More About How Parlays Work In Sports Betting. As the parlays increase, so too does the margin of profit and payouts. But the more games linked together on the parlay, the more difficult the bet becomes to win. Parlays usually can go up to as many as 15 games. It's also important to know that parlays are not made for you as a bettor on the. A parlay is a bet that is dependent on the combined outcomes of two or more wagers. The wagers can be a mixture of multiple bet types, including spreads, moneylines, and over/unders. A parlay only pays out if each wager within it covers. For that reason, parlays tend to have higher payouts than each wager would if placed separately.

1. How Do Parlay Bets Work
2. What Is A Parlay Bet
3. Play Online Ltd Mauritius
4. How To Do Parlay Bets
5. How Do Football Parlay Bets Work

Parlays are the ultimate big-win chaser’s dream. The combined bets provide massive potential payouts on nominal wagers, and nearly every online sportsbook offers them. Though the odds are low for a given parlay to hit, the possible winnings are huge, and a handful of lucky bettors have cashed in some gargantuan parlay jackpots at legal sportsbooks worldwide.

But before jumping into some of the craziest parlay wins on record, it helps to better understand the betting method, its upsides, and the inherent risk.

How Parlays Work

In simple terms, parlays are “all or nothing” bets. Parlays combine two or more individual bets into a single wager. This ramps up the odds so that a parlay pays much higher than any of the individual bets.

For example, I combined four bets with odds of -110, -110, +150, and +115 today on PointsBet, and the parlay payout came in at +1859. A $20 bet would pay more than $390.

Of course, there’s a catch. For a parlay to win, each individual bet must win. If you combine four bets into a parlay and one of them loses, you lose your bet even if the other three bets won. For that reason, parlays are risky bets, and most experts encourage you to steer clear.

On the other hand, casual bettors might enjoy making a weekly parlay every NFL Sunday or while any other league is in the thick of its season. There’s nothing wrong with making the occasional parlay bet as long as you acknowledge that your odds to win are low, similar to playing a slot machine.

Five Crazy Parlay Wins

Some bettors have beat the odds and been lucky enough to nab astronomical parlay wins in the past. Here’s a round-up of five amazing parlay wins.

The Three Sport Combo

Last year brought a huge windfall to one FanDuel sportsbook bettor who won on a $200 parlay combining 15 NBA, NFL, and NHL bets. The bet hit in November 2019 when all of the bettor’s moneyline wagers won for a payout of $229,276.

The moneyline bets boosted this wager over the edge for a massive win, because moneylines tend to offer longer odds if you pick the underdog. Whether it was sheer luck or educated guessing, this bettor came out on top.

The Charcuterie Parlay

In March 2019, sportsbooks were starting to take off in Mississippi on the heels of an August 2018 launch. March brought one noteworthy parlay win that featured a little bit of everything.

Rather than sticking to one type of bet, this bettor wagered $25 on a 20-leg parlay. The parlay was a veritable smorgasbord of bets and sports, including point spreads, moneylines, and totals. The wager covered a slate of Friday-night games across the NBA and NCAA basketball.

According to ESPN, the customer at BetAmerica sportsbook in Vicksburg, Mississippi’s Riverwalk Casino wagered on 14 favorites, three underdogs, and three “over” totals bets.

After a few close calls, the 20-leg bet won, netting the bettor a $104,412 win.

The Homecoming Special

In September 2020, a BetMGM customer raked in a $152,341 win on a $10 parlay.

The 11-leg bet featured five moneyline bets, five totals, and a single point spread wager (Duke +20.5). The majority of the bets predicted college football match-ups, but a few additional professional games sent the bet over the edge. The Rockets-Lakers under and the Yankees moneyline contributed to the win, resulting in a huge payday for the lucky bettor.

The 15-Leg NFL Slate

Amateur sports bettor Tayla Polia’s parlay success story is featured on countless lists just like this one, and for good reason. In 2015, Polia placed a $5, 15-leg parlay that included 14 point spread bets and one totals wager for the Steelers-Broncos matchup.

To her surprise, Polia’s bet won and paid out 20,000-1 for a cool $105,000. She actually thought the bet had failed initially because the Giants lost their match-up. But Polia had bet on the team to cover, which they did, completing her parlay and netting her a huge win.

Root, Root, Root For The Home Team

In 2015, MLB fans worldwide witnessed history. For the first time since the league’s inception, all 15 home teams won their games on a single day.

One lucky bettor cemented his place in the story by predicting the event with a 15-leg parlay bet. The Ireland bettor had plenty of reason to celebrate proverbial Irish luck when his ~$78 bet, placed at William Hill’s sportsbook, won him $100,810.

