Parlay Betting

Parlays allow bettors to place multiple wagers with a single bet. A parlay has to involve a minimum of 2 bets and it can usually go up to 12 bets. Parlay betting is a good alternative to placing multiple separate bets. Bigger parlays have increasingly larger payouts but are also riskier. For example, a bettor can place a five-team parlay by wagering that all five of his bets will win. If even one of them is unsuccessful, the bettor will lose the parlay. If all five of them win, the payout will be higher than if he would make the five wagers separately.

Bettors can parlay their bets in any sport. It can be basketball or baseball, it can be boxing or UFC, it can be golf or even race and track. Most of the time, a bettor would parlay his bet in a same sport, like baseball, betting on 4 matches during a regular season. Sometimes though, online sportsbooks will offer an opportunity to place cross-sport parlays, allowing bettors to place wagers on multiple games involving different sports.

You can parlay any type of a bet, including money lines, over/under, spreads, proposition bets, etc. The most popular types of parlay bets are money lines. They are the easiest to bet on as you are betting on the winner without regards to the spreads. For example, you would like to bet on two NBA games: Chicago Bulls versus San Antonio Spurs, and Memphis Grizzlies versus Los Angeles Lakers. The Lines for the two games are:

Game 1:
- Chicago Bulls +130
- San Antonio Spurs -150

Game 2:
- Memphis Grizzlies +130
- Los Angeles Lakers -180

You are betting on the underdogs, Chicago Bulls and Memphis Grizzlies. You got $100 you want to use for betting. You are sure that they will win and you want to get as high of a return as possible, so you parlay the bet placing $100 that both of the teams will win their respective games. If Chicago Bulls win, then that $100 will get you a total of $230 ($130+$100). Then, that $230 will be bet on Memphis Grizzlies at a +130 line, getting you a total of $529 ($299+$230); if both teams you bet on win of course. Thus, a single bet of $100 will get you total winnings of $529. Now, let us say you wanted to make 2 separate bets of $100 on each team. Betting on Chicago will get you $230 ($130+$100). Betting on Grizzlies will get you $230 ($130+$100). Thus, your total winnings will be $460 ($230+230).

This shows the huge difference between the returns you can pull by parlaying your bet or by making separate bets – a total difference of $69 ($529-$460), not to mention that you are risking a total of $200 instead of just $100 for the bets. The catch is that you have to win both bets or you will lose. In separate bets, you can get a single successful bet and still walk away with some money, making it less risky. For example, if the Grizzlies bet is successful and Chicago bet is lost, you will still walk away with a break-even $0 ($230-$230); you can also not include your bet amount as part of the winnings if you prefer to read it that way.

If successful, parlays can earn you a lot of money. However, you should be careful with parlays as they provide smaller returns than the real odds of hitting them. For example, the actual odds of hitting a 10-team parlay are around 1,023 to 1 and the actual payoff will be around 600 to 1. This is why many seasoned bettors consider parlays to be “sucker bets”. However, if you are really confident of your bets, then it might make sense to bet on parlays.

Many experienced bettors try not to exceed 4 to 5 parlay bets. This is because it gets less likely for you to win as you increase your parlay. For example, your chances of winning a 2-team parlay are 3 to 1; a 4-team parlay 15 to 1; a 5-team parlay 31 to 1; an 8-team parlay 255 to 1; a 10-team parlay 1,023 to 1 and a 12-team parlay 4,095 to 1 – good luck finding an online sportsbook that will take more than a 12 team parlay.

In addition to regular parlays, there are progressive parlays which actually still give our winnings even if one of the bets is unsuccessful. These are special types of parlays which might not be even available in some sportsbooks. In a regular parlay you can bet on different games in the same event, like the FIFA World Cup qualifiers. Progressive parlays usually involve separate events, not related to each other. The usual minimum for progressive parlays is 4 and its maximum is usually 12. This again is different from a regular parlay where the minimum is only 2. Some sportsbooks have a schedule where bettors can lose one bet in a 4 to 6 progressive parlay; two bets in a 7 to 9 progressive parlay; and three bets in 10 to 12 progressive parlay.

Now that this is covered, go to our recommended sportsbooks to place your parlay bets!