Parlay betting is one of the ways that bettors can make that dream a reality. While not easy to hit, the returns can be outstanding. As such, parlay betting is extremely popular, especially with recreational bettors and those looking to build bankroll. A parlay bet is a wager that includes multiple wagers on a single ticket. Placing a parlay bet There are two ways to place a parlay bet and both are quite simple. Bettors can either tell the ticket writer directly which teams and totals they’d like to bet on and how much they’d like to risk on the bet. Filling out a parlay card is the other option for placing this kind of bet. Parlay bets are types of betting wagers that include two or more teams with much larger payouts than a straight bet. All teams must win or cover the point-spread in order to win your parlay bet. Parlay bets may include different sports, point-spreads, money lines and totals. A parlay bet payout depends on the number of teams in the wager. Aside from 'spread' parlays, another way to parlay is to bet on two or more teams simply winning straight up. In order to calculate the payout of this parlay, one must multiply out the payout for all games. For example, if 3 teams are -385 favorites, a successful parlay on all 3 teams winning would pay out at a ratio of approximately 1/1.
- Don’t be afraid. Be ambitious.
- Choose a parlay time span that suits you.
- Avoid the points spread.
- Expand your parlay horizons, Include multiple sports.
- Look for a hedge opportunity
- Use free bets
- The home underdog
- Combining two favourites
- The ‘Double Dog’ parlay
- Keep bet size under control
- Use a system bet
- The overnight parlay
- Actively search out bookmakers promotions
- Use multiple online accounts
1. Don’t Be Afraid. Be ambitious.
Parlays are a wonderful way to turn a small stake into a juicy bank boosting payout. Be ambitious, swing for the fence, this is not a time to be conservative. This is the time to link together some of those ‘gut feel’ wagers’ that you might otherwise not be eager to stake a full unit or even multiple units on.
The small stake multiplying through to large payout odds works in your favor here. Double figure odds are par for the course. This is how successful parlay bettors turn a 10 – 1 half unit parlay into a 5 unit betting bank booster.
Landing a big parlay not only kicks your account balance along but it gives you bragging rights over your buddies for weeks. Heck even the bad beats that go oh so close can be worn as a badge of honor.
Fortune favors the brave!
2. Choose a Parlay Time Span That Suits You.
A parlay by nature does not payout until all legs are settled. The time it takes for this to occur should really meet your needs as a gambler. If you are not comfortable with your stake being tied up for a long period of time then ensure your parlay legs all conclude at a similar time or at least on the same day.
The opportunity cost of having you stake locked into a multi day, week or even month long parlay can be expensive. This is magnified when several legs have already come through for you and your stake may have already triple or quadruple bagged but you can’t access that money till a final leg plays out. Even a hedge, while guaranteeing a result, will still cost you another portion of your capital.
On the flipside you may be a gambler who loves to milk maximum entertainment from your parlay, and in this case, you may like to string it out across an entire weekend or even season. Futures markets are your friend. Having your stake spoken for over a long period let’s you soak up the anticipation and affords you the chance to enjoy the prospect of a potential big win, perhaps dreaming of how you will spend it or reinvest it!
Each to their own, but be sure to build a parlay that fits your time frame.
3. Avoid the Point Spread
The cardinal sin for all recreational punters is the parlay that groups together points spread (handicap) wagers. At first glance this seems like a wonderful way to land yourself some juicy odds, after all, three bets ATS (against the spread) multiply to just shy of 7-1. Surely a great bet? Wrong!
The true odds for this 3 leg parlay are actually 8-1 given that each individual leg is a 50/50 chance of landing. No wonder sportsbooks actively promote the points spread parlay!
The only caveat to the poor value of the point spread parlay is if the bettor firmly believes they have found games where the sportsbooks have the handicap wrong. This is possible but beware you are taking on the pros. It is better in this case to bet on each outcome outright as opposed to the parlay.
For a comprehensive look into the points spread parlay click here.
