Bet Types Compared
Reviewed: August 2026
Every slip is arithmetic wearing sporting language. Once the formats are clear, a betting menu reads like an invoice rather than a puzzle — and, more usefully, it becomes obvious where the operator takes its cut in each case. Sport-by-sport pages are linked from the betting overview.
The formats
| Format | Wins when | What it is good for |
|---|---|---|
| Single | One selection is correct | Everything else is built from it; the cleanest way to track results |
| Double chance | Either of two outcomes lands | Higher strike rate at a much shorter price — useful, rarely profitable |
| Handicap | One side covers a virtual deficit or lead | Making lopsided fixtures playable; quarter lines split the stake |
| Over/under | A count finishes above or below a line | Backing a style of game rather than a team |
| Accumulator | Every selection is correct | Large returns from small stakes, at a compounding cost |
| System | Enough selections land to complete a subset | Surviving one wrong pick, at the price of a flatter ceiling |
| In-play | Placed while the event runs | Reacting to what you can see rather than predicting it |
The two calculations worth memorising
Stake multiplied by decimal price gives the total return including the stake: 40 CHF at 2.25 returns 90 CHF, of which 50 CHF is profit. One divided by the price gives the implied probability: 2.25 implies about 44 per cent. The second calculation is the one that separates deliberate betting from guessing, because it converts a price into a statement you can actually agree or disagree with.
Where the margin compounds
Sum the implied probabilities across a market and the total always exceeds one hundred per cent; the excess is the operator's margin. On a two-way market priced 1.90 and 1.90 that excess is roughly five percentage points. The important part is what happens when selections are combined: the margin applies to each leg, so a five-fold accumulator absorbs it five times over. This is why long multiples underperform their headline price so consistently, and why nothing about the strategy changes that.
Accumulator against system, with numbers
Take three selections at 1.80, 1.90 and 2.00. Combined as an accumulator the price is 6.84, so a 20 CHF stake returns 136.80 CHF if all three land — and nothing if two land. Placed instead as a two-from-three system, the same 20 CHF is divided across three separate doubles at roughly 6.65 CHF each. If two of the three come in, one of those doubles pays out rather than the slip dying. The trade is straightforward: the system removes the all-or-nothing outcome and lowers the ceiling by the same mechanism. It is not the safer option so much as the flatter one.
Quarter lines and refunds
Handicap lines in quarter increments confuse newcomers more than any other notation. A -0.25 line splits the stake across level and -0.5: if the match is drawn, half the stake is lost and half returned. A -0.75 line splits between -0.5 and -1.0, so a one-goal win pays half. These lines exist to price positions that whole and half numbers cannot reach, and they soften outcomes rather than settling them cleanly.
Cash-out, briefly
Closing a bet early at the offered figure looks like control and is priced as a service. The value shown reflects the current state of the event with an additional margin applied on top. Reserve it for genuine changes of circumstance — a key injury, a sending off, a weather delay — and it is a reasonable instrument. Reach for it every time a bet drifts and it becomes a standing charge on the winning bets.
Sizing, and keeping a record
Format matters less than stake size. One to two per cent of the bankroll per slip — 5 to 10 CHF on 500 CHF — held steady regardless of how certain a selection feels. Then write the bets down: date, format, price, result. Four weeks of that record identifies which formats actually work for the way you bet, which is information no general guide can supply. If the entries start drifting upward, the account controls on the limits page are the appropriate next step.