In the world of gambling, placing the high-stakes Goliath bet can be an exciting way to bet on multiples. It has the opportunity for high returns, but what is a Goliath bet? Is it worth it to place one? This article will explain what a Goliath bet is and provide an example of how it works and what the payout potential is.
What Is A Goliath Bet?
Considered a type of full coverage bet, Goliath bets are high risk, high reward. They're similar to other bets of multiples like Trixie, Heinz, or Super Heinz bets
What Are Goliath Bets: Goliath Bets Explained
Named for the biblical story of David and Goliath, a Goliath bet is a multiples bet made up of 247 bets. Those bets are stretched over 8 different sections. Most of the time, the bets must be placed across the same weekend, day, or event, depending on the venue. Bets placed over several selections are referred to as a forecast bet instead.
A Goliath bet contains 28 doubles bets and 56 trebles. It then ups the ante with 70 four-fold accumulators, 56 five-fold accumulators, 48 six-fold, 8 seven-fold, and 1 eight-fold. There are no single bets in a Goliath bet.
The 26 doubles cover the possibilities of any possible variation of two teams or horses winning and the other losing.
The 56 trebles work the same way, but for a payout, three of the teams would be required to win and if all of the other teams selected lose, one of the treble bets will pay. The treble bet applies to every single possibility of three teams winning and the other teams losing.
That means that it is a slightly higher stake than your usual accumulator bet. Because of how it's spread out, it's much easier to feel more confident in your returns — as long as four of the eight sections win, the better will see a return on their 247 bets.
Goliath Bet Example
A bettor is at a horse race for the day. In order to place a Goliath bet, they would need to place bets on 8 different races and 8 different horses. Four of their selections win, and the other four lose. If they placed one dollar per bet, they'll get a return of 608. Capped against the $247 they spent, that's a profit of $361.
To break it down further, the price of each selection plays a key role in what makes a Goliath bet profitable. If, for example, you placed 247 $1 bets, your profit outcomes may look something like this.
- 0 selection wins: $0 return. This is definitely the worst-case scenario for anyone placing a Goliath bet.
- 1 selection win: because there are no single bets, the end result is a $0 return.
- 2 selection wins: $16 return, but with a loss of $247
- 3 selection wins: $112 return, $135 loss.
- 4 selection wins: Four wins is where the Goliath bet starts to become profitable. $608 return, $361 profit.
- 5 selection wins: $3,104 return, $2,857 profit
- 6 selection wins: $15,600 return, $15,353 profit
- 7 selection wins: $78,096 return, $77,849 profit
- 8 selection wins: $390,592 return, $390,345 profit
While this is just an example, that's part of the big appeal of a Goliath bet; there are fail-safes that make it so that you can at least get some manner of payout. The only chance that a bettor would end up at a complete loss is if one or none of the selections won and every single one lost.
Goliath Bet Strategy
At the highest level, if the bettor were to win every single one of their games, races, or matches, they'd get very high returns– making the original bet incredibly worthwhile. However, as any experienced gambler knows, the odds of that happening are slim.
Save for getting incredibly lucky, the odds begin to get trickier and a strategy must be put into play.
Pay Attention To The Odds
The best strategy for a Goliath bet is to wait for when the odds that were chosen start from 1.5 and up. If a bettor were to gamble on odds that were too low, they'd need more of their selections to win in order for a payout to be liable.
Unfortunately, when the odds climb too high, the risks of a Goliath bet will climb with it. If there's a horse race, for example, where all 8 horses someone places their bets on have the odds of 4.0, five of them will need to win before the bettor will see a profit.
With any sort of gambling strategy, the best practice is to research the matches, teams, horses, or players that are assumed to be of high value. They should only be added to the roster of a Goliath bet if there's a reasonable chance they'll win.
Most of the time to be successful with a Goliath bet, there only needs to be a reasonable return roughly 15-25% of the time — depending on what the currently selected odds are.
That's not to say that a Goliath bet is easy money. Selection is the most challenging part of any betting game, as no one can truly know what the end result of a sporting event or horse race will be until the very end.
Pros And Cons
So, in practice, what is a Goliath bet? On paper, it sounds simple, but applying the strategies of it to an actual real-world event can be a challenge. Here are some of the pros and cons of the Goliath bet.
Pros:
- There's extremely high return potential, giving many gamblers a chance to see a return on their investments.
- It adds additional appeal to accumulator bets and can help someone realize their potential if they hadn't noticed it already.
- They're not an ‘all or nothing' type of bet; even if not every single part of a Goliath bet is successful, the bettor is still going to see some kind of reward for their cash.
Cons:
- The initial stakes will have to be multiplied by 247, meaning they're not the best choice for those who prefer casual, small-stakes bets.
- In order to get a good payout (rather than just ‘any payout at all'), most of the selections will have to do well. This is the double-edged sword of a Goliath bet; one bad day can tank an entire investment.
- It can be an inconsistent, unstable source of income and shouldn't be relied on to make a living. While having every single team lose is just as likely as having every single one win,
Summary
So, are Goliath bets really worth it? Usually, the answer is yes — maybe. As with anything in life, there are pros and cons, risks and rewards. However, if a bettor can front the investment of the 247 bets, that reward can be massive.
Because there are 247 bets placed over 8 selections with no single bets, only a few of the games or races need to be successful in order for the investment to be profitable.
Goliath bets are extremely attractive to fans of accumulators. Eight selections allow for ample win scenarios to cover. As long as this betting style is used strategically, it'll be easy to fall into a successful profit down the line.