Profitable Parlays - Fact Or Fiction?

· 5 min read
Profitable Parlays - Fact Or Fiction?

There are countless 'handicapping services' available of providing people who have parlays. They will tout win rates much like one of the most impressive straight wager cappers. Needless to say, you will see that they make reference to money line parlays as 'safe' bets. On several sites you may even have the privilege of dealing with some kind of royalty in neuro-scientific parlay wagering. Regrettably, thousands will undoubtedly be fooled by this fiction again this football season.

The truth is that exotic wagers keep sports books running a business. Next time you're in Vegas take a look at the discarded tickets you see spread everywhere. It's safe to assume that you will find nearly all these losers are made up of such bets placed on both sports and racing. Of all sucker bets available to sports bettors, the parlay is king. Bettors are lured in by the promise of a huge payout while disregarding the point that there is absolutely no reasonable expectation of any return on investment.

The home edge on a typical straight wager at -110 is 4.5%. Weighed against many table games this is actually a fairly raised percentage. Plenty of table games and slots provide a better value for the average bettor placing a random wager. However, we all know that betting on sports isn't anything like throwing a couple of dice at the back wall.

Chance is important in everything the house provides. Additionally, there are steps that could be taken to decrease the edge in only about every game. Nowhere in the casino are elements such as for example skill and preparation more useful than the sports book. The edge on a straight wager could be reversed in the bettors favor by utilizing statistics and expertise in a sport. However, a double digit house edge can never be overcome in the long run.

# of Teams | Actual Odds | Typical Payout | House Edge

2 | 3/1 | 2.6/1 | 10.00%

3 | 7/1 | 6/1 | 12.50%

4 | 15/1 | 10/1 | 31.25%

5 | 31/1 | 20/1 | 34.38%

6 | 63/1 | 40/1 | 35.94%

7 | 127/1 | 75/1 | 40.63%

8 | 255/1 | 150/1 | 41.02%

9 | 511/1 | 300/1 | 41.21%


10 | 1023/1 | 700/1 | 31.54%

As you can plainly see every parlay it is possible to possibly bet comes with a whopping 10% house edge or better. Such casino advantages tend to be more in line with keno, plus they are equally impossible to overcome in the long term. There is absolutely no mystery surrounding the planet of parlays. Bettors are drawn to risking handful of money for large payouts. The games which are most often played in the casino are slot machines that offer thousands or even millions in progressive jackpots. The mentality of the bettors is 'Go big, or go home.' The casino is clearly pleased to oblige as millions of bettors go home with nothing in their pockets every year.

It is fair to assume that the largest amount of losing bets that a book accepts are exotic wagers of add up to or double the home minimum. The reason being most bettors do not have a meaningful bankroll set aside for sports betting. Given that  get more info  don't believe they are able to make any real cash by placing $25-50 on several games weekly they continue taking parlays for $20 or less. Using this method they essentially ensure a significant loss by the finish of the growing season. Meanwhile, should they only placed straight wagers at that same level they would limit their potential losses to some units at most.

Many bettors assume that because they are keeping the size of their bets low they are not taking on a substantial risk. This analysis is flawed since it ignores several factors. Most importantly, it is my experience that a lot of bettors usually do not place just one single parlay weekly. In football this means at the least 34 parlays are placed during the regular season. In baseball that number can simply exceed 100. With a low unit bet that is still a dangerous number of wagers to place with this type of high house edge. For example, in case you are placing only 5 team parlays your expectation ought to be to lose about $35 for each and every $100 you wager. Because the amount of bets you place increases it is inevitable that you'll hit that $100 mark several times over.

Using parlays as a side bet will usually result in upping your losses or erasing any profits you were able to make on straight wagers. In '09 2009, I had a client who broke even with increasing his bankroll by 45% using my picks. He managed to do this by placing 'small' side bets including parlays, reverses, and teasers. That is an expensive lesson to learn especially when you take into account I issued an identical warning to him.

If you are likely to follow his lead and continue using parlays I have a few pointers that may help you over time. First of all, the best value of all parlays is actually the three team parlay. The difference between your house edge on a 2 & 3 teamer is insignificant, however the payout is a lot more than twice as much. Invest the a glance at the graph you should understand why I'd never bet a parlay of 4 teams or even more. However, if you are going to make such an investment listed below are two useful tips:

If you are going to bet a 4 or 5 5 team parlay, always ensure it is 6 and even 10. The difference between your house edge to add one or two 2 more teams is within 5 percentage points and the payout is significantly higher for both options. The house edge on a 10 teamer is virtually the same as a 4 team parlay, however the actual probability of hitting it are over 1,000 to 1 1.
If you are likely to throw your money away chasing huge payouts on 7, 8, and 9 team parlays then just bet the 10 teamer. The House edge is approximately 10 points less than all three of these bets also it typically pays about 700/1.

Setting reasonable goals and being patient while working to achieve them may be the sign of a profitable professional bettor. Greed should be kept in check to become successful. In this regard, every bettor has two options. It is possible to chase high returns while assuming plenty of unnecessary risk. Or it is possible to minimize your exposure to several units while maintaining an acceptable expectation to increase your bankroll by 50%...The decision is yours.