Should I Place Parlay Bets?

You may see these wins and instantly open your sportsbook app to start placing a few parlays for yourself. Before you do, it’s important to note that these wins are the exception, not the rule. The sage advice from sports betting experts is to stay away from parlays.

However, it’s okay to place a parlay bet once in a while, especially if you feel confident about a select few match-ups. Parlays can be a fun way to get in on the action and invest yourself in the match-ups of the day. Just play responsibly and keep in mind that your chances of winning any parlay are slim.

Parlay Tips

If you’re planning to place parlay bets, there are a few tips to keep in mind.

Less Is More

Sure, a 15-leg parlay is enticing, especially if the payout has four, five, or even six digits. But the more bets you include, the less likely you are to win. IF you’re interested in placing parlays, keep them simple at first. Combine two or three bets and see how they perform. If you’re lucky, you might win a few hundred dollars.

Favoritism Can Be A Benefit

Underdogs offer better payouts, but that’s only because they are viewed as less likely to win their match-up. If you’re building a parlay of moneyline bets, pay close attention to the odds. If one team is heavily favored to win, that might be the wiser pick.

Carefully Consider Home Team Bets

Unless it’s the mid-90s and you’re placing Chicago Bulls bets every week, try to steer clear of home-team bets when you’re building a parlay. I’ve fallen victim to the trap many times–I place a 5-leg parlay bet that includes my Chicago Bears to win only to find a disappointing 4-1 parlay that loses me my initial bet thanks to a crushing Chicago loss.

If you want to bet on your home team, keep that wager out of your parlays or risk disappointment.

Point Spreads Even Out The Odds

How Do Parlay Bets Work

Betting on point spreads gives you smaller individual payouts, but combining them into parlays can produce big potential wins. Point spreads even out the odds of a given match-up, giving the predicted underdog a chance to cover the spread even if they lose the match.

Its an age old question that is not easily answered. Parlays are a high risk, high reward style of betting so they cannot be compared directly to other forms of betting. To make an effective judgement on the worth of parlay betting, you first need to understand how to use them effectively. When employed at the right time and in the right way they are a powerful betting tool. When used indiscriminately, they are ineffective and expensive to a bettors bottom line.

Our Stance

Is a Parlay Bet a Good Bet? Yes, if used correctly they can be an effective way for a bettor to stake smaller than usual but access a potentially large payout through the power of compounding. Often Parlays are misunderstood, used incorrectly and leave the bettor exposed to undervalued odds when compared to the actually probability of winning.

Why Do Some People Think Parlays Are Bad?

There are a number of reasons why bettors think they are bad. Here are two of the most common reasons:

The Wrong Bet Types Are Used

The most common belief is that Parlay offer a negative expected value. That is; the final parlay odds offered are usually less than the true probability of all the legs winning.

This is of course the case if you link together parlay legs that are in their own right poor value. The multiplier effect of parlays means that a poor ‘buy’ on a bet is carried through and magnified as it is combined with other legs.

There are two particular bet types that regularly offer negative expected value to bettors. These are the point spread and over/under totals betting. Accepting odds of -110 on a 50/50 outcome is a risky past time. Nevertheless bettors are fascinated with these types of bets, so much so that they then link them together into parlays.

I mean think about it for a second. Willingly accepting -110 on a 50/50 outcome means you must win at 52.38% to break even. Blind Freddy can see that is a supremely tough ask. I still bet those markets, but I do so with the knowledge that if I don’t see an edge on the number (Handicap or Points Total) then really I am just flipping a coin. If that’s what I am doing, then I don’t like my chances of winning 52.38% of the time.

Now armed with that knowledge go and throw those bet types into a parlay and you are creating a mountain to overcome just to break even.

The Wrong Staking Strategy is Used

Parlays are a different breed and require a different staking strategy. The Risk/Reward ratio can vary greatly from parlay to parlay depending on the included legs. Bettors who have a poor grasp on bet sizing will typically over bet on parlays, enticed by the carrot of a large bankroll boosting payout. Sadly this critical error can lead bettors on the short path to bust city.

The stories of going bust lead bettors to think Parlays betting is the issue. In actual fact the staking strategy is to blame but self reflection is hard, so that gets overlooked.

The Bottom Line: Parlays are not bad. Bettors are bad at using them. Learn how to use them effectively and they suddenly become a key piece of any bettors repertoire. After all sharp bettors who make a living from betting still use parlays. They just have the know how.

