Parlay Bet: What Is It, And How Does It Work?

A parlay bet is a combination of two or more bets in a single wager, also called accumulator or multi bets. It comes with a higher risk, as you need to have more than one correct guess, but the beneficial trade-off accompanies it. Your odds are multiplied, not summed up, which can result in a very large profit.

Basics of Parlay Betting

The possibility of turning a few reasonable bets into highly profitable bets is tempting, which is why many bettors in the Philippines seek parlay bets. As with everything within all the existing forms of gambling, there is a risk-reward ratio that is always respected.

Therefore, your odds are multiplied together because the risk of failing in at least one of them and losing the whole parlay bet is considerable. Also, parlay bets are a recognized modality and not a way to trick sportsbooks. As a result, their platforms are prepared to receive parlay bets and will not allow the addition of bets that are too correlated into a parlay.

For example, do not expect to be able to add a money line NBA bet and then a spread bet from the same event that includes the same result. That would be an easy win, and that is precisely why a parlay bet won’t be accepted.

How to Make a Parlay Bet?

Placing a parlay bet is the exact same process as making a bet on any sports betting site, except that you do it twice or more times before concluding it. Follow the steps:
  • Log in to your account on any of the best sports betting sites available in the Philippines.
  • Open the sports modality in which you want to place a parlay bet.
  • Choose an event that is going on or is yet to occur.
  • Pick your first betting line according to your strategy.
  • Define its value and repeat the process for at least one more bet.
  • Conclude the parlay bet.
If your second choice results in an error, it means that you are adding a bet that is not compatible with parlay. In general, that is mostly because they are correlated, and you are not really increasing the risk, which is a must in that case. Example of enhanced odds with a parlay bet

Credit: 22Bet

Place Parlay Bets on 22Bet

How to Calculate the Parlay Payouts

The best thing about calculating odds in sports betting is that it always follows the same principles. Therefore, if you learn how to calculate NBA odds, you also know how to calculate the payout of regular or parlay bets. It all comes down to multiplying the odds, and that is your possible profit:
  1. Get your odds shown as “decimal odds”, which is a common setting in any bookmaker. Choose decimal odds to help in the calculation

    Credit: BetOnline

  2. Multiply all the odds of the bets in your play slip together. In our case, that was 1.91 x 1.95 x 1.95 = 7.26! As the betting site gives an extra for a 3-team parlay, it shows as 7.32 on the bet slip: the bet slip
  3. Multiply the result by your total stake. Again, in our example, a bet of 600 PHP would result in 600 x 7.32 = 4,392 PHP.
  4. Subtract the original bet to get the parlay payout in terms of profit: 4,392 – 600 = 3,792 PHP.
If we were to place all those three bets separately with 200 PHP each, these would be the results:
  • 200 x 1.91 = 382 PHP
  • 200 x 1.95 = 390 PHP
  • 200 x 1.95 = 390 PHP
In other words, the total win would be 1,162 PHP, or only 562 in profit. That huge difference of 3,230 PHP is why the parlay payout is highly superior. Make a Parlay Bet on BetOnline.AG

Example of a Real Parlay Bet

Let’s dive into a real example of a parlay bet for a clear understanding. First, we want to place a boxing bet because it is a sport in which there tend to be favorites frequently, which may affect the odds severely. We chose a fight between Hassan Amzile and Mohamed Suleiman Kartoum, a match that was sort of balanced with odds of 2.00 for the moneyline on Hassan Amzile. To accompany it in our parlay bet, we decided to risk a tie between Wolves and Manchester United for the English Premier League, with considerable odds of 3.53. That may seem high, but it was not too far from the moneyline of both teams. We had, as a result:
  • Hassan Amzile (Moneyline): 2.00
  • Tie between Wolves and Manchester United: 3.53
  • 2.00 x 3.53 = 10.59
We will be considering $10 for our example, which is about 530 PHP at the time. These are the possible results after concluding that parlay bet in our bet slip:
  • Hassan Amzile wins the fight, and there is a tie in the soccer match: $105.90 (Win)
  • Hassan Amzile wins the fight, and the soccer match is not a tie: -$10 (Loss)
  • Hassan Amzile does not win the fight, and there is a tie in the soccer match: -$10 (Loss)
Our exaggerated example helps you understand how just two bets with a moderate to high risk can result in big wins. At least, that is the case for those who read the sports well and can see the bigger picture. Still, only one wrong guess takes everything.

