How Parlay Bets Work

Its an age old question that is not easily answered. Parlays are a high risk, high reward style of betting so they cannot be compared directly to other forms of betting. To make an effective judgement on the worth of parlay betting, you first need to understand how to use them effectively. When employed at the right time and in the right way they are a powerful betting tool. When used indiscriminately, they are ineffective and expensive to a bettors bottom line.

Our Stance

Is a Parlay Bet a Good Bet? Yes, if used correctly they can be an effective way for a bettor to stake smaller than usual but access a potentially large payout through the power of compounding. Often Parlays are misunderstood, used incorrectly and leave the bettor exposed to undervalued odds when compared to the actually probability of winning.

Parlay bets, also known as accumulators or combo bets, are individual wagers that combine two or more bets and require all of the outcomes to be correct. From the bettors perspective, the parlay is enticing because you stand to win more than if you had made each bet individually (assuming each side’s total betting amounts are equal). The more bets you include, and the longer the odds on each bet, the more potential payout.and the lower your chances to cash in. Use the parlay calculator above to see the parlay payout work for the bets you are considering, and remember that the sportbook has a much bigger advantage when you place a parlay bet. How to calculate a parlay. Parlay bets are something that many gamblers are familiar with, but few know about advanced parlay betting strategy or about how to maximize the potential of this wagering tool. Most of the time placing a parlay bet is a bad idea, because they make wagering effectively more difficult without offering enough of an added payout in the process. A parlay is a combo bet. Instead of several individual bets, you can combine the bets and treat it as one big wager. The number of bets typically ranges from two to ten bets. For example, you can bet on the Ravens, the Patriots, and the Texans to all win their game on any given Sunday. How parlay betting works The first thing to understand about parlays is that they consist of multiple choices. Where other types of sports bets involve your choice of a single variable, parlays require players to predict outcomes on several different bets. Each selection in a parlay is known as a leg.

Why Do Some People Think Parlays Are Bad?

There are a number of reasons why bettors think they are bad. Here are two of the most common reasons:

The Wrong Bet Types Are Used

The most common belief is that Parlay offer a negative expected value. That is; the final parlay odds offered are usually less than the true probability of all the legs winning.

This is of course the case if you link together parlay legs that are in their own right poor value. The multiplier effect of parlays means that a poor ‘buy’ on a bet is carried through and magnified as it is combined with other legs.

There are two particular bet types that regularly offer negative expected value to bettors. These are the point spread and over/under totals betting. Accepting odds of -110 on a 50/50 outcome is a risky past time. Nevertheless bettors are fascinated with these types of bets, so much so that they then link them together into parlays.

I mean think about it for a second. Willingly accepting -110 on a 50/50 outcome means you must win at 52.38% to break even. Blind Freddy can see that is a supremely tough ask. I still bet those markets, but I do so with the knowledge that if I don’t see an edge on the number (Handicap or Points Total) then really I am just flipping a coin. If that’s what I am doing, then I don’t like my chances of winning 52.38% of the time.

Now armed with that knowledge go and throw those bet types into a parlay and you are creating a mountain to overcome just to break even.

The Wrong Staking Strategy is Used

Parlays are a different breed and require a different staking strategy. The Risk/Reward ratio can vary greatly from parlay to parlay depending on the included legs. Bettors who have a poor grasp on bet sizing will typically over bet on parlays, enticed by the carrot of a large bankroll boosting payout. Sadly this critical error can lead bettors on the short path to bust city.

The stories of going bust lead bettors to think Parlays betting is the issue. In actual fact the staking strategy is to blame but self reflection is hard, so that gets overlooked.

The Bottom Line: Parlays are not bad. Bettors are bad at using them. Learn how to use them effectively and they suddenly become a key piece of any bettors repertoire. After all sharp bettors who make a living from betting still use parlays. They just have the know how.

If Parlays are Bad, Then Why Are They Popular?

1 ) Undeniably Fun

There is no doubting Parlays are a lot of fun. Action is spread across a number of events so bettors feel invested in many outcomes. A well timed parlay can turn a Sunday afternoon NFL slate into an 8 hour long betting ride.

Parlays also offer a roller coaster ride of emotions. Those bettors with a love (maybe even addiction) to the extreme emotions that come with betting on sport, go looking for opportunities to get it all on the line to win big. Parlays provide that in a fun and entertaining way.

What can be more fun than having the last leg of a parlay live and being able to watch every play unfold. The big plays feel so much bigger and small moments become parlay altering events.

2) Lure of a Big Payout

Big payouts truly are the stuff of dreams. I mean why else are lotteries so popular. It has everything to do with the big prize and nothing at all to do with the probability of winning. After all if you looked closely at the true probability of your numbers coming up you might think again about buying a ticket in the lottery.

The lottery has some similarities with parlay betting (although done right you can certainly push the odds in your favor). The chance at hitting double figure times returns, or higher, can be enough to get a bettor to throw that money down.

To a bettor who is having a tough run, a big payout can be the thing that gets their bankroll back on track. The magic bullet, the panacea, the secret sauce. Parlays appear to provide bettors with an opportunity to chase losses without staking above the norm. Of course more often than not the execution leaves the bettor short handed anyway.

A poorly executed parlay makes it more like a hail mary than a strategy, again much like the lottery. Nevertheless the lure big money is the drawcard.

3) Small Stakes Equals Low Entry Level

The ability to get action on a parlay for a relatively small stake (eg a quarter of a unit) but not sacrifice the chance of a big return provides bettors with a cheap entry point to this form of betting.

