Online Betting Parlay
Parlays are part of the package, and this SI Gambling 101 feature focuses on the pitfalls and benefits associated with accumulator bets. Parlay betting is high risk and high reward. A parlay is a single sports wager that involves two or more bets combined into one. This can include point spreads, moneylines, totals, futures, or even prop bets, as long as the bets are on different games. The allure of these bets has always been a larger payout than choosing a single team to win.
What is a Parlay Bet?
A parlay is a sports bet in which you combine multiple individual bets. You must win the entire combination of bets or you lose. It’s that simple.
To choose a parlay wager, you first select at least two standard wagers you like. It could include bets against the spread, moneyline wagers, or the over/under. The more bets you make for your parlay, the more you can win. But there’s always a caveat. Once you start getting into four or higher team parlays, they become extremely difficult to win.
What makes parlays so difficult is you have to win 100% of your games. Whereas, with regular bets against the spread, for example, you only need to win around 60 percent to turn a profit. Parlays can sometimes be frustrating because you could conceivably run pretty hot and still lose. We’ve had some parlay losers where we actually won around 70 percent of the games.
But there’s certainly a ton of upside and some great benefits to betting parlays as opposed to just straight wagers. If all you’re doing is betting individual games against the spread, you’re limiting how much you can win. A $110 bet typically only pays a $100 profit, which really isn’t that great.
Sure, if you’re really good at betting the spread or over/unders and you get in enough volume, you’ll make a nice living. You still won’t make as much if you become skilled at betting parlays, however. The profit potential on parlays is much higher.
Online Parlay Betting Sites
One of the most lucrative sports bets you can make is a parlay, but unless you employ some kind of betting strategy it can also be one of the toughest bets to actually cash-in on. In simple terms, a parlay is when you combine two or more picks into one single wager. The plus side is that the top online sportsbooks as featured on SportsBettingStats.com offer some very attractive odds for groupings of two to even 16 teams. Our favorites are Bodog for non Americans and BAS for US players. The down side is that the more teams you add to a parlay play the higher the odds are stacked against you to win.
Sometimes it can be hard to pick even a single winner so the catch to winning a parlay is that you have to win every one of your picks. The only exception is in the case of a PUSH when two teams tie with the closing point spread. In that case, you total parlay is reduced by one team.
For example, if you put together a four-team parlay at 12.28/1 betting odds and one of your plays ends as a PUSH, it would be reduced to a three-team play at 6/1 odds.
Can You Parlay Live Bets
The betting odds for parlays using point spreads is fixed and based on the total number of teams you group into one bet. Betting parlays for MLB games is an attractive option since you will be working off money line odds as opposed to a point spread that is commonly used in sports such as football and basketball. When betting money lines you only have to pick the straight-up winners, but keep in mind that your payout odds will be based on the actual money line odds for each of your picks. The top online sportsbooks should have a parlay calculator on their website where you can enter the actual money line for each of your individual picks to provide a projected payout of that particular parlay if you win.
Whether you are betting money line parlays for baseball and hockey or point spread parlays for football and basketball, there are a few betting tips and strategies that you should always employ to give yourself the best chance to win. First and foremost, you need to properly handicap each game as an individual pick before grouping them together in a parlay bet.
For example, if you decide to go with a two-team NFL parlay at 13/5 odds, you should probably take the time to breakdown three or four games to come up with your top two plays. Winning parlays is all about your overall confidence level for each one of the picks you decide to group together. If you are not absolutely in love with each one of your picks individually, then do not risk your money by grouping them together in a parlay.
A second tip is to avoid the temptation of parlay picks of three or more teams. You may get excited over the 91.42/1 return you would get if you hit a seven-team parlay, but this is nothing more than lottery ticket when you start calculating your true odds of actually winning all seven games.
Online Sports Betting Parlay
Finally, make sure you have some kind of set money management system in place if you are going to be betting parlays. There is a reason why sportsbooks are willing to give you such a generous return on multiple team parlays. The odds are already stacked in their favor that you are going to lose one of your picks even in a two-team wager. Parlays should always be reasonable unit plays that will not break the bank if you lose.