A push in a parlay can cause some confusion the first few times they come into play. While everyone knows exactly how a parlay plays out with a win and a loss, does a push act differently?
The short answer is that, well, it depends. A push in a parlay bet is treated differently on a sportsbook-by-sportsbook basis. More explanation of what happens with a push is below.
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What is a Push in Sports Betting?
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In sports betting, a push is when the bettor and bookmaker end up tieing. This can happen if the team that was bet on ends up winning by the exact margin that was predicted. With a pointspread, if the winning team is -3 and they win by exactly three points, this results in a push.
Does a Push Cancel a Parlay?
In terms of parlays, this usually means that the bettor will get their money back, but they won’t win anything extra. However, some bookmakers treat pushes differently in regards to parlays. For example, some bookmakers might consider a push as the same thing as a loss, keeping the wager and leaving most gamblers frustrated because they otherwise could have cashed out. It’s important to check with the bookmaker to see how they handle pushes before placing a parlay bet.
There are some other variations to how a push plays out. Some bookmakers will pay out based on what would have happened if the bet had only been made on that one leg and not in conjunction with the other legs. Others will allow parlay bets affected by pushes to remain active as long as all remaining legs can still lead to a payout. This means that if there are two more games left in a respective parlay bet and those two final games end up being wins or losses depending on whether they are part of the original ticket or not, then a person wins the entire payout even though one of the legs was a push.
Avoiding Push Results in Parlays
If a push or tie in parlay betting sounds frustrating, there are fortunately ways to avoid this altogether. For example, staying away from any pointspreads that don’t have decimal numbers will eliminate the chances of a tie.
Take an NFL game as an example. If one team is getting -3 points, there’s always a chance of a push. If that same team is getting -3.5 points, there’s no possible way that it ends in a push. Look for sportsbooks that actively avoid the chances of a push.
A lot of sportsbooks are doing what they can to eliminate pushes themselves for single game or parlay bets. They know that it is more difficult to handle in general, and a lot of customers end up getting upset that they just barely lose. To keep everyone happy, they keep striving for more and more decimal pointspread opportunities.