For decades, parlays have served as one of the most popular forms of sports betting. Parlays allow you to win more money at smaller stakes, but they are more difficult to win. They can make winning a lot more fun, but can also make losing a lot more painful.
Parlays are generally the natural second course of betting action most bettors take once they have cashed in on a bunch of individual tickets or online bets. Individual betting, in a way, is the gateway to parlay betting. Once you experience the thrill of winning single bets, you develop a natural desire to increase your payday exponentially by combining wins.
Let’s dive into parlays and why they remain so popular, and explain some ways to make parlay-betting a more lucrative endeavor.
What is a parlay?
Quite simply, a parlay (or ‘combo-bet,’ ‘multi-bet’ in America, ‘accumulator bet’ in UK) is a single bet that combines two or more individual wagers and is dependent on all of those wagers winning together. If all but one wager in your parlay wins, you win nothing. In order to win a parlay, every wager within it must win (or ‘hit’ or ‘green’). Some books and sites allow you to win a reduced amount if one of your parlay wagers ties or draws.
When constructing a parlay, various wager types from different games (and different sports) can be combined as ‘legs’ within the main bet. For example: you may select a bet against the spread from one game, a moneyline wager from another, and an over/under from a third game.
Pro Tips & Tricks for Parlay Betting
- Less is more — stick to four or five legs max. The probability of hitting on a six-leg parlay is substantially lower than hitting on a four-legger. Don’t shoot for the moon.
- Anchor parlays with strong wagers — your foundational parlay legs should be bets you view as can’t-miss. Even if the odds are lower on some legs, what matters most is your confidence in each leg hitting.
- Buy points when on the fence — if you like a team to win but don’t love their defined winning margin, buy some points. You may reduce the payout, but you increase your chance of winning said payout. We'll expand on this more later.
- Don’t include tight matchups — if a game looks to be a close one, stay away from it. The stakes are higher in parlays — you need to get every leg correct. Do the research, explore the split stats, navigate the moneyline and ATS trends, and uncover a core four ‘no-brainer’ bets to comprise your parlay.
- Don’t be afraid to mix sports — you can include quality bets from multiple sports within parlays. Don’t just pick the best bets in football when good bets exist in basketball and baseball as well.
- Don’t bet too much too early — sure, that $10,000 payout looks great, but can you afford to buy a $250 lottery ticket? Too many variables exist when combining multiple games — it’s just not worth throwing a ton of money into parlays and depleting your bankroll. Understand the risks and start small until you get the hang of parlay betting.
What are Same-Game Parlays (SGPs)?
One of the most popular wrinkles introduced by various sportsbooks the past couple of years is same-game parlays or in-game parlays. Same-Game Parlays (or SGPs) are correlated bets which allow bettors to combine multiple wagers from the same individual sports contest. SGPs are the first parlays in sports betting history that allow in-game prop bets as legs.
SGPs have skyrocketed in popularity because they significantly boost bettors’ interest in individual games from start to finish. Checking off the legs of SGPs as they happen almost feels like marking off squares in a game of BINGO — and what a feeling when every leg hits!
How teasers and buying points can grant edges to bettors
There exists many ways to increase your chances of winning a parlay without completely diminishing the value of your potential pay-off. The two main ways bettors reduce their risks while keeping their potential payouts high:
- ‘Buying points’ to increase the win probability of individual parlay legs
- Assembling ‘teasers’ instead of parlays to buy points across the board
‘Buying points’ means accepting lower odds on a parlay leg — and in turn reducing your payout — so that the leg is more likely to hit. If you like a football team to win, but feel more comfortable with them winning by 2.5 points instead of 3.5 points, you could buy a point for a set amount (maybe -100 difference). This will allow you to ‘green’ on that leg if the team wins by a field goal, whereas you would lose if you hadn’t bought the point and the prop remained -3.5.
‘Teasers’ allow you to assemble an entire parlay with each leg adjusted by a set amount of points. Teasers greatly increase your chances of winning, but also greatly reduce your total payout if and when you win. This all boils down to defining your goals as a bettor, understanding the psychology of betting, and managing your bankroll (LINK).
Pro Tips & Tricks for SGPs, Teasers, Buying Points
- Sacrifices pay off — if a bet feels good but not great, buy some points. You’d rather win by a lot than lose by a little when it comes to a parlay leg.
- Avoid player prop coin flips — SGPs can be dangerous in the sense that they present plenty of 50/50 player props. Don’t lose an edge by letting a big-name player’s prop tempt you.
- Check the risk-reward — if your parlay consists of all -500 to -1000 legs, you will see a small return even if everything hits. The same goes for teasers that buy you seven to double-digit points across the board of your parlay. Don’t completely diminish your value — even conservative bettors should be aiming to at least net 2.5 of each stake in a parlay.
How do you calculate parlay odds and payouts?
If you hate math, you can always just select your different parlay legs on your preferred sportsbook and determine how each one affects your payout. But if you like to always be in control and specifically understand the risk vs. reward of every part of the betting process, understanding how to calculate parlays is pretty simple.
Calculating Parlays with American Odds
To calculate “+” American odds, take the odds number and divide by 100, then multiply that by the size of the bet.
A $50 bet at +150 odds, for instance, is calculated as 150/100 (which yields 1.5), multiplied by $50 (1.5 x $50 = $75). A winning $50 bet at +150 odds would return $125 total to the bettor ($75 profit plus the original $50 bet.)
To calculate “-“ odds, divide 100 by the odds number, then multiply by the amount of the wager.
A $50 bet at -110 odds would be calculated as 100/110 (without the “-“ for the 110 odds), which yields 0.909. You then multiply that by the size of the bet (0.909*$50=$45.45). A $50 winning bet at -110 odds would return $95.95 to the bettor ($45.45 profit plus the original $50 bet).
Calculating Parlays with Decimal Odds
If you’re using decimal odds, simply multiply all bets with the stake. If you’re betting on a three-team parlay with the following odds: 1.2, 1.5, and 1.4, just multiply all three numbers with your stake:
1.2 times, 1.5 times, 1.4 times $100 equals $252 payout ($152 won when we take out the stake).
Letting a Parlay Calculator Do the Work
If all this is over your head, you’re not alone. That’s why thousands of bettors simply use online ‘Parlay Calculators’ each day, or let their preferred sportsbook do the math for them as they select their parlay legs.