A Yankee is made up of 11 bets with four selections made from separate events. The bets are 6 doubles, 4 trebles and one four fold accumulator. To win a Yankee at least two of your selections must win.
I is quite difficult to work out what the different combinations will return, though a number of calculators are readily available that take the pain out of it.
In order to show what happens we will place a virtual Yankee on four races in the Cheltenham Festival.
Our selections are: Enterprise Park at 10/1 in the Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle; Sentry Duty at 12/1 in the World Hurdle; Whiteoak at 12/1 in the David Nicholson Mares’ Hurdle; and Go Native at 6/1 in the Champion Hurdle.
If we bet £3.00 our total stake is £33. If all of our selections win, then we win £56,313. If our 10/1 choice loses we win £4,602; of one of our 12/1 choices also loses then we win £273.00, but if any more horses lose then we win nothing.
It is interesting to compare this with a Lucky 15 Bet. In a Lucky 15 our total stake would have been a little higher at £45.00. If all our selections had won, then our total winnings would have been more or less the same, in fact £56,445; but if only one of our selections had won we would still be in pocket.
There is also a Super Yankee which consists of 26 bets with 5 selections. These are made up of 10 trebles, 10 doubles, 5 four fold accumulators, and one five fold accumulator.
A Yankee is a fun way to bet and can deliver a substantial return on investment, however 50% of your bets must win or you lose your entire stake. Depending on your particular selections, you might also consider a Lucky 15 as an alternative.