Parlay bets get a lot of headlines for their huge payouts. However, quite a few smart sports gamblers stay far away from parlay bets. This has many new to sports gambling wondering if it is smart to even give parlay bets a try in the first place.
Are parlay bets worth the gamble? Is it a smart play long-term? By understanding parlay bets a little bit better, players can make their own decision on whether or not to go all-in with these wagers.
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What is a Parlay Bet?
A parlay bet is when any person decides to combine two or more games into one single bet. By multiplying odds, gamblers take on a bigger risk to potentially win a larger payout.
Parlay bets can simply be two teams, or they can go up into the double digits. Simple math indicates that the chances of hitting on a 10-team or 12-team parlay are extremely challenging. The thrill of actually capitalizing on those odds is what keeps people intrigued.
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How Easy Is It To Set Up A Parlay Bet?
Sportsbooks have made setting up a parlay bet very easy for even the most beginner players. All the person has to do is follow the simple instructions on each sportsbook. It will calculate the payout odds automatically, and it can all happen in a matter of seconds.
Parlay bets are offered by just about every single sportsbook out there. They also will usually offer teaser opportunities in most cases. Not every company offers pleaser bets, but those are also a chance to have a different parlay.
What are teaser and pleaser bets? A teaser bet adds additional points to a pointspread in favor of the pick. For example, if a team is already a -7.5 favorite, they can become a -0.5 favorite with a seven-point teaser.
With pleasers, it goes the opposite way. It makes it more difficult for the gambler. A -7.5 bet would become a -14.5 bet if a person decides to use a 7-point pleaser. The payout becomes less with teaser bets, and more with please bets.
Being Smarter with Parlay Bets
Any way a person looks at it, parlay bets in sports are always going to be long shots. However, improving odds even a little bit can result in gamblers winning money long-term.
Pick the Right Timespan
Parlay bets involve at least two separate games, so it’s important to be patient with results. A multiple-team parlay can seem enticing, but if it spans over a few days, it might not be worth it to the average gambler.
Most like to keep everything in the same 24 hours. At most, if the parlay finishes up within the same weekend, gamblers are patient enough to wait it out.
Stay Cautious With Pointspread Parlays
With a point spread involved, it essentially makes both sides a 50/50 chance of winning. When 50/50 bets are used in parlays, odds can get out of control in a hurry. As enticing as these odds are, it’s best to stay away from too many pointspread bets.
The payout for a typical three-team parlay pointspread bet is 7 to 1. However, the true odds are roughly 8 to 1. This is pretty poor value, and could keep people from winning consistently.
There’s always the exception when opportunities arise where people are sure that the lines are off. However, the common gambler shouldn’t fall for pointspread betting traps in the parlay game. It’s one of the easiest ways for sportsbooks to make their money back.
Include Multiple Sports/Events
Just about every sportsbook will allow people to cross sports in a parlay bet. In fact, some will even include current events or other trending topics. It’s a way to make parlay bets a little more enjoyable. It also allows people to stay involved with all sports they enjoy.
A negative to multiple sports is that time does play a factor. Since every contest isn’t going to end at the same time, it could be a little bit longer to get the results.
Don’t Spread Out Too Much
It’s fun to involve other sports, but only if there is a good amount of knowledge in that category. Too many parlay gamblers will start to dabble into sports they don’t know enough about. All of a sudden, they’ve lost their edge compared to gambling on their main focus.
Nothing requires a person to jump around with different sports. Stick with what is known, and better results will come.
Hedge When Possible
A perfect example would be a parlay bet with one final game at night. Every team up to this point has won, but what if the night game ruins the parlay? Betting on the opponent and hedging can sometimes ensure a victory. The hedge bet might not yield nearly as much money, but it’s better than losing the entire bet.
Is a parlay bet well on its way to a huge payday? While it’s enticing to stay with the all-or-nothing approach, the smarter thing to do is to hedge a bet accordingly. This ensures some type of monetary victory when done correctly.
There’s a little bit of math involved with hedging properly, but there are plenty of resources out there that help people understand what they need to do. It’s not a requirement to hedge a bet, but most will feel like it’s worth putting in a little bit of extra effort to ensure a victory.
Jump On Any Free Bet Promotions
With sports betting still relatively new to the masses online, many sportsbooks are offering all sorts of free bet promotions for new sign-ups. They also might provide added benefits to established players once in a while.
Not taking advantage of any free bet promotions is simply throwing away great opportunities. It’s not technically free money, but it does give a person more room to play with. If a sportsbook is sending out free plays or any other promotions, don’t just stick those emails in the trash. They might end up adding to the bankroll.
Keep Bets Under Control
No one should ever be putting themselves in a predicament where they are risking a lot of their bankroll on one single bet. The common rule is to keep every single bet at around 3% to 5% of the total bankroll. This ensures that cold streaks are still relatively easy to get through. At the same time, when things are going well, it prohibits gamblers from feeling too confident and risking more than they should.
The great thing about parlay bets is that in most cases, people don’t have to wager much to win a good amount of money. This keeps people from placing a ton of money on a single bet and getting themselves in a lot of trouble.
Less Teams is More
Playing around with a parlay calculator will show people that they can win much more consistently with smaller parlays. In fact, many professional gamblers say that a person should always stay away from the huge parlay bets because it’s so hard to win with any type of consistency.
Beginners should specifically start with smaller parlay bets involving two or three teams. Trying to jump right into huge parlay bets is pretty much throwing money away. Maybe it’s fine to throw a little bit of money on a long-shot parlay bet involving 12 teams, but nothing substantial will likely come out of it.
Shop Around For Odds
There is plenty of flexibility online these days to find the best possible odds every single time. Money lines will differ slightly from sportsbook to sportsbook, so why not take advantage of that?
Even if it seems like a small difference, the margins are pretty thin for those hoping to win long-term. Getting any type of edge will make a difference on the bottom line. Having accounts on multiple websites ensures the best odds possible.
There will always be sportsbooks that are a little slow to adjust if news breaks as well. Those who wait until the last possible minute to place a bet might be able to score on a parlay bet with great odds because something wasn’t updated after an injury announcement. Plenty of people use that as a strategy to get the best odds possible.
The Final Verdict on Sports Parlay Bets
If a person is interested in sports parlay bets, they should mostly stay with two-team and three-team options. Doing anything beyond that not only makes it very challenging to win, but it works in the favor of sportsbooks. These are the parlays that hit most often statistically. They are not paying out at the same ratio as they would with single-game bets, taking away any perceived edge. It’s a better long-term strategy to bet single games instead of these parlay options.
With that said, everyone gambles on sports for different reasons. Some will love the fun aspect of putting a little bit of money down on a parlay bet and seeing how everything works out. It’s not necessarily about winning long-term, because it’s fun more than anything.
Sportsbooks purposely try to make parlay bets intriguing because they know that it makes more sense for them financially. Whenever someone wins big and it makes news, that’s viewed as a positive for them overall. They know that they still make plenty of money from the others who fall short. If anything, look for sportsbooks to promote parlays more and more with the influx of new gamblers online and in casinos.