Parlay Bet Definition

  

If you're the gambling type, you may already know that parlay can also be used as a noun describing a series of bets in which a person places a bet, then puts the.

2 days ago Super Bowl LV parlay picks and teasers for the Kansas City Chiefs vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Our top Super Bowl 55 parlay bets provided by Covers staff! A parlay bet is a common way for sports bettors to increase their odds and payoffs. Instead of making multiple, single bets, a parlay bet combines 2 or more bets into one bet. Each bet within the parlay must win in order for the parlay to win. If any bet within the parlay loses, the bet loses. The more teams put into a parlay bet, the higher. Definition of parlay (Entry 2 of 2): a series of two or more bets so set up in advance that the original stake plus its winnings are risked on the successive wagers broadly: the fresh risking of an original stake together with its winnings. Keep scrolling for more.

Download 'Basic Parlay Betting' as a PDF file

Once an edge has been established - that is, once a steady and consistent horse race betting approach has returned a profit over the medium term - the question arises . . .

'How can I maximize these betting profits?'

How does the race player get more money out of a specific series of wins and losses?
Of course - the horse bettor can simply raise his bet level every so often. This, like everything else related to a serious horse race betting approach, should be done methodically and systematically.
One could, for example, raise the bet level 20-25% on every doubling of the betting bankroll - ex: Starting bank = $500, win bet level $10.00 - when bank reaches $1000, raise bet level to $12.00 or $13.00.
There are complex formulas that best cope with 'risk of ruin' per average bet size as related to average payoff etc. - but that's not what I'm going to go into in this article.

Parlays are the subject here.

Parlay betting is kind of magical.

It's often been said that you can't turn a flat bet loss series into a profitable series by applying any sort of horse betting method or money management plan.

Well, yes, you can. Parlays can do that!
Here is a series of 10 horse race wagers:
loss, loss, loss, loss, $9.00, $10.00, loss, loss, loss, loss.

Flat betting $2.00 each time, you've got $20 in and $19 out for a loss of 5%.

Betting a straight two horse $2.00 parlay - you've only got $18 in - but $45.00 back out for an ROI of +150% !

Okay - but don't run out and tap the savings account just yet. The order of wins and losses becomes crucial in parlays. Move either of the above two wins by one race and you'd miss the parlay and have a 100% loss!
Just as parlays can turn a flat bet losing series into a winning one - they can turn flat bet winning series into a losing one.
Here is another series of 10 races:

loss, 8.00, loss, $10.00, loss, $12.00, loss, loss, loss, loss.

Flat betting $2.00 = $20 in, $30 out for an ROI of +50% Straight 2 horse parlay - $18 in, $0 out for and ROI of -100%
Yet, a different parlay betting approach - the 'round robin' can gain great profits on the same (above) series.

A 'round robin' attempts to catch all possible parlays occurring in any given multi-race series. In a 10 race series, the bettor would start with 9 $2.00 bets, then 8 $2.00 bets etc. as follows for the above series:

race 1 - bet $18 = loss
race 2 - bet $16 - pays $8.00 = return $64.00
race 3 - bet $14 + $8 = loss
race 4 - bet $12 + $8 - pays $10.00 = return $100.00
race 5 - bet $10 + $8 + $10 - loss
race 6 - bet $8 + $8 + $10 - pays $12.00 = return $156
race 7 - bet $6 + $8 + $10 + $12 = loss
race 8 - bet $4 + $8 + $10 + $12 = loss
race 9 - bet $2 + $8 + $10 + $12 = loss
race 10 - bet $0 + $8 + $10 + $12 = loss
Total of all bets = $262 in Total out = $320 for a good ROI of +22%
Or is it a +22% ROI on this series of horse race bets?

No, not really.

If you bet $100 on a pick six that you win and pays $800 - what's your ROI? Isn't it 800 divided by 100 for +700% profit? Or, let's say you bet a $2.00 daily double that pays off at $16.00 - what's your ROI? Isn't it 16 divided by 2 for +700% profit?
Parlay Bet Definition
Parlays should be figured exactly as any other multi-race wager. In the above example, the total risk capital was only that amount which was started each race:18+16+14+12+10+8+6+4+2 = $90

So we had $320 total out on $262 total bet for a net of +$58.00

$58 profit on $90 risked is an actual ROI of +64.4%

The mistake made by players attempting to run parlays - is the same old mistake players are forever making . . .

Needing lots of wins to bolster their egos and verify their handicapping skills, they parlay low priced figure horses.

Most often their parlay approach isn't even planned - it's a craps shooter's mentality - 'press it up.'

An example would be a player who hits say a 9-5 winner for a $20 wager - his return around $57.00 - and he decides on the spur of the moment to parlay it all onto the next race where he's got another good looking figure horse going off at 2-1. He hits it at say $6.40 and gets a $182 return. Great! He feels really good about his 'score' - decides to stop while he's way ahead and go home with his good profit.

The ROI was an incredible +812% - I mean, that is incredible - right?
Well - yes, but there was this other guy who played the same day and had run a mere $2.00 five race parlay series. He had set his minimum acceptable odds at 7-1 and proceeded to smoke out the best contender in each race that qualified at those odds. He had his simple betting tables all laid out on a betting sheet so he could keep good and accurate records of his wagers and results - in other words, he had a betting plan.

Parlay Bet Definition Two

The results of his horse race betting parlay campaign looked like this:
race 1 - bet $8 = loss
race 2 - bet $6 - pays $19.80 = return $59.40
race 3 - pass, no decent qualifier
race 4 - bet $4 + $20 (19.80 rounded up) - ( this was the race our other player won at $5.70) = loss
race 5 - bet $2 + $20 = loss (this was the $6.40 winner that completed our other player's parlay)
race 6 - pass, no decent qualifiers
race 7 - bet $0 + $20 - pays $37.80 = return $378 (this is bet #5 and
completes the series)
So player #2 has risked $8+6+4+2 = the same $20 as player #1, yet he has a total of $80 bet and $431.40 out for a net of $357.4.

As put forth in the previous article,Horse Racing Gold advocates the portfolio method of horse betting and money management.

Parlay Bet Definition Game


There is no 'fantasy-world' perfect horse race betting system, or money management plan. They just don't exist. Serious wagering requires a bankroll, patience, self-confidence and nerve.
Parlay betting separates the men from the boys (and the women from the girls!). . . No sweet little old grandmothers allowed!
Bet
It takes a certain kind of race bettor to be able to have just cashed a good paying ticket, yet be willing to risk that 'bird in the hand' profit looking for the really big profits 'in the bush.'


You may be confused as to what that means. For years it was a battle cry amongst my roommates and me, particularly during football season, and when you got to yell it, chances were you were buying drinks that night. But what does it mean, and what’s a parlay?

Parlay bet definition games

What is a Parlay?

A parlay is a type of sports bet in which you combine multiple individual bets (typically 2-10 bets) into one bet or “card.” Combining the bets gives you worse odds to win, but a larger reward for winning. The larger the amount of wagers included in your parlay, the larger the payout.

In order for a parlay bet to win, you must win each individual bet on the card. For instance, let’s say I bet the Patriots, the Ravens and the Texans all to win their games on any given Sunday. If all three win, I will get a much larger payout than if I just bet each game individually. However, if any of those teams lose their bet, the entire card is lost.

The only exception is in the case of a “push,” which is the gambling term for a tie. If one of the games on the card pushes, that wager is removed from the parlay. So, in the case of our three team bet above, if the Ravens tied their game, it becomes a two bet parlay. If the Patriots and Texans then win their games, the bet pays out as a 2 team parlay. The payout will be smaller than if they all three won, but hey, you still win some money!

While the odds of winning large parlays (5-10 wagers combined) are relatively low, they allow you to risk a small amount of money for a potentially large reward. For instance, a 10 team parlay bet purchased for $25 would pay out over $16,000 if you won every game.

