Goliath

What is a Goliath bet?

A Goliath bet is a type of complex bet that consists of 247 individual bets that are spread across eight selections. – 28 doubles, 56 trebles, 70 four-folds, 56 five-folds, 28 six-folds, 8 seven-folds and 1 eight-fold accumulator.

The name “Goliath” for this type of bet likely refers to the giant Philistine warrior Goliath, who was defeated by the young shepherd David in the Bible story. Just as David was the underdog in that story, a Goliath bet involves many individual selections that are considered long shots or underdogs. The bettor is hoping for a dramatic upset, much like David’s defeat of Goliath, which would result in a significant payout.

To place a Goliath bet, the bettor selects eight different outcomes, such as the winners of eight different horse races or the outcomes of eight different football matches. These eight selections are then combined to create the 247 separate bets that make up the Goliath.

Each of the 247 bets has to have the same unit stake. This makes a Goliath bet incredibly more costly than just an accumulator on the eight selections.

What is an example of a Goliath bet?

Let’s say a bettor is interested in placing a Goliath bet on eight horse races. The bettor chooses the following selections:

A – Horse 1 to win the first race
B – Horse 2 to win the second race
C – Horse 3 to win the third race
D – Horse 4 to win the fourth race
E – Horse 5 to win the fifth race
F – Horse 6 to win the sixth race
G – Horse 7 to win the seventh race
H – Horse 8 to win the eighth race

The 247 individual bets that make up a Goliath bet are as follows:

• 28 doubles: AB, AC, AD, AE, AF, AG, AH, BC, BD, BE, BF, BG, BH, CD, CE, CF, CG, CH, DE, DF, DG, DH, EF, EG, EH, FG, FH, GH
• 56 trebles: ABC, ABD, ABE, ABF, ABG, ABH, ACD, ACE, ACF, ACG, ACH, ADE, ADF, ADG, ADH, AEF, AEG, AEH, AFG, AFH, AGH, BCD, BCE, BCF, BCG, BCH, BDE, BDF, BDG, BDH, BEF, BEG, BEH, BFG, BFH, BGH, CDE, CDF, CDG, CDH, CEF, CEG, CEH, CFG, CFH, CGH, DEF, DEG, DEH, DFG, DFH, DGH, EFG, EFH, EGH, FGH
• 70 four-folds: ABCD, ABCE, ABCF, ABCG, ABCH, ABDE, ABDF, ABDG, ABDH, ABEF, ABEG, ABEH, ABFG, ABFH, ABGH, ACDE, ACDF, ACDG, ACDH, ACEF, ACEG, ACEH, ACFG, ACFH, ACGH, ADEF, ADEG, ADEH, ADFG, ADFH, ADGH, AEFG, AEFH, AEGH, AFGH, BCDE, BCDF, BCDG, BCDH, BCEF, BCEG, BCEH, BCFG, BCFH, BCGH, BDEF, BDEG, BDEH, BDFG, BDFH, BDGH, BEFG, BEFH, BEGH, BFGH, CDEF, CDEG, CDEH, CDFG, CDFH, CDGH, CEFG, CEFH, CEGH, CFGH, DEFG, DEGH, DFGH, EFGH
• 56 five-folds: ABCDE, ABCDF, ABCDG, ABCDH, ABCEF, ABCEG, ABCEH, ABCFG, ABCGH, ABDEF, ABDEG, ABDEH, ABDFG, ABDFH, ABDGH, ABEFG, ABEFH, ABEGH, ABFGH, ACDEF, ACDEG, ACDEH, ACDFG, ACDGH, ACEFG, ACEFH, ACEGH, ACFGH, ADEFH, ADEFG, ADEGH, ADFGH, AEFGH, BCDEF, BCDEG, BCDEH, BCDFG, BCDGH, BCEFG, BCEFH, BCEGH, BCFGH, BDEFH, BDEFG, BDEGH, BDFGH, BEFGH, CDEFG, CDEGH, CDFGH, CEFGH, DEFGH
• 28 six-folds: ABCDEF, ABCDEG, ABCDEH, ABCDFG, ABCDFH, ABCDGH, ABCEFG, ABCEFH, ABCEGH, ABCFGH, ABDEFG, ABDEGH, ABDFGH, ABEFGH, ACDE
• 8 seven-folds: ABCDEFG, ABCDEFH, ABCDEGH, ABCDFGH, ABCEFGH, ABDEFGH, ACDEFGH, BCDEFGH
• 1 eight-fold: ABCDEFGH

Assuming the bettor’s wager is successful and all 8 selections win as predicted, the payout would depend on the odds for each of the 247 separate bets. The payout would be higher if more of the selections win, as the bets with more correct selections would have higher odds.

Only two of the eight selections needs to win to get some payout (one of the double bets would payout). However it would need more than just two selections to be correct to make a profit due to the high stakes required for a Goliath bet.