Parlay bets and odds are the key parts of sports betting for newbies. What you must understand about parlays is that they contain two or more teams or selections. For every correct pick, the payout is bigger than what you put up but if one prediction loses, then your total payout will be zero.
A bettor may win big or lose big in a parlay bet. Parlay odds are the same as normal odds but with more probability of winning, so your payout will be bigger.
What is Parlay?
The general idea of parlay bets or “parlays” for short is to combine several bets to boost the payout odds and improve the expected value (EV) of wagers. Parlay bets are often compared to a sandwich. First you place an outside bet and then the inside one on top of it.
E.g., Outside Outside Inside Inside Bet 1 (Winner) Bet 2 (Winner)
This one is pretty simple – but you can see that there is a lot of risk involved with this kind of bet. Parlays are usually not an option for the faint-hearted, as your potential winnings are going to be very high, just like the risk of losing big. If you lose both the outside bets, then you lose your whole bet.
“Unlike with some other types of sports betting, such as totals or moneylines (the possibilities for which we’ll see below), parlays allow the bookie to give lower odds. So there is a high risk associated with them because bookmakers need to be able to cover themselves in case the bettor wins,” says Mr. Ong of WS88 in Singapore.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that most sports gamblers prefer parlay bets to single bets, as they are more likely to win – and with shorter odds, you have far less of a risk involved. So it is because of this reason alone that you will find very few betting sites which accept single bets only.
When it comes to creating odds for parlay bets, there are two main ways of calculating the possible winnings:
Taking into account only the possibility of winning both bets. This is simple because it means that if you want to create an even-money chance (risk ratio 1:1) then you would divide your bet into 2 equal parts.
Consequently if you were to win, you would get double your money back. So if you have a $100 bet and want to make it even-money – simply divide that by 2 (you can do this with almost any calculator), yielding a final amount of $50. If both bets have the same odds, then the amount will be identical, thus making your wager even-money.
But what happens if you lose both bets?
In that case, you’d only bet $50 and would either make a quick profit of $50 – or lose it all.
If only one (not necessarily the first) of these two bets (outcome) wins. Therefore if you want to make it 50-50, then the odds will be calculated as per the example below:
So that would mean that now your wager is $59 – giving a risk ratio of 1:1.96 (odds of 1:2). If both bets win, then you will end up with $115 – which is clearly better than the previous case of a bet that was even-money. However, if you lose one or both bets, then your wager will be reduced to $50 ($59 – $9).
This method of creating odds is not as easy as simply dividing your bet by 2 as in the first example. Instead you would have to divide the bet into 3 parts, with 2 of them being equal.
Usually when people create parlay odds this way, they use a calculator and work out the amounts proportionally, that is if you want your risk ratio to be 2:1 (risking $100 for the chance of winning $200) then most of them would divide it by 3 ($100 divided by 2 = $66 + $66 is equal to $133 – which is what you’d have to bet).
From that point on, they will find the proportionate odds for all of the possible outcomes. This way of creating parlay bets is much easier and more effective but also requires some mathematical knowledge.
However, if you want to be on the safe side and do not want to worry about math or risk losing your money due to some mistakes (it happens), then simply place a parlay bet with odds of 1:1 – this can be done by many betting online sports betting singapore sites (usually in their FAQ section).
That way you’ll be able to turn a profit if you win either bet (or both) but in the worst possible scenario, you’d only lose your initial bet.
Key Pointers to Remember
It’s important that a bettor does his homework before putting money on any type of sports betting proposition, especially if it is in the form of a parlay bet.
Here are three facts or tips you need to keep in mind:
- Do your homework and study each team/player carefully to assess their strengths and weaknesses.
- Make sure you have enough knowledge about the sport or a particular match-up before placing a wager on it since this is a must for parlay bets.
- Study up on the odds for each parlay bet to determine which teams or players have a higher probability of winning. This is the most important tip to remember when making a parlay bet, using the odds as your guide in sports betting, whether it be at an online bookie or at an online sports betting singapore site. And it’s also important to remember that the higher the odds, the lower your chances of winning are so use this information accordingly.
Takeaway
It’s highly recommended that bettors who want to make a lot of money betting on sports do comprehensive research before placing bets with high odds like those in parlay wagers. This is a good way to determine which teams are most likely to win and lose. It’s also a good idea to study the handicap lines associated with an event that you want to bet on, so that you can assess the odds for each team and make sure they are both fair and accurate.
When you do your research thoroughly sports betting becomes less of a gamble and more of a calculated risk. Thus, before placing parlays, bettors should kick their research into high gear in order to increase their chances of winning.