Picture this scenario: someone is taking $10 bets on flipping a coin, and you can win $9 back with your $10 if tails truly never fails. Or you could make the same $10 bet on three coins, but you must correctly predict all three to win $60.
Many folks would risk the same amount of money with their eyes on a bigger prize, although all it takes is one flip of the heads to mean defeat. This situation is a microcosm of the advantages of disadvantages of parlay bets.
Advantage #1: Stacking the Odds
Taking a huge money line favorite on a straight bet doesn’t make much sense. Meanwhile, taking a handful of huge favorites in a money line parlay isn’t a bad strategy, and it could lead to a solid payout.
A game between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Indiana Pacers may have the Bucks a -9.5 favorite at -110 odds, with their money line at around -550. Money line parlays are beneficial because you only need the team to win the game regardless of the amount, eliminating any chances of the dreaded backdoor covers by a Buddy Hield three-pointer as time expires. Pairing the Bucks with three other heavy favorites will get you closer to getting +100 odds, giving you a better return on your investment.
Advantage #2: Entertainment
Unless it’s the day after the MLB All-Star game, every day on the calendar is chock-filled with sports from morning to night. You may ignore a tennis tournament from halfway across the world, but you’ll keep tabs on it if you can go with the heavy favorites in a money line parlay.
Similarly, college sports weekends go from noon to midnight during the height of conference season. Selecting a game from each window gives you quality entertainment throughout the day, particularly if it comes down to the last game.
Every avid bettor knows the feeling of feverishly loading scores and checking box scores of multiple games to track their bets. Your partner may wonder why you give a rip about Indiana v. Iowa football when you live in Massachusetts. It will be challenging to explain that you care about Iowa’s running back surpassing 65.5 rushing yards. Nevertheless, it’s fun to have some scratch on multiple games throughout the day from an entertainment perspective.
Advantage #3: Double-Dipping
Aside from bigger payouts and draining your phone battery from eyeing gamecasts all day, parlays allow you to hedge your bets or win two separate bets on the same contest. Let’s use a personal experience as an example:
Recently the Los Angeles Lakers took on the Memphis Grizzles in a 10:00 p.m. EST tip-off on the west coast. The last leg needing to cash was Desmond Bane’s threes over 2.5. Shortly after the Ja Morant drama, this game made Bane Memphis’s top-scoring option alongside Jaren Jackson Jr., so I felt pretty good about this happening to cash my +650 ticket. However, taking Bane’s under for points at 22.5 was the perfect chance to employ a slight hedge and double-dipping possibility.
If Bane were to hit two or fewer three-pointers, the odds are overwhelming that he wouldn’t score 23 points. Yet, Bane could easily hit three from beyond the arc and still finish with 19 points, potentially cashing both bets. Unfortunately, Bane scored in the high twenties that evening, but luckily, he did net three triples to avoid catastrophe.
Some bettors may scoff at this strategy and avoid it at all costs, but it is one positive about parlay betting that some overlook as a positive for this betting philosophy.
Disadvantage #1: It’s a Long Shot
People love parlays because you can make 20 times your initial investment. But you never consider how much of a longshot it is to cash that +2000 ticket. Hitting a three-pick parlay would be the easiest thing in the world, particularly if you do a deep dive into the matchups. Yet, hitting one should only happen every 20 times you do it because they are extraordinarily tricky to hit consistently.
Recognizing the mathematical improbabilities of hitting two long shots in a row being extremely rare should keep you grounded. Parlays should be an added incentive to your traditional betting methods, not something you rely on to make Scrooge McDuck bucks.
It’s awesome if you turn a $2.50 bet into $70 on your 25-to-1 long shot. But remember, those one-leg losses will come in droves after your small victory. And when those one-legs keep you from winning $100-200 dollars each day, you will lose your patience fast, leading you to bet with a tilted mindset. Betting on tilt typically ends horribly, with you losing your roll in one fell swoop because you were minutes away from a big payday.
Disadvantage #2: Death by a Thousand Cuts
In Taylor Swift’s song “Death by a Thousand Cuts,” the first line perfectly sums up the emotions involved when you’re whiffing on several parlays. “Saying goodbye is death by a thousand cuts” as you see hundreds of dollars fly away on missed parlays. Bidding farewell to what looked like a winning ticket day after day will slowly dwindle your bankroll and sour your mood, whereas betting one lump sum on a single result is instant satisfaction or dismay.
Disadvantage #3: No Long-Term Gain
If your sole goal with sports betting is to make money, parlay betting is rarely the way to go unless you have Biff Tannen’s Sports Almanac from the future. Professional gamblers don’t fiddle with parlay bets and focus purely on straight bets to make money. A professional hitting on 55 percent of their straight bets is a connoisseur compared to the parlay bettor hoping to strike gold multiple times a month.
There’s minimal long-term gain if you stick with this betting strategy. If you were lucky enough to hit a huge parlay, use that moneymaker towards straight bets instead of more parlays.
There are reasons why sportsbooks constantly give bettors incentives for betting parlays with odds boosts and whatnot. It’s because parlays are what make books the most money. They rake in money hand-over-fist from your lottery tickets. The next time you see a boost or a special offer, ask yourself why the sportsbooks are doing it, and it’s not to fill your pockets.
The advantages and disadvantages of parlay bets explain what your expectations should be every time you submit a bet. While you’ll want to pop bottles if you win, it will likely not help you in the long run. One thing that will improve your chances of having winning days is Pregame’s expert betting tips. We’re the best shot at helping you nail your parlays as we break down the action better than the rest, highlighting prominent trends worth monitoring.
