The Alphabet system is a composite system bet that is very popular in the United Kingdom but less known in other countries. In the following paragraphs, we will explain what it is and show how it works with a practical example.
The Alphabet Betting System Explained in Detail
The Alphabet system for sports betting is a fascinating and complex combination of two Patent bets, one Yankee, and a 6-event accumulator. To play it, you need to carefully select 6 predictions on which to build your system.
The name may not sound familiar to everyone, perhaps because it’s not as widely known outside certain regions. Additionally, not all bookmakers offer a ready-made Alphabet system bet. In this case, you’ll need to build it manually by placing each part of the system individually, as we’ll show later on.
| Section | Selected Events (1-6) | Number of Bets |
| 1. Patent | 1, 2, 3 | 7 |
| 2. Patent | 4, 5, 6 | 7 |
| Yankee | 2, 3, 4, 5 | 11 |
| Accumulator | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 | 1 |
As shown in the table above, placing an Alphabet system bet means placing 26 separate bets, like the letters of the English alphabet — hence the name. These combinations include 7 from the first Patent (3 singles, 3 doubles, 1 treble), 7 from the second Patent, 11 from the Yankee (6 doubles, 4 trebles, 1 fourfold), and finally one 6-event accumulator.
It may sound complicated at first, but with a bit of patience, you’ll discover that it’s not as complex as it seems — and there are several reasons to consider using it.
The Theory: How the Alphabet System Works
Experienced system bettors may have already guessed that the advantage of the Alphabet system is its ability to assign different levels of importance to each prediction. This is achieved mainly thanks to the Yankee included in the system. Let’s take a theoretical example to see how the Alphabet system works.
Example 1: We carefully select 6 predictions from football or other sports. The first three, A, B, and C, go into a Patent; the next three, D, E, and F, go into another Patent. Then, we place a Yankee using events B, C, D, and E. Finally, using all six events, we place a full accumulator including A, B, C, D, E, and F.
Usage: The key advantage of this system, compared to others you may have seen on general betting system pages, is the ability to assign more or less value to certain selections. The two predictions you’re less confident in should be placed as A and F — they’ll appear only in one Patent each and the final accumulator. They are excluded from the Yankee, which instead uses B, C, D, and E.
Alphabet and Football Betting: A Growing Relationship
It wasn’t love at first sight, but like many things that grow slowly, this system eventually proved to be rewarding. The Alphabet system and football betting only started to become linked later on. Initially, this kind of bet — much like the Dutching strategy (see glossary) — was developed in the world of horse racing, a favorite among bettors in certain countries.
Later, its potential in football betting became clear, and it turned into one of the most popular systems among fans. Of course, you’re not limited to football — you can use it for any sport you prefer or follow closely.
A Practical Example
So far, we’ve covered the Alphabet betting system from a theoretical standpoint, highlighting its features and possible applications. Now it’s time to get practical and see how to create and place a bet slip using this system.
For this example, we’ve chosen to honor the country where this betting method originated by selecting only matches from the Premier League. But remember: this is just an example. You can place your predictions on matches from any league you like.
| Selected Matches | Our Prediction | Odds “1” | Odds “X” | Odds “2” |
| Huddersfield – Brighton | X | 2.40 | 2.9 | 3.20 |
| Leicester City – Watford | 1 | 2.1 | 3.20 | 3.50 |
| Manchester City – Bournemouth | 1 | 1.1 | 9.00 | 21.00 |
| Newcastle – West Ham | 2 | 2.55 | 3.20 | 2.8 |
| Chelsea – Fulham | 1 | 1.1 | 7.75 | 14.50 |
| Arsenal – Tottenham | X | 2.45 | 3.5 | 2.65 |
As you can see from the table, we assigned positions 1 and 6 in our Alphabet system to two of the most difficult predictions: the draws between Arsenal–Tottenham and Huddersfield–Brighton, which also happened to have the highest odds among our selections. The placement of the events in this type of bet is very important and directly affects the combinations, unlike in other betting systems.
We staked 3 euros on each of the 26 possible lines, for a total investment of 78 euros. All in all, it turned out pretty well. We missed the first and last predictions — the hardest ones — which compromised both Patents and the 6-event accumulator. However, we got the four central predictions right, the ones we felt most confident about.
This meant we won the entire Yankee, with all 11 combinations landing: 6 doubles, 4 trebles, and 1 fourfold, which brought in a total of 173.15 euros. Subtracting the amount staked, we made a profit of 95.15 euros.
If we had hit just one of the two outer predictions — let’s say the Arsenal–Tottenham draw — we would have also won one Patent, and the final return would have been 259 euros. Not bad at all, even though we were aiming for a clean sweep, which would have resulted in over 546 euros in winnings. Oh well, maybe next time. That’s the beauty of system betting.
Alphabet: A Great Way to Diversify Your Bets
Not all our predictions have the same value, and we’re not equally confident in all of them. Some just feel right from the start and come through as expected. Others are more of a gamble, and we only know the result at the final whistle. That’s where the Alphabet system comes in handy.
Of course, you need a bit more experience than the average bettor, especially if your bookmaker doesn’t offer this combination and you need to build it manually using the tools available to you.
Still, the potential is significant, as demonstrated in the example shown on this page. Explore our main guide to betting sites to learn more about the features of operators available on the global market.
FAQ
For all bookmakers that offer this type of system as part of their betting options, the general payout limit is 50,000 euros — the same as for most system bets. If you need to build the Alphabet manually, the limit applies separately: 50,000 euros for each Patent and the Yankee, and 10,000 euros for the six-event accumulator.
