Parlay betting is one of the most exciting and versatile tools in any sports bettor’s arsenal. Loved by both casual bettors and professionals alike, parlay betting can turn even the most modest wagers into huge paydays. To understand how they work, you must first analyze the building blocks that go into them.

Parlay Formula is a unique way to bet on the races. To parlay a bet is simply to reinvest the winning dividends from one race to a bet on a subsequent race. By parlaying the dividends of one race onto a subsequent race, the dividends are multiplied together, thereby increasing the amount of the payout. A Parlay Formula bet can include up to six races and the formula determines the number of races over. For a parlay bet, you’re combining multiple wagers on a single betting ticket. The more bets that are added to the ticket, the higher the potential return becomes. However, the odds of hitting all legs on the ticket rise with each addition. As such, parlay bets are a high-risk, high-reward wager type. How to Bet a Parlay Typically you will need two or more betting picks to create a parlay to make one bet. The more picks you add to the card, the harder it is to land a winner, and the more unlikely a successful wager will become. However, this is offset by potentially substantial rewards for those that manage it.

Parlay Betting: Read the Moneyline Prices

Not all types of bets can be used in parlay betting. In general, the most common building blocks of a parlay are the same as those featured in single game betting; moneylines, spreads, and totals.

In order to determine what your parlays will pay out, you must first know how to read odds prices. Odds are always listed with a “-“ or a “+” in front of them, such as the Washington Nationals +140 vs. the Los Angeles Dodgers -160.

A number preceded by a “-“ let’s you know how much you must wager to win $100. In the example above, a $160 bet on the Dodgers would pay $100. Similarly, an $80 bet on the Dodgers would pay $50.

On the other side of the equation, odds preceded by a “+” tell you how much a bet of $100 would pay out on this side. So at +140, a $100 bet would pay $140, and a $200 bet would pay $280.

Moneylines vary widely from game to game and sport to sport. Totals and spreads on the other hand, especially in football and basketball, almost always pay out -110 (bet $110 to win $100) on both sides.

How Parlay Betting Works

A parlay bet is a wager in which you pick more than one side (generally 2-12 sides) and then bunch all of your selections together into one play. Each of these sides is called a “leg” of the parlay, and every leg of the parlay must win in order for you cash. The more legs you add, the more risk you add; but you also vastly increase the payouts.

The reason parlays work out this way is because each win within the parlay is rolled into the next play. This creates a snowball effect that can wind up climaxing in a massive payout should the parlay hit.

Imagine a two-team parlay consisting of two football teams going off at -110 each. Our bettor decides to place a $100 parlay on these two teams, and both win. earning him a nice profit of $260.

How did this wager amount in a profit of $260? Essentially, this parlay was the equivalent of back-to-back all-in wagers. When the first game won, the $100 wagered at -110 earned a profit of $90.91.

The entire $190.91 rolled on to the second game, which also won. The $190.91 at -110 pays $173.55 and that brings the total payout of this wager to roughly $360. The bettor’s original $100 plus an additional $260 in profit.

How do Multi-leg Parlays Work?

Once you understand how these payouts work, you can quickly see why multi-leg parlays pay out so well, and why they are so popular amongst casual bettors. A sports bettor that builds a 10-team parlay with 10 sides that are each going off at -110 will see a payday of 645 to 1 if all 10 of those sides turn out to be winners.

That’s a staggering win of $3,225 on just a $5 wager! The odds of hitting such a parlay are extremely low, but the payouts when they are hit are simply massive with so many wins rolling on top of one another.

Don’t worry, you won’t have to calculate what these parlays pay by yourself. As you are building your bet ticket, the price that a parlay will pay is quickly and automatically calculated for you. This way, you can try different combinations and assess the risk to reward potential before placing your wager.

How To Do Parlay Bets

What are the Rules to Parlay Betting

All parlay bets are final once they have been placed. Whatever moneyline price, point spread or total you received at the time you place the bet is locked in.

One loss negates the entire parlay. If you make a five-leg parlay and your picks go 4-1, the entire bet is graded as a loss. You only get paid on a parlay when it has no losing picks.

If one of the sides that you select ends up being graded as a push, it is essentially removed from your parlay. For example, if you place a three-team parlay with the Warriors -11, Rockets -8 and Jazz +4 and Golden State wins by exactly 11 while the other two sides win, you will be paid as if you placed just a 2-team parlay on Houston and Utah.

What is Correlated Parlay Betting?

Correlated parlays are not allowed. A correlated parlay is a parlay in which two sides directly correlate with one another. For example, trying to parlay Golden State -11 for the full game and Golden State -5.5 for the first half won’t work. These two events are directly tied together.

A bet on a side and total in the same football or basketball game is perfectly legal. You could parlay Golden State and the Over in the same game. When in doubt, try it out. The sportsbook will let you know if your parlay bet can’t or will not be accepted. If you are unclear on whether something is legal or not, try it and see if it registers as a legal parlay.

Pros and Cons to Parlays

How To Play Parlay Football Betting

Perhaps the clearest advantage to betting on parlays is the massive upside potential. When just betting $55 to win $50 on single games, a 6-0 day would just result in a $300 profit. That same 6-0 day with a $100 parlay would have paid out just under $5000.

Parlays can also be used strategically, as alluded to above in the Golden State and Over example.

Imagine you’re handicapping a football game between a great offensive team and a strong defensive side. Let’s say you like the defensive team to cover. You might consider parlaying that team with the Under.

The disadvantage to parlays is the opposite side of the high risk-high reward coin. While multi-leg parlays can result in incredible profits, all it takes is one single slip-up to blow up the whole card.

Going 2-0 or better for a given day’s picks is a tough task. A parlay bet isn’t cashed unless there are no losers on the ticket. A single-game bettor, on the other hand, can have a few blemishes and still turn a profit.

