What is a parlay bet and how to calculate parlay odds
A Parlay bet is one of the most exciting and popular wagers, primarily among recreational bettors. But what is a parlay? How do I win a Parlay? What are the odds of my Parlay? Which sportsbook should I place my parlay bet with? Well, luckily for you, this handy Parlay guide will detail everything you need to know, including some expert tips from our handicappers on the best ways to win your parlay wagers.
Parlay definition: What is a parlay bet?
A Parlay bet involves combining multiple individual selections into a single wager. The main difference between a parlay bet and a straight bet is that all of your selections must win for your parlay bet to cash. A single losing individual pick means the entire parlay bet results in a loss.
Any wager that has two or more selections is considered a parlay bet, and you can usually add up to 14 selections, but this depends on the sportsbook.
The more selections you include, the greater the odds, but also the greater the difficulty, so finding the balance between risk and reward is important.
How do parlays work
Parlays work by combining multiple selections into one single bet. These can be from the same or different sports, but a traditional parlay must include selections from different matches.
With certain sportsbooks such as FanDuel Sportsbook, you can also wager on a Same Game Parlay, where you can combine selections from the same game into one bet. These are offered for a number of events and sports such as the NFL and NBA.
A parlay combines your selections from each game into one bet and in effect rolls your stake from one selection onto the next and the next and so on, combining into one potential larger payout.
It can be a fun option for a smaller-stakes wager to try to win big, particularly in sports like the NBA, College Basketball or Football, where you have many games played on any given day throughout the season.
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How to win a parlay bet
Parlay Bets are incredibly popular as they can be one of the most lucrative wagers, but they come with increased difficulty with each selection you add to your parlay.
The unpredictability of sports is what makes it great and what keeps us all engaged in the action hooked. However, unpredictability and sports betting are not the best of friends, and in particular parlay betting, as just one bad beat on a parlay slip is enough to see the entire wager lose, regardless of how many individual winners you have alongside it.
With that in mind, our expert handicappers have created a few top tips for building a parlay to help you win your wager and make it a fun way to bet.
Check out our experts’ top-three parlay tips below:
- Stick to 2, 3, 4, or 5-team parlays most of the time. As mentioned above, each selection you add increases the difficulty so over time it is more likely to be profitable when keeping to the smaller-selection parlays. Those bigger 10-team parlays can be great fun, but keep those stakes to a minimum and have smaller parlays as your main types.
- Shop around for the best odds and promotions. Sportsbooks’ odds are a competitive market, and not all online sportsbooks offer the same odds and often try to outdo one another. While there is often only a marginal difference between sportsbooks, in a parlay those margins quickly add up. For example – if you wager a 3-team parlay with each selection at odds of -105 instead of -120, your payout would be $74.42 instead of $61.62 for a $10 stake, so $12.80 more in profit just for shopping the odds. Promotions are also a great way to try to gain an edge when betting parlays. One of the best examples of this is FanDuel Sportsbook’s various Parlay Insurances. Nothing is worse than hitting four out of five winning picks, only for the last one to bring your parlay down. This is where Parlay Insurance at FanDuel can ease the blow. Parlay Insurance gives you your stake back up to $25 in site credit if your 5+ leg parlay misses by one selection. Not quite the big win you wanted, but at least you have another shot at winning with your site credits.
- Manage your bankroll. Being disciplined with your bankroll is key long term, as not all parlays will win, particularly in the NFL. But if you keep your stakes low and consistent, you’ll have a better chance at a profit.
Check out below for a table of the typical point spread parlay odds.
| Number of Teams | Odds | Payout to a $100 bet |
|---|---|---|
| 2-Team Parlay | +260 | $360 |
| 3-Team Parlay | 6/1 | $700 |
| 4-Team Parlay | 11/1 | $1,200 |
| 5-Team Parlay | 22/1 | $2,300 |
| 6-Team Parlay | 45/1 | $4,600 |
| 7-Team Parlay | 90/1 | $9,100 |
| 8-Team Parlay | 180/1 | $18,000 |
| 9-Team Parlay | 360/1 | $36,000 |
| 10-Team Parlay | 720/1 | $72,000 |
What are round robin parlays?
A Round Robin Parlay is a type of bet that allows you to create multiple smaller parlays from a larger list of picks. You may have seen the round robin option at your favorite sportsbook and wondered what it is and how it works. Well you’re in luck, as you can check out all of the key details below.
