How to bet - What are parlays

Learning how to bet on sports might be a good idea for several reasons. It sure adds some excitement to watching the event. Most sports fans can testify to that. Learning how to bet on sports may also put more money in your pocket. If you work your socks of you might even beat the bookies and earn the right to brand yourself a winner.

However, most people won't take sports betting to the level needed to win consistently. They haven't got the focus or dedication needed to learn how to bet. As you probably have gotten drilled into your head by now while reading how to bet material; most sports bettors bet for entertainment value and as we have pointed out before. There is absolutely nothing wrong in that as long as you are entertained and don't go overboard shipping exsessive amounts of cash to your preferred bookmaker.

How it works

One of the favorite betting styles for entertainment bettors is the parlay bet. A parlay bet takes into account the odds of any number of teams you like to win. They can range from 2 game parlays, usually referred to as a double, all the way up to infinity unless limited by the bookmaker either by maximum win amount or maximum games on betting slip type of filters.

Here is an example of a parlay; let’s say you like three baseball games tonight. Jays at +175, Sox at +125 and Rays at +150. You could wager all three individually (single bets) and if they all hit you would make some decent money. If you parlay (combine) all three together and they hit, you make a really good return.  A bet of $10 on these three would yield a net payout of approximately $145.

Should I parlay?

Many experienced sports bettors, us included will advise you to stay away from parlay betting too many teams. It is hard enough to pick one winner let alone six, seven or twenty-three. Adding a lot of games where the odds are stacked against you due to bookmaker juice or just too low odds is not how to bet profitably. The math is simple. Let’s say the betting object is fairly priced. We want to pick a six game parlay here. Furthermore we deduct 5% theoretical margin like many bookies do. To see the Expected value of this bet you simply multiply 0.95 x 0.95 x 0.95 x 0.95 x 0.95 x 0.95 = 0.735. What this is telling us is a lesson to take home for most. The bookmaker is making 26.5 cents on every dollar wagered in this spot. Many bookmakers even operate with worse conditions than a 5% safety of margin, do experiment with the figures and see how expensive that entertainment can get.

However, if you bet for the fun, and prefer to make a score every now and then rather than book more frequent wins with lower payouts, then following tips from our bet tips section is something you should have a go at. As long as the expected value is positive or at least not extremely negative, then it is really not anything wrong mathematically in using parlays versus at all. You will keep more money in your pocket, but still have plenty of entertainment. As you gradually learn how to bet you can pick your own bets more confidently as well and use parlay betting to scoop a big win here and there.

End note

We hope you loved this article as much as we loved writing it. If you did, please become a fan at your favorite social media site. Also feel free to pass on this little piece of information to your friends. They probably want to keep more money in the pocket and learn how to bet too.