Parlay Bet Types

When placing a parlay bet, you will find that there are a few variations of them. As the rules may change, it makes sense to familiarize yourself with them and figure out which one represents what you are actually looking for.

Teasers

A Teaser parlay bet allows you to adjust the spread, like in totals bets, so that your chances of winning increase too. Teasers are frequently considered easier than regular parlay bets. As a result, it is obvious that the odds are also lower.

Teaser parlay bet

Credit: BetOnline

In the example above, the actual choice of betting lines were “Los Angeles Clippers -2.5” and “Under 222” for the New York Nicks vs Charlotte Hornets. Therefore, there was an interesting change in the positive outcome. Of course, the possible win went down from $25.20 to $9.09 compared to a traditional parlay.

Keep in mind that teasers are often only available to some sports, like soccer and betting.

Place Teaser Parlay Bets on BetOnline.AG

Round Robins

A Round Robin separates parlay bets of three or more selections into several bets. For example, a selection of three bets results in up to 4 bets, being one selection of three and three selections of two events. As a prize for the much higher risk, the total payment is also increased.

Round Robins

Credit: BetOnline

In the example above, we have a selection of three bets for three different basketball events. Instead of a total profit of $49.22 out of a $10 bet, we could get a profit of $157.23 with the same total bet. It is more common for professional bettors and traders to perform that risky action.

Same-Game Parlay

The first thought of anyone who learns what a parlay bet is would possibly be to include bets from the same event that are correlated. While the sportsbook may allow you to include same-game parlay bets, you will not be able to conclude your slip with correlated bets.

A parlay must include risk, and improving the odds while the same level of risk is maintained won’t work. Fortunately, a message will indicate when that is the case, and you can just try to figure out the best strategy in which a same-game parlay bet works.

Best Sports to Bet Parlays on

It can be frustrating to understand that there is never a recipe to follow when it comes to sports betting. The best sports to bet with a parlay are those that you are familiar with and can more easily predict the results. Still, there are three sports in which we most commonly place parlay bets, as well as most of the professional Filipino bettors:

  • Basketball: First, because most Pinoy bettors know a lot about the sport, but also because there can be good opportunities in Teaser parlay bets.
  • Soccer: Easier to collect crucial information when it comes to betting, soccer tends to have competitive matches in which spread betting can result in good picks.
  • Baseball: Ideal for same-game parlay with over and under bets.

Are Parlay Bets Worth It?

Parlay bets are worth it for Pinoy bettors who know what they are doing. In other words, it is a bad idea to add several bets to the same slip, even with a small amount, just because the odds tend to grow a lot. Instead, it should be a resource for those who understand one or more matches so well that they feel comfortable in taking a bit more of a risk.

FAQs

In case a sports event is canceled, the parlay bet is revoked and the total bet amount reimbursed, regardless of other events that would still be running.

If one of your parlay bets pushes, which means ending with neither a win nor a loss, the rest of the bets still counts but with adjusted odds.

First of all, there is always a risk at betting. That risk is even higher if your win depends on more events, which is always the case in a parlay bet.

Yes, although most levels of correlation will not be allowed into a parlay bet.

There can be a limit to the number of bets in your parlay, but that is entirely up to the sportsbook and the limit is often a high number.

The strategy that works in sports betting is to only bet on what you understand and never take risks that are too high. Other than that, you need luck only.

At least two, and the total is up to the bettor who is conceiving the parlay.

You can make parlay bets on any online sportsbook, but make sure to pick a reliable one, like the bookies we have tested and approved.

When bets are correlated, you would be trying to trick the sportsbook by reducing the risk while improving the total odds. That is never allowed.