It's easy to decipher the attractiveness of a parlay wager. It's the big score that doesn't require a big risk to acquire it. Sure, the odds are long, but the chances of a massive return on a relatively minimal investment tend to make parlay wagering difficult to pass up, especially for smaller bettors who aren't equipped with the type of bankroll to make a large score on a single bet.
Parlay Bets Calculator
A parlay bet involves one wager made on a multiple number of games, generally between two and eight games.
You are bascially parlaying each winning wager on to the next bet. But you must win every game in order to cash a winning ticket. But what's the return on the risk you are making with your parlay wager? Our handy parlay bets calculator allows you to figure that out down to the last dollar, so you can ensure that your outlay will lead to a worthwhile cash out opportunity.
How To Use Parlay Calculators
To get started, first you assemble the betting list of wagers you are considering, along with the odds of winning being offered on each game. Next, determine which form of odds are employed by the parlay bets calculator - American, decimal or fractional. If your odds aren't compatible with the parlay bets calculator you are using, utilize an odds converter to change them to the appropriate odds.
Once you've established the games on which you wish to bet, input the amount of your wager, along with the odds on each game into the calculator. Remember that when it comes to parlay wagering, each individual bet must be calculated to determine the winnings on that bet. Then you roll over the initial stake plus your winnings on to the second game in the parlay, and you will continue with this process until all the games involved in your parlay wager have been calculated.
Let's say you were playing a three-bet parlay involving three teams with odds of -150, +220 and -110. The amount you opt to wager on this parlay is $100. Individually, a successful a $100 bet at -150 would win you $66.67. The $100 wager on +220 odds would return $220. And lastly, a straight $100 wager at -110 would garner you a winfall of $90.91. In total, as straight bets, those three wagers would leave you with winnings of $377.58. But you had to bet $300 to win that amount.
Now let's look at what you'd end up with by parlaying those three games on a $100 wager. Again using teams at odds of -150, +220 and -110, a successful parlay wager on these three games would land you $918.18 on that $100 bet, a much higher winfall on a bet of one-third the size that it would be if you played each game as a straight wager.
One of the great advantages to employing the parlay bets calculator is that it does all this work for you, and at a much faster pace than you could decipher on your own with a pad of paper and a pencil.
Types Of Sports Betting Parlays
Accumulators, Special Offers And Pushes
At some sportsbooks, you will see parlay wagers instead listed as accumulator bets. The principle of the wager remains the same, but in some cases with accumulator wagers, sportsbooks will offer incentives and even forgiveness as options when you play your wager. They will turn two-bet parlays into straight wagers if one of the games ends in a push. They may return your multiple-game accumulator wager if one of the games ends in a push. And they might even offer a consolation payout if all but one of your games comes in.
Pro-Line And Government Sports Betting
Popular in Canada, Pro-Line is a form of parlay wagering run by lottery commissions in which you are required to wager on a minimum of three games, and you must be correct on all three picks in order to cash a winning ticket. This format must be followed because single-game sports wagering is not legal in Canada.
Correlated Parlays
While not available at all sportsbooks, there are some sportsbooks that will allow you to combine multiple wagers on the same event to form a parlay wager. For example, say you bet on a Pittsburgh Steelers-Dallas Cowboys NFL game. With a correlated parlay, you could play the moneyline, point spread and total all on this one game. Of course, you still need to hit on all three wagers in order to collect your winnings.
Teasers
Some sportsbooks will allow you to combine teaser bets with your parlay wager, but generally only when you are playing large parlays, like a seven-game parlay. The sportsbook will permit you to give or take points on some of the games you are playing. This will reduce your risk, but it will also decrease the payout on a winning wager. But since you are playing a large parlay, any win should result in a handsome payday. And by teasing the points, it could mean the difference between a huge win or a bad beat.
Why Play Parlay Wagers?
This is easily answered. We all want to win big. It's only human nature. But we all aren't equipped with the sort of cash flow that we can make the big score on a straight bet. Parlays are popular in sports betting for the same reason that exotic bets like extacas, trifectas and Pick Fours are embraced at the racetrack, because they offer the little guy the chance to hit it big.
The best sports bettors on the planet generally hit on about 53 percent of their straight bets.
The more games you parlay, the larger the winfall you can create. You could play a two-digit wager and receive a payout of five figures if you parlay the right games. And since some sportsbooks permit you to add different bets like moneylines, spreads, totals and props to a parlay, it is possible to combine a couple of longshot wagers with several solid, safe picks and still create a significant payout.
For sure, the odds of winning are against you. The best sports bettors on the planet generally hit on about 53 percent of their straight bets, so getting a parlay to come in won't happen every day. But when it does, what a day it will be. And you don't need to go for a big score when you parlay. A small $20 parlay wager on games with moneylines of +110, -135 and +125 would bring you a return of $144.50. No, you won't be a millionaire, but you've just increased your original investment more than seven fold.
