A parlay bet is a multiple event bet that offers larger payouts than single game betting. The bettor will select two to fifteen wagers on one betting ticket. If the bettor gets all wagers correct, they win a much larger payout. The problem for the bettor is that if they miss just one, they win nothing.
Some people say parlay bets are for suckers. Others swear by two-team parlays. It really is an individual choice for bettors. As the number of games added to your ticket increases, the payoff odds increase as well. Unfortunately, your probability of actually winning all of them lessen.
Let’s take for example an NFL Sunday. We’ve done our homework and found eight games where we feel confident with our predictions. We will play each of the eight games and win or lose dependent upon the outcomes of those games. If we wager $100 per game (standard -110 line) and went 6-2 we would win $380 for the weekend ($600 win and $220 loss.) That’s a very good weekend and one we would take every time.
Every once in a while as a gambler you get in that special zone where you are on top of your game. Let’s revisit that weekend we were just discussing. Imagine now that we were spot on with our selections and went 8-0. That would obviously net us a profit of $800. Pretty good, but not amazing.
Take a look at the following odds:
FIXED ODDS PARLAY (-110)
2 Team pays 13/5
3 Team pays 6/1
4 Team pays 10/1
5 Team pays 20/1
6 Team pays 40/1
7 Team pays 75/1
8 Team pays 150/1
Now, if we were to throw just a $10 wager that we would go 8-0 on the weekend we would win and additional $1500 ($10 at 150-1 odds). That would make it an amazing weekend.
Parlays can also contain different selections from different sports on the same parlays with spread and money line betting. For spread betting the betting line is assumed at -110. For money lines that are greater than -110, the odds will be adjusted. A two team parlay pays 13/5 as referenced above. A parlay that includes heavy favorites will pay less.
Parlay betting can add to the overall profitability to a bettor when he gets “hot.” In general, you don’t go 8-0 very often on a weekend and you will most certainly lose parlays more often than you win them. The more teams added, the odds of you getting all your selections correct decreases significantly. But parlays can be fun. The offer bettors high rewards with very minimal risk. It certainly wouldn’t be wise to wager larger sums of money on parlays, but adding them to your betting repertoire can definitely brings some big paydays when the ball bounces your way.
No comments