A parlay is a combination of several different types of bets, and all of them must be correct in order for your bet to be considered a winner. Parlays can be made up of just two different parts, or, depending on the sports book that you are using, you can go up to 12. That leaves a lot of room for creativity, and a lot of room to customize your bets in the way that you think will give you the largest chance of earning money.
The three main types of bets used for a parlay are the over/under, the spread, and the money line. These are all pretty simple bets to understand, but let’s take a moment to explain them so that you have a deeper understanding of the intricacies behind how to better win your next parlay.
Over/Under
Over/under refers to the total points scored in a game. In essence, you are attempting to figure out whether this will be a high or a low scoring game. For example, you might see an over/under of 39.5 points for a football game. You want to correctly predict whether the total points of both teams added together will be higher or lower than this number. If you think it’s higher, you will select the over. If you think it will be lower, then you will select the under.
Spread
A spread is one of the more misunderstood components of sports betting. You will see a matchup between two teams, along with two numbers, one positive and one negative. So, let’s say that the Boston Red Sox are playing the New York Yankees and the Yankees have a +1.5 and the Sox have a -1.5. That means that if you choose Boston, they need to win by more than 1.5 points for this bet to be a winner. Since you can’t have a half point in baseball, that means that they need to win by 2 or more runs. If you choose the Yanks, they must lose by fewer than 1.5 points, or they must lose by 1 point, or win the game. If this occurs, then your spread bet is a winner.
Money Line
The money line is a simple win or lose bet. However, because the favorites often do not pay out very much money on a money line, they should be used sparingly in a parlay. First, money line bets are most effective when the teams are evenly matched. In these cases, the number that your parlay earnings is multiplied by becomes a lot higher. Second, money line bets are often over bet by newer bettors because they seem so easy to win on. The issue with this is that it drives down their potential for return, impacting the ability that you have to make money on a parlay. This can negatively impact your earning potential.
This doesn’t mean that a money line bet does not have value. For example, let’s say that you find a three-part parlay that you are really confident in, and you know that the Golden State Warriors are playing the worst team in the NBA on top of everything else that night. Adding a money line bet in favor of the Warriors won’t increase your winnings drastically, but they will increase your winnings just because the parlay is large enough at that point to warrant adding on a surefire winner. Even if it only improves your winnings by a small amount, it’s still likely more profitable than adding a straight money line bet as an individual wager.
Putting it All Together
String a combination of these together and have every component predicted correctly, and you have a winning parlay bet. However, it’s not always this easy, and winning a small parlay isn’t always the greatest of plays. Remember that a parlay’s payout is determined by the difficulty of the individual bets made. Because of this, putting together two easy wins can payout less than two individual bets in some cases. And because both parts need to be right for this to payout, a parlay isn’t always the best choice for bettors. Again, this is to the sports book’s advantage because a parlay seems like such a great choice because of the reputation for big returns. It’s important to be aware of this as a bettor so that you can take the steps necessary to maximize your potential earnings.
Parlays have a lot of potential to help boost your winnings, and they are often a lot of fun to make, but don’t forget that they have a lot of extra risk. They can be great plays, but you are likely to lose on them more often than win. Approaching them correctly will help you to minimize your losses and turn these into a profitable bet over the long term.