round Robin helps you keep the profit of winning bets while repurposing your stakes for the next selection. You can therefore win a lot more than a simple accumulator or multiple bet, because there is more at stake in the later selections.

How to work out a Round Robin bet

The best way to calculate a Round Robin bet is to find a bet calculator. If you don’t have one of those then here’s the maths. All individual stakes are £5 unless stated.

Doubles

• Bet 1: 4/6 x 3/1 | £66.67 return (stake + profit)
• Bet 2: 4/6 x 3/1 | £66.67 return
• Bet 3: 3/1 x 3/1 | £160 return

Treble

• Bet 4: 4/6 x 3/1 x 3/1 | £400

Up and down single stakes

• Bets 5 and 6: 4/6 & 3/1 | £8.33 + £40 = £48.33 (If Bet 5 loses then only £5 is bet on Bet 6. Potential returns drops to £20)
• Bets 7 and 8: 4/6 & 3/1 | £8.33 + £40 = £48.33 (If Bet 7 loses then only £5 is bet on Bet 8. Potential returns drops to £20)
• Bets 9 and 10: 3/1 & 3/1 | £20 + £40 = £60 (If Bet 9 loses then only £5 is bet on Bet 10. Potential returns drops to £20)

Best sports for a Round Robin bet

Now let’s take a quick look at which sports are ideal for Round Robin betting:

• Horse Racing – The king of the Round Robin bet is horse racing. It’s here where most punters will use this bet type, because they already know what horses they plan to bet on. If a punter is happy to repurpose a winning stake and risk it again then the Round Robin makes sense. Many use it to cover three races in the same meeting.
• Football – Football is a surprisingly good sport for Round Robin bets because so much of the focus is on the match result. With heavy favourites usually beating minnows, Round Robins give punters the option to back the big boys and lock in relatively good returns. It’s often better than a simple accumulator.
• Tennis – Tennis betting fans have found a great little system to their own with Round Robin bets, particularly in the early rounds of men’s singles tournaments. The top seeds here are so dominant that you can rely on three of them to progress through round one. Rather than bet on them individually at low odds, the Round Robin squeezes extra profit by combining selections and doubling up some stakes.

THE PADDY POWER GUIDE TO SAFER GAMBLING – EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW