Parlays are combination bets popular among sports bettors, where multiple individual wagers are merged into a single, unified bet resembling a Frankenstein’s monster. Each individual bet incorporated within a parlay is referred to as a “leg.”

There is virtually no limit to the number of legs a parlay can have. A parlay refers to any bet that combines two wagers into one, and it is quite common to come across parlays with over 10 legs.

The more legs in a parlay, the higher the potential payout becomes. It is common for parlays with ten or more legs to provide payouts that can multiply the initial bet by 100 or even more.

Nevertheless, as previously mentioned, parlays come with a significant drawback. In order for a parlay to result in a win, each individual selection must be chosen correctly. Should even a single selection fail, the entire bet will be lost.

If a bettor successfully wins 14 out of the 15 legs in a parlay, but fails to win the final leg, the entire bet is voided. Although parlays offer substantial payouts, there is no room for any mistakes.

How do you place a parlay bet?

It goes without saying that parlays are options that come with high risks and high rewards. The probability of winning is considerably low.

It is not surprising that sportsbooks make it convenient for individuals to place parlay bets, whether it involves multiple events or multiple wagers within a single event, also known as a same-game parlay. This is evident from the revenue reports, which highlight the significant profitability of parlays for sportsbooks.

Nevertheless, it is difficult to resist the enticing allure of a substantial payout. Therefore, if you are interested in attempting a parlay, here is what you should do.

• Please select all your leg options for your legs. Feel free to choose from a variety of sports and bet types. However, it is important to note that legs cannot be correlated. This means that you cannot pick both the moneyline and the point spread for the same game as two separate legs, as these outcomes are not completely independent of each other.
• When engaging in online sports betting or using a kiosk, your betslip will automatically fill in with your chosen selections and available betting options. Once you choose your second leg, parlays will appear, along with the corresponding moneyline payout ratio. However, if you are at a physical casino, you will need to go through each option with the cashier to establish the parlay.
• Afterwards, you will either enter your wager amount into the designated field online or give the corresponding amount of cash to the cashier. Once this is done, your bet will be confirmed, and then it’s just a matter of waiting.

Parlay cards may also be available at various retail sportsbooks, simplifying the process for both customers and ticket writers. By simply filling out the card and submitting it along with your bet money to the cashier, you can easily place your bet.

A drawback of live betting parlays is that numerous physical sportsbooks tend to offer predetermined odds payouts for parlays. Consequently, they frequently establish payouts that are lower than the actual odds of successfully hitting the parlay.

Nevertheless, the predetermined odds for parlays assume that each leg provides an equal payout of -110. To prevent receiving unfair compensation, a straightforward approach is to ensure that at least one of your legs does not have identical payouts. By doing so, the sportsbook will be obliged to recalculate and provide you with the accurate value for your parlay.

You no longer need to be concerned about fixed odds when using online sportsbooks. Their advanced technology allows for instantaneous calculation of odds for each parlay.

How do parlay odds work?

To grasp the concept of parlay betting odds more easily, let’s examine a set of NBA game bets as examples. The samples provided below are from FanDuel Sportsbook:

To keep things simple, we will be making four-point spread bet selections. Our chosen options are as follows:

• The Orlando Magic are favored by 2.5 points with a betting line of -115.
• The Indiana Pacers have a point spread of -1 with odds of -110.
• The Milwaukee Bucks are favored by 10.5 points with odds of -110.
• The Brooklyn Nets are favored by 4.5 points with odds of -114.

To clarify, we purposely selected the favored teams in each match. It is anticipated that all four teams will triumph over their opponents, surpassing the point spreads or at least meeting them. Additionally, it is worth noting that two teams are attracting a majority of the bets placed, as evidenced by the lower payouts for the Magic and Nets. Therefore, it appears that a parlay involving these four teams would carry a relatively low level of risk.

This is what the parlay option on our betslip states:

Despite the favorable odds for each of our four selections, the likelihood of all four coming true remains slim. According to the parlay option, the probability of all four beating their spreads is nearly 12 to 1.

Including real underdogs or adding more teams to the equation will only make the odds even more difficult. For example, if we were to change our choices from the Magic to the Bulls and the Raptors to the Nets, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to do so since the payout ratios for each option are relatively similar. However, when we consider the impact of these minor alterations on our parlay prospects, the outlook becomes significantly different.

The minor adjustments resulted in a risk profile increase of over 8% for the bet. However, including an additional component leads to an even more significant difference. Hence, we have chosen a new combination, encompassing five legs for our parlay.

• The Oklahoma City Thunder are favored by 1 point with odds of -114.

Please take note that currently, a greater proportion of wagers is inclined towards our chosen option. In simpler terms, the informed bettors are favoring the Thunder at present. Nonetheless, here is the updated perspective on our parlay.

Adding just one more leg to our parlay nearly doubled the risk involved. It’s hard to fathom how much riskier it would be with more than 10 legs.

Nevertheless, it is important to acknowledge that the ratios shown also indicate the potential payouts. For instance, even a modest $10 wager on a 5-team parlay could potentially yield an additional $250 in winnings. This presents an impressive return on our investment, but it’s crucial to strike a balance between our tolerance for risk and our aspiration for a substantial payout.