The Truth About Parlays

Do you wanna know the truth about Parlays?

Key Points

– Parlay bets are popular because they offer larger payouts.

– Parlays are much harder to win because all legs of a parlay must win in order for the bet to cash.

The Truth About Parlays

If you’ve been around sports betting long enough, you know what a parlay is. You take two or more bets and link them together as a single bet.

When doing so, a sportsbook will offer you larger payouts the more bets you place in your parlay. For a parlay bet to win, all of the legs must win.

Bettors can parlay just about anything including moneylines, point spreads, totals, props, and even cross sports and other events.

Betting parlays is essentially a risk versus reward proposition. The higher the risk, the higher the reward.

NFL FANS! BEST 2022 NFL DRAFT BETS

Say Yes to Parlays?

The big reason to place a parlay bet is the potential to get a higher payout. Take an NFL parlay - which is popular - as an example.

Pittsburgh is a four-point underdog and Baltimore is a six-point favorite and you like both teams to cover. If you bet $10 on each game and win, you’ll come away with about $19 profit. That’s not bad, but what if you parlayed the two bets.

A two-team parlay will pay out at roughly +260, which means if both teams cover you will end up with a profit of $26 instead of $19.

As you add more legs to the parlay, the odds increase. A three-team parlay pays out at +600. Adding a fourth leg takes it to +1200 and that is the beauty of betting parlays.

The issue, of course, is that you have to hit each leg in order to cash out.

My last article here taught you a little about betting NCAAB player props. Go see if I know what I’m talking about.

Say No to Parlays?

For many, betting parlays is simply handing money to a sportsbook. For sportsbooks, parlays are a dream because they are difficult to hit. Maybe you find all picks difficult to hit. Check out our free picks, they win at a profitable level.

Consider the following assuming odds of -110 (typical sportsbook juice). The implied probability of winning a single bet is 52.38 percent. Now, add a second wager to form a two-leg parlay.

The probability of winning decreases dramatically to 27.4 percent. Adding a third leg takes it to 14.35 percent. The probability of hitting a 10-leg parlay? 0.16 percent.

That’s why parlays are a private bookie’s dream.

When to Bet Them - The Truth About Parlays

Just because it’s difficult to hit a parlay doesn’t mean that bettors should always stay away. There are a few times when a parlay makes good sense.

Parlays are strong bets in NFL games where scoring margins are more likely to land on certain numbers. There’s a clue that betting NFL parlays are a solid play.

The teaser bet is a form of parlay where bettors pay a premium in order to adjust the point spread. The typical NFL teaser is a two-team, six-point parlay. Bettors can adjust the point spread of both legs of the parlay by six points at most offshore sportsbooks.

The idea is to cross key numbers like  3, 7, and 10 (the most common final scoring margins in NFL games). Doing so, bettors can take an 8-point favorite down to -2 or a 5-point underdog to +11.

Many sportsbooks will not accept a two-team NFL teaser (a form of a parlay bet) during the playoffs. There’s simply too much liability and that’s the clue that the teaser parlay is often a strong play.

Have you been wondering what live betting is? We’ve been asked a lot, so we answered your beck and call.