The small stake entry point equates to a low risk high reward scenario. Something all bettors are constantly on the looking for.

For a bettor who simply can’t afford a lavish bankroll parlays are the way to get action on many events affordably. For instance across 4 college football games at the one time when the bankroll simply doesn’t have the capacity to cover those four games individually.

Small stakes makes parlays the bet type of the people!

4) Parlays are Actively Encouraged by Sportsbooks

Sportsbooks are in the business of making money and lets be honest, they are very good at it. They know that parlay betting is misunderstood and misused by the general betting public. Therefore they actively encourage bettors to invest in this bet type.

There are constantly promotions available on parlay betting at virtually every online or mobile sportsbook. In fact they are usually very generous promotions that I recommend you make the most of.

Promoting parlays is a way for sportsbooks to give bettors experience with these kinds of bets so that they continue to bet them when the promotions are not offered. They are a way to lure recreational bettors and bettors who are true ‘every now and then’ type clients to bet them.

How To Parlay Bets

Active promotion of parlays has the desired effect, if makes them a high traffic bet type.

5) They Make a Good Story

How To Win Parlay Bets

This my friends is almost the biggest reason why parlays are so popular. At the end of the day a bettor who lands a big one has bragging rights for days. They have a war story to tell that points to their ‘expertise’ as a bettor.

I mean, surely if someone is talking about how they pulled of a 5 leg parlay on last night’s games then they must be a master bettor right? Well probably not but it makes a great story!

Come Super Bowl or NBA Championship time the media loves to find a fairytale story of someone needing the big game to fall their way as the last leg of some life changing parlay. It creates some hype and it certainly encourages average Joe to get out there and invest in a parlay or five of his own.

How Parlay Bets Work

Big parlay wins are also a huge talking point on social media like Reddit or Twitter. Social media is an ego driven platform at the best of times so pulling of a huge parlay is great ammunition for some ‘look at me’ posts. This alone makes them popular.

Heck, even a bad beat parlay makes a good story. A story of heartbreak is a ticket to the sports betting club. A battle scar to show that you have been to the front line and earned your stripes. Much like falling of your horse makes you a bona fide member of the pony club, an unbelievable parlay bad beat is a story worth telling.

The Parlay Mistake To Avoid

There is one huge error that many bettors unknowingly make when betting parlays. Check out this video and avoid making that error yourself!

How Can You Make Parlays Work?

Parlays can be an effective style of betting and you can make money betting them. If you are ready to turn your parlay betting into one of the great strengths of your betting then you MUST read this article:

The Game Starts Now!

Betting parlays is not some sin for which you need to repent. Like all betting styles once you get your head around how to bet them effectively they can be a positive addition to your betting repertoire. Check them out just be smart about the way you do it.

Good Luck and as always Bet Responsibly!

The majority of people betting on sports go with the straight bet, but the parlay betting could offer many benefits and should not be shun. Before we get to the meat of it, let's briefly look at what is 'parlay betting' and explain how it works. Most of the bettors are quite familiar with the straight bet, that is a single bet on the outcome of a sporting even. An example of straight bet is the point spread on a football game. You only win if the team you bet on covers the spread and you win according to the odds.

What the parlay bet offers you is to drastically increase your payout odds, while increasing the risk you take, as well. In its essence a parlay bet is a wager on two or more different events and the bettor wins only when all wagers are winners. There are different forms of parlay bets that would allow you to win even if one or more of the bets in the parlay are losers, but we will focus solely on the regular parlay in this article.

The major benefit of going with a parlay bet instead of straight bet is the chance to increase your winnings significantly. This is because the payout of the parlay bet is calculated by multiplying the odds of each individual bet in the parlay and the final result is multiplied by your wager. Let's look at an example and you'd be able to instantly see how much more money one could win by placing a parlay instead of straight bet. For this example we will use decimal odds, instead of American odds, as the decimal odds are much easier to calculate in a parlay. Don't worry, every sportsbook has the option to display the odds in decimal form and if you are going to place a parlay bet we advise you to switch the odds display to decimal to make it easier to calculate your possible payout.

Back to the example of parlay betting. Let's say we have decided to place a parlay bet on three basketball games. All the bets are on the over/under outcome of the three NBA games and we have decided that they all will be 'over' the total. Let's say that the odds on the first game to go over the total are 1.91 (or -110), the second game 1.87 (-115) and the third game 1.95 (-105). As we mentioned earlier, the payout of a parlay bet is calculated by multiplying the odds of each game and then multiplying the total by the amount wagered. So in this case, if we bet $100 on the above parlay wager, the payout would be calculated as follows: 1.91x1.87x1.95x100=$696.4, so the payout on this parlay bet would be roughly around $696 while risking $100, thus the actual winnings are $596 (since we risked $100 out of our pocket). On the other side, if you were to risk $100 on every single game as a single bet instead, your payout would be calculated as follows: 191+187+195=573, but we would have wagered $300, which after we subtract from the total payout of $573 leaves us with just $273 in actual winnings.

How Do Parlay Bets Work

It's obvious that if we went with the single bet on the three basketball games we not only wagered 3 times the amount, as compared to the parlay, but we won barely half the winnings we would've gotten with a parlay of only $100.

So where is the parlay betting catch? Simple - you must win all the bets in the parlay in order to collect. In other words, if we use the previous basketball parlay as an example, you must guess all three games correctly to win. If one of the games finished as 'under', you would've lost your bet. Naturally the risk is higher with the parlay but the winnings are much, much bigger.