4. Expand Your Parlay Horizons, Include Multiple Sports.
The best value bets often don’t congregate in the one sport. Bookmakers encourage betters to keep their picks to one sport as finding value across multiple matches in the one league is a difficult task. With a wider variety of options available to the better, value will be easier to find. A key ingredient in to successful parlay strategy.
Expand your parlay horizons in the following way:
- Broaden your search to multiple sports,
- Create a short list of possible value picks
- Decide on the length of your parlay
- Narrow down short list to suit
- Load up!
5. Look for a Hedge Opportunity
One of the wonderful opportunities afforded by a well placed parlay is the chance to hedge against the last leg should the earlier legs have already landed. A hedge will give you guaranteed winnings or at the very least safeguard your stake. One of the best ways to ensure you don’t blow your account up is to play defense.
Hedging is not negative play and it does not demonstrate a lack of confidence in your original bet. It is simply playing the numbers and buying some insurance. All experienced bettors know that fate can, and often will intervene at inopportune times. An injury to a key player here, a horrible call from a referee there and your parlay can come crashing down.
Lock some profit in, kick back, and watch the game, or better still start researching your next parlay!
6. Use Free Bets
Many online sports books reward clients for loyalty, making deposits, regular betting or for wagering on promotional markets in the form of bonus or free bets. The issue with these is that as the bettor, you only receive the profit from your free bet and not the original stake. For example in the case of a $10 free bet, if you were to wager on a -110 moneyline favourite and they win, you will only receive $9.20 as a payout. The $10 free bet acting as your original stake is not returned. Doesn’t seem very exciting.
The solution; use your free bets on parlays. This way you can take a shot at a combination of wagers that deliver you final odds much more enticing than an uninspiring favourite.
For example a $10 bet on a parlay offering odds of 9 – 1 will see your eventual payout being $80. That is the usual payout of $90 less the free bet stake of $10, leaving you with $80.
7. The Home Underdog
Home field advantage is an amazing thing in the world of sports. Teams seem to grow an extra leg when they run out in front of their families and legion of faithful fans. Unique weather conditions, stadium layouts, home cooking and the chance to sleep in their own bed without question motivates athletes. That overconfident star studded visiting team may just find themselves in an ambush.
It is for these reasons that home underdogs (pick and choose carefully) are always worth consideration in a parlay. The underdog status carries with it a powerful odds multiplying effect. Just the thing every well played parlay needs. You could expect a home underdog to be paying well above 2 – 1 odds, essentially at the very least doubling the parlay total odds.
8. Combining Two Favorites
Loading up on a big favorite is always a temptation for the online sports bettor. A quick in and out to bank some profit to boost your account. The issue here is normally the gambler has to wager quite a large stake to see any significant return. Not always the best idea for long term success. One run of losses and your account balance cops a beat down.
This is where the favourites parlay double comes in handy. Find two carefully chosen favorites, bundle them together into a parlay and let your stake and profit from the first win ride into the second leg. The end result is a much smaller stake at risk but still an excellent return.
For example the NBA parlay below sees two strong home favourites combine together to make a solid bet at decimal odds of 1.82. Nice return.
9. The Double Dog Parlay
An underrated but powerful parlay is the underdog double. By carefully scanning available markets and choosing two value underdogs and sneaking them into a double you will be staring down odds of +400 (Decimal odds 5.00) or better without too much trouble.
Many a gambler has a story of a 4 or 5 leg parlay of strong favorites offering combined odds of about 3 to 1. The first four legs roll on and win easily and sure enough the last one has ‘one of those days’ and gets beaten by a heavy underdog. You in turn do your dough and are left asking the question, if only I had wagered on that dog.
In many ways the double underdog parlay represents considerably more value that bundle of favourites. Major League Baseball and the NBA throw up double underdog winners seemingly on a daily basis.
10. Keep Bet Size Under Control
Juicy odds can sometimes blind a gambler. Even before the parlay has been placed the blinded bettor is already doing the math and dreaming of a tsunami of cash. Self talk can creep in and soon the bettor has convinced themself that an increase in bet size is the clever move here. More often than not the simple answer is it isn’t.
