Sports Betting And Parlays Articles | Gambling

By: Richard Bleuze

Sports Betting and Parlays

Although, the basic sports bets are the point spread, moneyline and over/under, the parlay bets tend to be an extremely popular wager.  Especially, during the NFL season. The reason that parlay bets are so popular, is that parlays seem to offer a very high payout.  A three-team parlay pays 6/1 and a five-team parlay offers 24/1 odds for example.That sounds great to the average sports bettor, does it not?

A parlay involves combing two or more wagers from either the same or from various sports on one ticket.  The more wagers on a ticket, the higher the payout. In order for a parlay to payout, you must hit all of your wagers. If you miss one, you lose your cash. That means on a five-game parlay you can hit four straight but lose the last game and end up not collecting one thin dime.

In other words, a parlay is a group of straight bets of either spreads/moneylines or totals combined into one bet with an increased pay out (see chart below).  For the parlay to be a winner, all of the individual selections of the parlay need to win.  If there is a push, cancellation, or no action in one or more of your parlay picks, the wager steps down to the next lower number of teams.  Two team parlays with one selection resulting in a push, cancellation, or no action, reverts to a straight wager.  If all the picks of your parlay are pushes, cancellations, or no action, your parlay is graded as a TIE and the risked funds will be returned to your account.

You can parlay proposition bets of different games in the same parlay and also mix different sports.  Parlays containing spreads, moneylines or team totals of 1st half, 2nd half, periods and quarters of the same sporting event are considered correlated parlays and are not permitted at 5Dimes.

For almost all sports, parlays including spreads or moneylines to totals of the same game are valid.  For football, you can parlay side to total of the same game when the ratio between the spread and the total is greater than 3 to 1.  You are allowed to parlay moneylines to totals on selected options in baseball and hockey.  For baseball, hockey, soccer, and most other sports, parlays with spreads to totals are not permitted.

Parlays Payoffs - Parlay wager payoffs depend on how many teams are selected and the odds on those teams.  To see the payoff, check the chart below.

It is clear from the chart below that parlays are attractive because of their payout rates. An eight-team parlay pays 175/1, a nine-team parlay is good for 335/1 and a ten-team parlay’s payout is 642/1. Those are amazing odds.  However, you should always remember that they are amazing odds because those wagers are so difficult, almost impossible, to hit.
 
There are some professional sports bettors who endorse parlays, especially the three-team parlay, however, most consider them to be sucker bets.  Sucker bets are wagers that are just about impossible to hit because the odds are stacked against you.  If you want to really make a parlay bet, then I suggest only a two-team parlay.  Do not try to make a living playing parlays. You will become frustrated and see your bankroll quickly become depleted.
 
If you want to play an occasional parlay with some winnings that is fine.  Just remember that the reason they offer such great odds is they are so hard to hit. If you do play parlays, please do so very carefully.

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