If Parlays are Bad, Then Why Are They Popular?

1 ) Undeniably Fun

There is no doubting Parlays are a lot of fun. Action is spread across a number of events so bettors feel invested in many outcomes. A well timed parlay can turn a Sunday afternoon NFL slate into an 8 hour long betting ride.

Parlays also offer a roller coaster ride of emotions. Those bettors with a love (maybe even addiction) to the extreme emotions that come with betting on sport, go looking for opportunities to get it all on the line to win big. Parlays provide that in a fun and entertaining way.

What can be more fun than having the last leg of a parlay live and being able to watch every play unfold. The big plays feel so much bigger and small moments become parlay altering events.

2) Lure of a Big Payout

Big payouts truly are the stuff of dreams. I mean why else are lotteries so popular. It has everything to do with the big prize and nothing at all to do with the probability of winning. After all if you looked closely at the true probability of your numbers coming up you might think again about buying a ticket in the lottery.

The lottery has some similarities with parlay betting (although done right you can certainly push the odds in your favor). The chance at hitting double figure times returns, or higher, can be enough to get a bettor to throw that money down.

To a bettor who is having a tough run, a big payout can be the thing that gets their bankroll back on track. The magic bullet, the panacea, the secret sauce. Parlays appear to provide bettors with an opportunity to chase losses without staking above the norm. Of course more often than not the execution leaves the bettor short handed anyway.

A poorly executed parlay makes it more like a hail mary than a strategy, again much like the lottery. Nevertheless the lure big money is the drawcard.

3) Small Stakes Equals Low Entry Level

The ability to get action on a parlay for a relatively small stake (eg a quarter of a unit) but not sacrifice the chance of a big return provides bettors with a cheap entry point to this form of betting.

The small stake entry point equates to a low risk high reward scenario. Something all bettors are constantly on the looking for.

For a bettor who simply can’t afford a lavish bankroll parlays are the way to get action on many events affordably. For instance across 4 college football games at the one time when the bankroll simply doesn’t have the capacity to cover those four games individually.

Small stakes makes parlays the bet type of the people!

4) Parlays are Actively Encouraged by Sportsbooks

Sportsbooks are in the business of making money and lets be honest, they are very good at it. They know that parlay betting is misunderstood and misused by the general betting public. Therefore they actively encourage bettors to invest in this bet type.

There are constantly promotions available on parlay betting at virtually every online or mobile sportsbook. In fact they are usually very generous promotions that I recommend you make the most of.

Promoting parlays is a way for sportsbooks to give bettors experience with these kinds of bets so that they continue to bet them when the promotions are not offered. They are a way to lure recreational bettors and bettors who are true ‘every now and then’ type clients to bet them.

What Is A Parlay Bet

Active promotion of parlays has the desired effect, if makes them a high traffic bet type.

5) They Make a Good Story

This my friends is almost the biggest reason why parlays are so popular. At the end of the day a bettor who lands a big one has bragging rights for days. They have a war story to tell that points to their ‘expertise’ as a bettor.

I mean, surely if someone is talking about how they pulled of a 5 leg parlay on last night’s games then they must be a master bettor right? Well probably not but it makes a great story!

Come Super Bowl or NBA Championship time the media loves to find a fairytale story of someone needing the big game to fall their way as the last leg of some life changing parlay. It creates some hype and it certainly encourages average Joe to get out there and invest in a parlay or five of his own.

Big parlay wins are also a huge talking point on social media like Reddit or Twitter. Social media is an ego driven platform at the best of times so pulling of a huge parlay is great ammunition for some ‘look at me’ posts. This alone makes them popular.

Heck, even a bad beat parlay makes a good story. A story of heartbreak is a ticket to the sports betting club. A battle scar to show that you have been to the front line and earned your stripes. Much like falling of your horse makes you a bona fide member of the pony club, an unbelievable parlay bad beat is a story worth telling.

The Parlay Mistake To Avoid

There is one huge error that many bettors unknowingly make when betting parlays. Check out this video and avoid making that error yourself!

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How Can You Make Parlays Work?

Parlays can be an effective style of betting and you can make money betting them. If you are ready to turn your parlay betting into one of the great strengths of your betting then you MUST read this article:

The Game Starts Now!

Betting parlays is not some sin for which you need to repent. Like all betting styles once you get your head around how to bet them effectively they can be a positive addition to your betting repertoire. Check them out just be smart about the way you do it.

How To Do Parlay Bets

How Do Football Parlay Bets Work

Good Luck and as always Bet Responsibly!