Just like the golfer, who wants to hit the ball further, maintains the same swing but changes the club to not upset their rhythm,so it is with the successful parlay bettor. If it is big payout they are chasing, the stake remains the same, but the parlay becomes more elaborate. That way if the parlay loses (which happens regularly) the bettor has not be taken to the cleaners but blowing an oversized stake.
11. Use a Parlay System Bet
A parlay system bet builds into the bet some insurance in case one leg fails. It actually gives you multiple winning combinations and there is plenty to like about that!
There are many systems available to choose from and they are based around the amount of legs within your parlay and are typically available on parlays of between 2 and 8 legs. A great example is a ‘yankee’ which called into action on a 4 option parlay. When placing ‘yankee’ instead of one bet you in actual fact are placing 11 separate bets across which your stake is divided evenly.
Instead of one four leg parlay the yankee looks like this:
- 1 four-fold
- 4 trebles
- 6 doubles
Depending on the odds of each individual leg you may be able to cover your original stake with just two legs landing.
For more a more comprehensive breakdown of all the system bets available click here.
12. The Overnight Parlay
The overnight parlay is a rarely spoken about use of the humble combination wager. It is essentially where a bettor loads up a parlay that will result while they are sleeping. It is often used as an attempt to build a bank for the next days local action. More often than not it is placed on sports played abroad, where the time zone differences are used to the bettor’s advantage.
Time zones in Asia, Australia and Europe are suited to the US sports bettor. These markets also have established sports betting communities and as a result thousands of markets are on offer. A small amount of knowledge on some overseas sports can have you earning while snoozing. What a great combination!
13. Actively Search Out Bookmaker Promotions.
Sportsbooks constantly offer excellent promotions on parlay betting. They know that a poorly placed parlay is loaded in their favor and do their best to encourage more action on these types of bets. This presents a rich vein of opportunity for the bettor and you need to go after it!
Some classic promotions to look out for:
- Free Bet matching the stake if the parlay loses by one option. (usually capped at a certain figure eg $25)
- A daily odds boost on your first parlay (invariably about 5% boost).
- A promotional odds boost on parlays that meet certain conditions (eg. 50% extra on 4+ legs NBA parlay)
- Percentage of your stake returned on losing parlays (eg 20%) if certain conditions are met. (eg 4+ legs all on Major League Baseball)
14. Use Multiple Online Accounts
Multiple online accounts is a sophisticated way to take advantage of the sportsbooks parlay promotional markets. While the obvious disadvantage of owning more than one account is that it makes it much more difficult to keep track of your betting history (clearly this can be dangerous), its upside is that you can lock in on any promotional parlay in the marketplace.
Often the books are running concurrent parlay promotions but on differing sports. For example in the month of April one book’s promotion may be targeting major league baseball while others may be focused on the NBA playoffs. Owning accounts at both books means you can hit both promotions. Consistently winning is difficult so any way to improve your chances should be jumped at!
You may be confused as to what that means. For years it was a battle cry amongst my roommates and me, particularly during football season, and when you got to yell it, chances were you were buying drinks that night. But what does it mean, and what’s a parlay?
What is a Parlay?
A parlay is a type of sports bet in which you combine multiple individual bets (typically 2-10 bets) into one bet or “card.” Combining the bets gives you worse odds to win, but a larger reward for winning. The larger the amount of wagers included in your parlay, the larger the payout.
How To Parlay Bet Sports Betting
In order for a parlay bet to win, you must win each individual bet on the card. For instance, let’s say I bet the Patriots, the Ravens and the Texans all to win their games on any given Sunday. If all three win, I will get a much larger payout than if I just bet each game individually. However, if any of those teams lose their bet, the entire card is lost.
The only exception is in the case of a “push,” which is the gambling term for a tie. If one of the games on the card pushes, that wager is removed from the parlay. So, in the case of our three team bet above, if the Ravens tied their game, it becomes a two bet parlay. If the Patriots and Texans then win their games, the bet pays out as a 2 team parlay. The payout will be smaller than if they all three won, but hey, you still win some money!
