In the first part of our interview with OddsMonkey team member, Suzy Beth, I found out how long she’d been matched betting and just why her name might sound familiar. In this post, Suzy Beth tells us how she thought up, created and built her matched-betting-world-famous acca spreadsheet.
Jenna: Where did the Acca Spreadsheet come from?
Suzy Beth: When I first started matched betting, I knew very little about it. I do, however, love numbers and making them work for me. I also knew what a spreadsheet was, but not much more than that! Learning matched betting and then a wee bit about odds, probability and bookmaking, the numbers were singing to me, and the spreadsheets just started to evolve as required. Before software, I made spreadsheet calculators for most every different type of offer. I shared them with other matched bettor’s and learnt heaps about Excel along the way too. In fact, I have a calculator for just about every scenario available now. I had an ‘each way’ betting sheet before software, which I still use to his day. I’ve said more than once I now need a spreadsheet to organise my spreadsheets…
The Acca Spreadsheet is used in many different communities. It’s just kind of grown wings. When I had to do my first accumulator bet (a qualifier for another acca free bet), I had no idea what an accumulator even was! That was about 6 years ago. Luckily, I found a sheet online which got the job done. But I didn’t understand why. It didn’t have the ‘stake not returned’ (SNR) built in, but I got through that second bet with the help of others on adjusting odds. That and good old fashioned pen and paper.
“After that bet, the sheet foundered away in my files for about a year…”
…until I dug it out and took the time to deconstruct it to work out how (and why) it worked. I started refining it. I added that missing SNR feature, then a Risk Free Calculation which I think came about for another offer. With that, the ‘Multi-Lay Simple’ was born. I started using accas for a lot of my free bets, as the liability required was often not as much as needing to cover a higher odds single bet.
Then began the rise of the bookie acca offers. And while most sensible matched bettors ignored accas due to their notoriously ‘poor value’, the sheet helped me see there was value to be had. Talking to others about the reality of how to get at that value, the spreadsheet began to grow as required – helped, tested and moulded by the needs & wants of those who thrashed out their requirements as they arose, retaining insurance bonuses, using boosted odds, how or when to Lock-In if required. I was able to fit all of the calculations in the one sheet. Building this sheet was a lot like tackling a logic puzzle – which I love!
“I still remember the day I ‘finished’ it.”
It hadn’t really been thought of as a project as I was building it. It was just growing as I was using it. I just remember one day after adding in the lay-all feature sheet, and a final multi-lay feature, thinking “OK, this is nae too bad [translation: quite good].” It had taken about 3 years to get from the basement to that point.
As far as I’m aware, many matched betting sites now use it. In fact, the first acca software tool was built using it, and many, if not all, available software tools now use its logic behind the scenes with their own added bells and whistles which a sheet can’t do. I am really very proud of it, what it’s led to, and how it’s helped people make money from Accas. I’m grateful for everything I’ve learned from it, the money made using it and the people who helped it get here. I feel like it’s my baby, and that’s it’s flown the nest.
“I will make a sneaky admission though…”
…there have been times when I almost wish I still didn’t know what an acca was. Let alone be responsible for a calculator’s accuracy. Being a one-woman help desk for a year or two, I ‘met’ loads of lovely people. Although it was a little stressful too, knowing other people’s money was on the line. One particular time that stands out was when someone had put on a big Lucky 15 punt, gotten to a +EV situation on the last leg and wanted to know if they could lock in any of it. An expanded version of that sheet, which covers ‘exotic permutations’, along with my thinking was really put to the test that night. I didn’t sleep, cross-checking all the calculations manually in case I’d got it wrong, as it required quite a large liability to lock it in.
It was all right in the end and they managed to lock in about £10K+ I think!
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