Now that you understand the basics, let’s look at what kinds of bets you’ll be pairing together to make your fortune!

Types of Parlays

Over/ Unders

Over/Under bets (or bets on the “total) are wagers made on the total amount of points that will be scored during any given game by both teams. The sports book sets the “line,” which is the number you will be basing your decision on. You bet on whether you think the total amount of points scored will be over or under that number.

Over/Under, or Totals, bets are very common in betting parlays because they allow you to make multiple bets on the same game. A common strategy is to bet which team you think will win, and then parlay that bet with whether you think the game will go “under” or “over.”

So, let’s say your Uncle Tony got a tip that Aaron Rogers has a secret shoulder injury, and it will be difficult for Green Bay to throw the ball. The line is set a 53.5. Plus, they are playing the Browns, so you still think they will still win. You may want to bet Green Bay and the under. So you are betting that Green Bay will win the game, but it may be lower scoring due to the injury, and thus the total points scored by both teams will be less than 53.5.

You may have noticed the half a point I included in the example above. In sports betting these half points are called “the hook.” The sportsbooks use half points for most bets, especially over/unders, which limit the opportunities for a push. They “hook” bettors into one side of the bet or the other.

Point Spreads

Point Spreads, commonly referred to just as “the spread,” are what makes sports betting interesting. Without them, we could all just bet the favored team every week, make a lot of money and break Vegas within a month.

A point spread evens the playing field between teams by taking points from the favored team and giving them to the underdog. So, for instance, the Chiefs are playing the Colts in what is expected to be a tightly contested game. The Colts are favored to win by a field goal.

On the sportsbook board, or the betting site, this would look like “Colts -3” or “Chiefs +3,” depending on which side you wanted to bet. So, if you bet the Colts -3, but the Colts win by 1, you actually lost that bet by 2 points. If you bet the Chiefs +3, congratulations, you won!

How many points the underdog gets, or the size of “the spread,” depends on how mismatched the teams are. In the NFL, the spread rarely goes about 13.5 or so, but in sports like college football, you routinely have teams cover 60 point spreads.

While the point spreads themselves add a degree of complication to the bets, there are additional options that can really add to the fun. They’re called Teasers and Pleasers—my heart rate picks up a little just typing those words out for you!

Teasers

As far as I’m concerned, Teaser parlays are the greatest thing to happen to sports betting since the invention of the online casino. A teaser bet allows you to move that point spread that we discussed above in a way that’s favorable to you, the bettor (typically between 6 and 7.5 points). You get less of a payout if you win a teaser parlay, but it does improve your odds of winning.

So, in the example of the Colts and the Chiefs above, we had the Colts favored by 3 points. If you “teased the line” 6 points, then you’d move that Colts spread from -3 to +3.

You add 6 points to the spread that’s already given. Now you have a bet on the team that’s already favored, and now you win your bet whether they win outright as is predicted, or if they lose by less than 3. I like your chances!

What’s even better is that you don’t have to just tease the point spread, you can tease the total or over/under as well! So, if the point spread was 53.5 as it was in our example earlier, you could tease that line all the way down to 46.5 (7 point teaser), and then bet the over. Or, you could bet the under by moving the over/under up to 60.5. Like taking candy from a baby.

Pleasers

Parlay Bet Definition Meaning

Moneyline bets are the last little wrinkle to parlay betting that we will discuss here. These bets remove the point spread from the equation. It’s a bet based straight up on the winner and loser of the event. It’s you saying “I don’t care about all those numbers and that other mumbo jumbo; I think my team is going to win and that’s that!”

Parlays Meaning

Moneyline bets can be very profitable if you can predict an upset. However, if you bet the favored team moneyline, the payout will be less. How much less depends on how largely favored the team you bet on is.

You are able to mix moneyline bets with point spread bets on a single parlay, however you cannot mix them with either teaser/pleaser bets. On those cards, if one wager is teased/pleased, you must tease/please them all.