Yankee Bet Explained

The yankee bet is hugely popular with horse racing fans we’re going to explain exactly how it works, the variations available and where you can place this bet.

What is a Yankee Bet?

A yankee is a combination bet featuring four selections. Those selections combine to make 11 different bets, ranging from doubles right up to a four-fold accumulator.

It is a wager for horse racing bettors in particular, but also a popular choice when betting on other sports. This type of bet can bring in a big return from a modest initial outlay and in the next section, we’re going to show you exactly how they work.

How Does a Yankee Bet Work?

As previously mentioned, a yankee features four selections which combine to make 11 different bets. Here’s a breakdown of the various bet types in a yankee:

• Six doubles
• Four trebles
• One four-fold acca

Note that there are no singles in a Yankee. For that option you need a Lucky 15, which is one of the full cover bets available. A Lucky 15 is essentially a Yankee, with all four singles also covered.

Let’s give you a yankee bet example to demonstrate how they work in practice. We’re going to keep things very simple here, with a unit stake of £1 and odds of 2/1 for all four horses.

With there being 11 bets in a yankee, you multiply the original stake of £1 by 11 to find your total cost, which is £11. This is your break even point.

If you want to know, then this is a breakdown of what your profit/loss would be for the various outcomes:

• 0 winners: £0 returns – £11 stake = £11 loss
• 1 winner: £0 returns – £11 stake = £11 loss
• 2 winners: £9 return (one double) – £11 stake = £2 loss
• 3 winners: £54 return (three doubles, one treble) – £11 stake = £43 profit
• 4 winners: £243 return (six doubles, four trebles, one four-fold acca) – £11 stake = £232 profit

From this example you can see that two winners from horse racing tips saw us come close to the break even point, which three winners resulted in us entering profit.

Hopefully you can see that if the odds were a little more generous, then just two winners, with one winning double, would be enough to result in profits.

How to Work Out a Yankee

If all four of your selections are winners, then there will be 11 bets to work out the results of. That’s a lot and it’s the reason why many punters use a yankee bet calculator.

With a bet calculator, you can quickly see your potential returns, from different outcomes. Enter the betting odds for each selection and then play around with the possible results, to access your bet options.

A betting calculator is a vital tool that can help you to understand the likelihood of your yankee being successful. With such a wager, the level of your initial stake and the odds are vitally important components and it pays to check that everything adds up.

You’ll find that there are options on the calculator to cover every eventuality. There are different options for the result, you can make the bet each way and you can even apply Rule 4 deductions if necessary.

The Each-Way Yankee Bet Explained

A win-only yankee bet is not the only option available to you at online betting sites, as you can also place it each-way. An each-way bet has two parts to it.

You are placing one bet on your selection to win and another on your pick to place. So, if you take the each-way option on a yankee, you are doubling your stake per bet from 11, to 22.

Essentially you are placing one 11-bet yankee on the four horses to win and another on the same four horses to place. As we’ve mentioned, you have to be careful with the racing odds of your yankee selections.

This is especially true when placing an each-way yankee bet. If your odds are too short to start with, then when place terms apply to one half of your EW yankee, it can be difficult to turn a profit.

What is a Super Yankee Bet & How Does It Work?

You may have heard of a super yankee bet. Better known as a Canadian, it’s similar to a regular yankee, but with five selections instead of four.

Like a yankee, every combination of bet from doubles upwards features. There’s a total of 26 different bets, with the breakdown looking like this:

• Ten doubles
• Ten trebles
• Five four-folds
• One five-fold accumulator bet

That’s the Super Yankee bet explained. There is also a full-cover bet for five selections, which is the same as a Canadian, but with the five singles included. This wager, known as a Lucky 31, adds up to 31 bets in total.

Which Bookies are Best for Yankee Betting?

All of our recommended online bookmakers for horse racing bets let you place yankees. This is because of its status as a popular bet for horse races.

Although the yankee betting option is synonymous with horse racing, there’s nothing to stop you placing this bet on other sports. As long as your four selections are from separate events, you can place a yankee with total freedom, choosing from whatever betting markets you fancy.

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