Developing a Parlay Betting Strategy

Parlays can be quite addictive, especially when you’re on a hot streak. But they can also lead to big downswings with their all-or-nothing nature.

It’s important not to force it when it comes to parlay betting. Using parlays in strategic scenarios or small sizes is a great way to incorporate them into your betting strategy. If you are in love with a handful of plays, parlaying them to take advantage could be worthwhile. But on a day that you find some games that are super close calls, it might be best to opt for single-game wager and just try to grind out a small profit.

What are Teaser Bets and How do They Relate to Parlay Betting?

A compromise between parlay betting and single-game betting is teaser betting. Teasers are available on basketball and football spreads and totals. They give bettors extra points to work with on multiple bets. For example, a four-point teaser in football would turn a parlay of Jacksonville -2 and Oakland +6 to Jacksonville +2 and Oakland +10, adding four points to each selection.

Teasers don’t pay as well as parlays, but they are also a lot easier to hit with the adjusted lines. These plays can offer a good alternative for a series of games that may seem too risky to parlay but also doesn’t seem to be too appealing as single-game bets.

Parlays are a lot of fun. Once you hit your first one, you’ll be hooked on how exciting they can be, especially when you are down to your last leg. Try them out across different sports and bet types until you find a strategy that works within your skillset and budget.

A teaser is a sports bet that is similar to placing a parlay bet. Both types of wagers are made by selecting two or more events to occur. Like a traditional parlay, each event selected for a teaser must win in order for the player to win to win the bet.

Sports Betting Parlays

All multi-event wagers have the potential for larger wins but teasers don’t pay as much as a parlay. The attraction to teasers might be that they appear easier to win.

The main item that separates a teaser from a traditional parlay is that a bettor may alter point spreads and over/under totals between 4 and 10 points depending on the sport and teaser. Changing the point spread and point total make the wagers appear to be easier to win.

Winning multiple bets, no matter the point spread is never easy. However, the adjusted lines should help bettors find a little more confidence in their bets. The payout from the sportsbook for a teaser is lower than a parlay since these are anecdotally easier to win.

How a teaser works

A teaser isn’t too difficult to understand after seeing how the point moving works. The easiest way to comprehend a teaser is to see an example. For simplicity, we’ll use a six-point teaser for football games:

Original wager options:

• New England Patriots +3 (-110) at Kansas City Chiefs
• Los Angeles Rams +3 (even) at New Orleans Saints

A two-team six-point teaser on the underdogs would change the point spreads to the following:

• New England Patriots +9 at Kansas City Chiefs
• Los Angeles Rams +9 at New Orleans Saints

A two-team six-point teaser on the favorites would change the point spreads to the following:

• New England Patriots at Kansas City Chiefs +3
• Los Angeles Rams at New Orleans Saints +3

A $10 parlay with the original point spreads would pay approximately $27.70. A $10 six-point teaser would pay $8.35. The same teaser will pay less if the point spreads or totals are teased by 6.5 or 7 points.

The process for selecting totals on a teaser is similar.

All sportsbooks offer a variety of teaser cards for football season. Football games can be teased by 6, 6.5, or 7 points. Some casinos offer 10 point teasers but only for a total of three sides and/or totals.

Sportsbooks offer teasers for basketball as well. However, they offer fewer basketball teaser cards than football. Basketball games can be teased by 4, 4.5, 5, 5.5, or 6 points.

Placing a teaser in person

A teaser in a land-based casino can be done in two ways. A player simply can tell the ticket writer how much they’d like to wager, how many points they’d like to tease and the point spread and totals that they would like to tease. It’s rare to see a person bet a teaser in person like this.

The in-person process can be confusing and time-consuming. Most teaser bets in land-based casinos are placed using a teaser card. Filling out a card in advance of visiting the sportsbook desk is a quick way to complete the transaction since all of the information is already filled in.

Casinos offer a variety of parlay and teaser cards. Make sure to read the rules and payout before choosing a card.

Betting teaser cards

Casino operators have different computer systems for parlays and teasers so the process might be different at certain casinos. Most teaser cards have fixed point spreads and Over/Under totals. In this case, the information on the card won’t change when a teaser bet is placed.

Some sportsbook operators might use a “live line” even though a teaser card lists a specific line from the morning. This allows the casino to change the point spread or point total based on what the current line is when the teaser is placed.

The ticket writer will ask the player if they’re okay with the changes before finalizing the bet. This process can be intimidating for new bettors when a sportsbook is busy and the lines are long. Bettors don’t have to accept the new lines and shouldn’t be afraid to decline the line changes.

Placing a teaser at an online sportsbook

Placing a teaser at an online sportsbook might be the easiest way to make this kind of wager. A teaser can be made simply by selecting the teams and totals, selecting “teaser,” and choose how many points to tease.

Online teaser cards make the process even more simple. The teaser card will show the adjusted point spreads and totals for each card. The player simply chooses between two and eight sides or totals then selects how much they’d like to wager. Just enter “submit” and confirm the bet. That’s all it takes to bet a teaser online.

Teaser Payouts

Betting Parlay Payout

Once a bet is placed, the odds paid remain fixed no matter what computer system a sportsbook uses. Teaser payouts are smaller than traditional parlays.

For example, a two-team point spread parlay might pay 2 to 1 odds if both events are winners for the player. Meanwhile, a two-team teaser might pay -110 if both events are winners.

The more points used to tease lines, the less the payout will be. A six-point teaser might return 10-11, while a 6.5-point teaser only returns 10-12, and a seven-point teaser returns 10-13.

Parlay Betting Rules

Actual pay schedules vary by teaser type and sportsbook. Check the pay schedule before placing a teaser or any other bet.