While the odds of winning large parlays (5-10 wagers combined) are relatively low, they allow you to risk a small amount of money for a potentially large reward. For instance, a 10 team parlay bet purchased for $25 would pay out over $16,000 if you won every game.
Now that you understand the basics, let’s look at what kinds of bets you’ll be pairing together to make your fortune!
Types of Parlays
Over/ Unders
Over/Under bets (or bets on the “total) are wagers made on the total amount of points that will be scored during any given game by both teams. The sports book sets the “line,” which is the number you will be basing your decision on. You bet on whether you think the total amount of points scored will be over or under that number.
Over/Under, or Totals, bets are very common in betting parlays because they allow you to make multiple bets on the same game. A common strategy is to bet which team you think will win, and then parlay that bet with whether you think the game will go “under” or “over.”
So, let’s say your Uncle Tony got a tip that Aaron Rogers has a secret shoulder injury, and it will be difficult for Green Bay to throw the ball. The line is set a 53.5. Plus, they are playing the Browns, so you still think they will still win. You may want to bet Green Bay and the under. So you are betting that Green Bay will win the game, but it may be lower scoring due to the injury, and thus the total points scored by both teams will be less than 53.5.
You may have noticed the half a point I included in the example above. In sports betting these half points are called “the hook.” The sportsbooks use half points for most bets, especially over/unders, which limit the opportunities for a push. They “hook” bettors into one side of the bet or the other.
Point Spreads
Point Spreads, commonly referred to just as “the spread,” are what makes sports betting interesting. Without them, we could all just bet the favored team every week, make a lot of money and break Vegas within a month.
A point spread evens the playing field between teams by taking points from the favored team and giving them to the underdog. So, for instance, the Chiefs are playing the Colts in what is expected to be a tightly contested game. The Colts are favored to win by a field goal.
On the sportsbook board, or the betting site, this would look like “Colts -3” or “Chiefs +3,” depending on which side you wanted to bet. So, if you bet the Colts -3, but the Colts win by 1, you actually lost that bet by 2 points. If you bet the Chiefs +3, congratulations, you won!
How many points the underdog gets, or the size of “the spread,” depends on how mismatched the teams are. In the NFL, the spread rarely goes about 13.5 or so, but in sports like college football, you routinely have teams cover 60 point spreads.
While the point spreads themselves add a degree of complication to the bets, there are additional options that can really add to the fun. They’re called Teasers and Pleasers—my heart rate picks up a little just typing those words out for you!
How To Do Parlay Bets
Teasers
As far as I’m concerned, Teaser parlays are the greatest thing to happen to sports betting since the invention of the online casino. A teaser bet allows you to move that point spread that we discussed above in a way that’s favorable to you, the bettor (typically between 6 and 7.5 points). You get less of a payout if you win a teaser parlay, but it does improve your odds of winning.
So, in the example of the Colts and the Chiefs above, we had the Colts favored by 3 points. If you “teased the line” 6 points, then you’d move that Colts spread from -3 to +3.
You add 6 points to the spread that’s already given. Now you have a bet on the team that’s already favored, and now you win your bet whether they win outright as is predicted, or if they lose by less than 3. I like your chances!
How To Parlay Bets On Bovada
What’s even better is that you don’t have to just tease the point spread, you can tease the total or over/under as well! So, if the point spread was 53.5 as it was in our example earlier, you could tease that line all the way down to 46.5 (7 point teaser), and then bet the over. Or, you could bet the under by moving the over/under up to 60.5. Like taking candy from a baby.
Pleasers
Moneyline bets can be very profitable if you can predict an upset. However, if you bet the favored team moneyline, the payout will be less. How much less depends on how largely favored the team you bet on is.
You are able to mix moneyline bets with point spread bets on a single parlay, however you cannot mix them with either teaser/pleaser bets. On those cards, if one wager is teased/pleased, you must tease/please them all.