A round robin is a bet in which you simply create multiple parlays from a series of picks. The most common type of round robin bet is to choose three teams and create three separate two-leg parlays from them. For example, If in the opening week of the NFL season you like the Washington Football Team +1, Arizona Cardinals +3, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers -7, you can add those three picks to your bet slip and bet on each two-team parlay combination. In the example above, you would have 3 separate 2-team parlays that look like this;
- Washington +1 & Arizona +3
- Arizona +3 & Tampa -7
- Washington +1 & Tampa -7
If one of your teams doesn’t hit, then both of the parlays they’re in will lose. But the other parlay can still win to either see a profit or mitigate some of your losses. If one of your games is a push, then the two parlays they’re involved in would become straight wagers on the other selection.
One of the key details to remember with round robin bets is that you are investing an amount per combination. So in this case, if you are putting down a $10 round robin, with 3 combinations your total investment would be $30. In other examples with more teams, the number of combinations can rise sharply so it’s about finding the right balance. Check out all of the round robin parlay options, including the number of combinations and total investments in the table below.
| Number of Picks | Picks Per Parlay | Total Combinations | Total Investment ($10 Per Parlay) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | 2 | 3 | $30.00 |
| 4 | 2 | 6 | $60.00 |
| 4 | 3 | 4 | $40.00 |
| 5 | 2 | 10 | $100.00 |
| 5 | 3 | 10 | $100.00 |
| 5 | 4 | 5 | $50.00 |
| 6 | 2 | 15 | $150.00 |
| 6 | 3 | 20 | $200.00 |
| 6 | 4 | 15 | $150.00 |
| 6 | 5 | 6 | $60.00 |
| 7 | 2 | 21 | $210.00 |
| 7 | 3 | 35 | $350.00 |
| 7 | 4 | 35 | $350.00 |
| 7 | 5 | 21 | $210.00 |
| 7 | 6 | 7 | $70.00 |
| 8 | 2 | 28 | $280.00 |
| 8 | 3 | 56 | $560.00 |
| 8 | 4 | 70 | $700.00 |
| 8 | 5 | 56 | $560.00 |
| 8 | 6 | 28 | $280.00 |
| 8 | 7 | 8 | $80.00 |
How to bet a parlay
If you want to place a bet online via mobile or on the computer then it is very simple, and not much different from a normal straight wager.
All you need to do is head to your sportsbook and select all of your picks, whether they involve teams, totals or exotic bets. Once you have multiple selections on your bet slip, you will see the parlay option appear, as shown below. The odds will update with each selection added, and when you enter your stake into the bet slip, it will also calculate your potential winnings.
If you are trying to place a parlay bet at the casino or in a sportsbook’s retail location, then simply tell the ticket writer the selections you want to parlay and the amount you wish to stake, and they’ll do the rest for you. Some retail sportsbooks will also have parlay cards you can fill out and take to the window.
Best sportsbook for parlay bets
FanDuel Sportsbook is a great option for parlay bettors. With a wide variety of sports and markets that you can combine into parlays, the possibilities at FanDuel are endless.
FanDuel Sportsbook is almost always competitively priced so you can rest assured knowing you are likely wagering at some of the best possible odds.
Two of FanDuel’s best parlay features are unquestionably their Insurance options and also the possibility of a Same Game Parlay, a bet type they’re championing in the U.S. betting industry.
We’ve all been there, where one leg lets your parlay down. With multiple parlay insurance options across different sports and mixed-sports parlays, you can at least have another go with bonus bet credits up to $25 on parlays of 5+ more selections when just one leg loses.
This relatively new option is a great way to enjoy a wager on a primetime game or while tuning in to your favorite team. At FanDuel Sportsbook, events that offer the Same Game Parlay can be found by their green SGP logo under the teams. The Same Game Parlay allows you to combine multiple wagers such as money lines, spreads, totals and props into one wager on the game.
Best sports to bet parlays on
There are many sports that lend themselves towards being good ones to bet parlays, but ultimately a parlay is typically a fun, longshot bet so whatever sports you enjoy or feel you know best are great options.
With a parlay being a multi-leg bet, the best sports are often ones with schedules that include multiple games per day. The best example of this and the most popular sport to wager on is the NFL. Football Sundays are great opportunities to try an NFL parlay, with anywhere up to 16 games on a Sunday there are countless parlay options from money line, spreads, totals or exotics.
If football is not your thing, then why not basketball? Both professional and collegiate basketball schedules have multiple games per day, and also with a wealth of markets to combine and choose from. An NBA parlay offers just as much variation as an NFL one, and in the collegiate ranks, tournaments like March Madness where you can see up to 32 games in the First Round, are fun opportunities to try to win big on a March Madness parlay.
Pickswise is the home of the parlay. Our expert handicappers provide their best Parlays each day across a variety of sports. Check out our NFL parlays, NBA parlays & MLB parlays pages out for our latest picks.
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