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Parlays
(US Sports)
A parlay
is a single bet that links together anywhere from
2 to 10 individual plays. The parlay can be comprised
of a series of bets on a team, over/under bets, or
any mixture of the two. For the parlay to be a winning
wager, every one of its individual plays must win.
If any of the individual plays is not a winner, then
the entire parlay wager loses.
If, however, one of the individual
plays is a "push," then the parlay is still on for
the remaining plays. A three play parlay would become
a two play parlay; a two play parlay would become
a straight bet, with corresponding reductions of the
payoff.
Why wager on a parlay and not
make several individual bets? The payouts for parlays
are significantly higher than for individual bets.
But remember, since every one of the individual plays
must win, it's an all-or-nothing bet. If you win two
out of three plays, the parlay still loses, whereas
you would have won those two plays as individual straight
bets. You are given better odds because predicting
the outcomes of several plays together is significantly
more difficult than predicting any individual play.
You cannot parlay circled games.
These are the risk/win odds for
parlay (Football & Basketball) bets:
| All Winners |
All Losers |
| 2 team |
13/5 |
-- |
| 3 team |
6/1 |
-- |
| 4 team: |
10/1 |
-- |
| 5 team |
20/1 |
-- |
| 6 team |
40/1 |
Even |
| 7 team |
75/1 |
2/1 |
| 8 team |
150/1 |
5/1 |
| 9 team |
250/1 |
10/1 |
| 10 team |
400/1 |
15/1 |
Even Losers are Winners!
Parlays are a great way to bet and now Sportbet.com
has made it even more interesting! Bet a 6-team parlay
or more and if every one of your picks loses - YOU
WIN!!!
Let's put the theory into action:
| Example:
Dave
has $250 available in his account
and would like to make a three play
parlay. On the Betting Lines page,
he would select "parlay," enter the
amount he would like to wager, $50
in this instance, then select the
individual plays that will make up
his parlay. $50 is deducted from his
account. His balance now reads $200
available, $50 at risk.
When he's done making his selections,
the page might look like this:
Amount of wager
$50
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Outcome I
Say the results of the two games
were the following:
| |
| Baltimore |
25 |
| New
Orleans |
20 |
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The first play wins: Miami, the underdog, won the
game. They either had to win the game outright or
lose by less than 7 for this play to be a winner.
The second play wins: the sum
of the Miami and Atlanta's final scores was 37. Any
total of 35 or higher would have made this play a
winner.
The third play wins: Baltimore
beat New Orleans by 5 points, thus covering the point
spread of 3.5. Baltimore had to win the game by 4
points or more for this play to be a winner.
Since all three of the plays were
winners, the parlay wager wins. The payoff odds for
a three play parlay are 1/6. Thus Dave's $50 bet returns
$300. Unlike straight bets, in which the original
bet is returned to the bettor if he or she wins, parlay
payouts include the original wager. $300 is deposited
to Dave's account. His balance now reads $500 available,
$0 at risk.
Outcome II
Say the results of the same two
games were instead:
| |
| Baltimore |
24 |
| New
Orleans |
20 |
|
Dave's first play wins: Miami,
the underdog, won the game. They either had to win
the game outright or lose by less that 7 for this
play to be a winner.
The second play loses: the sum
of Miami and Atlanta's final scores was 27. Any total
of 33 or below loses.
The third play wins: Baltimore
won by 4 points, thus covering the point spread of
3.5. Baltimore had to win by 4 points or more for
this play to be a winner.
Since the second play was not
a winner, the parlay bet loses. No money is returned.
His balance now reads: $200 available, $0 at risk.
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