I'm sure we've all been in a situation before where we stare at the list of games and think to ourselves -- if only I could hit a nice 10-team parlay. Now, depending on the odds of the games you selected, or the amount of money actually wagered on the parlay, this bet won't necessarily make you rich, but it could offer up a very nice four- or five-digit return. The problem with hitting a parlay that size is that it's damn near impossible to do. Most experienced bettors refrain from ever making parlay bets. Thankfully, for sportsbooks, parlays will always be a staple of the betting game since there is always the potential of that one big payout every square bettor chases.

Number of Bets in Parlay Fair Payout (-110 Odds) Fractional Odds Fair Payout on a $10 Bet Implied Win Probability; 2 Team Parlay: 3.64: 2.64/1: $36.45: 27.4%. Generally speaking, a two-team point spread parlay will pay about 2.5/1, while a three-team parlay pays 6/1, a four-team parlay pays 10/1 and a five-team parlay pays 20-1.

In case you are new to the industry, a parlay is a type of bet that involves two or more teams. In order for a parlay bet to be successful, each team involved must win, or cover the spread - depending on how you bet them. A parlay can also be called an accumulator or a combo bet. Parlays are the most popular bet amongst amateur bettors since it has the potential for the biggest payout.

Different Types of Parlays

A parlay can have a combination of moneyline bets , point spread wagers and even include the 'over/under' option. Some sportsbooks allow bettors to include different kinds of prop bets, half-time wagers, different sports and sometimes even futures bets .

Depending on the type or parlay you make, the payout could be minimal or significant. A lot of things go into determining the odds, but the main thing you need to know is that not all sportsbooks offer up the same odds.

Generally speaking, a two-team point spread parlay will pay about 2.5/1, while a three-team parlay pays 6/1, a four-team parlay pays 10/1 and a five-team parlay pays 20-1. Obviously, the more teams you decide to put in your parlay, the higher the odds go.

If you decided to go the parlay route with your money, you must be completely educated on the rules. Do you know what happens if one of the games in your parlay is canceled or pushes on the total or point spread? If you're reading this, I'm assuming you don't, so let me give you a better understanding.

What Happens to My Bet If My Parlay Has a Canceled Game?

Whether you are playing a point spread parlay on football Sunday, or a moneyline parlay on Tuesday's baseball card, the answer to this question remains the same; 'it depends'.

It all depends on which sportsbook you are using and what their rules are for parlays. Most sportsbooks do not punish bettors for having a canceled game on their parlay ticket. The ticket will go on as if that canceled game never existed.

For example, if you put together a five-team parlay and the fourth game on your ticket between the New York Mets and Washington Nationals gets canceled due to rain, your parlay is still live, but it just reduces to a four-team parlay and the payout is adjusted accordingly.

What Happens to My Bet if My Parlay Has a Push On it?

This is where it gets a little bit dicey, but as I said above the answer still depends on which sportsbook you use. Most sportsbooks try to avoid setting full-point point spreads such as -3 or -7 in order to be able to declare a winning and losing side. If by the off chance you can get a whole number and that game happens to fall right on that number, most sportsbooks just void that leg of the parlay and reduce the payout to the next number - which is the same procedure as above. A five-team parlay would then turn into a four-team parlay and the odds would adjust.

However, it should be noted that some sportsbooks treat pushes as losses. That means that just because you got a great number of -3 instead of -3.5, you are still needing to win by four in order to avoid losing your parlay. These parlays increase the difficulty of the wager and should be avoided at all costs.

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Parlays are the Frankenstein’s monster of sports betting. They are wagers that consist of other bets glued together with one another.

They are also a high-risk, high-reward opportunity for the daredevil sports bettor. If you are a Colorado resident who feels like kicking things up a notch, make sure you read this guide to parlay betting first.

How parlay betting works

The first thing to understand about parlays is that they consist of multiple choices. Where other types of sports bets involve your choice of a single variable, parlays require players to predict outcomes on several different bets.

Each selection in a parlay is known as a leg. These bets can all be the same type of wager, or they can be varied. The exact composition of each parlay is entirely up to the bettor.

Why parlays are so risky (and well-paid)

The escalated source of risk in parlay betting is the fact that a bettor must be completely correct in his or her selections to get paid. Even one mistake causes the entire wager to be lost.

3 Team Parlay Calculator

Naturally, as you increase the number of legs involved in a parlay, the chance of an incorrect prediction goes up. So, sportsbooks offer increasing payouts to compensate for the risk.

In fact, parlays with many legs are capable of producing some incredible wins for you. For instance, a successful 20-leg parlay in 2019 allowed a Mississippi bettor to turn a $25 wager into more than $104,000.

Of course, these stories drive more people to give parlay betting a try. However, it’s important to realize that successful parlays make the news because they are so unusual.

In a sense, these outsized payouts are not unlike lottery winnings. A bettor who successfully predicts a string of unlikely events has beaten very long odds, indeed.

Sportsbooks are, of course, more than happy to allow you to take such a risk. Truthfully, if the money you bet on parlays does not affect your lifestyle or living conditions, then they can be a fun diversion for a sports bettor seeking to get the blood pumping.

Parlay betting examples

Building a parlay is exceptionally easy, particularly on an online sportsbook. For mobile app or laptop users, they will usually need only to select the bets they want in their parlay and click a button on their bet slip to set things up.

In the following examples, the wagers we’re using are actual bets offered on DraftKings Sportsbook.

2-Leg Parlay

Bet #1: Moneyline @ +160
Bet #2: Over 230.5 points @ -113
Overall odds: +321

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The first thing to notice is that neither of these choices have particularly long odds. The moneyline is only an 8/5 underdog, and the chosen over was the favorite.

Still, their combined chances of happening are more than 3 to 1. So, even if things are looking good individually, the odds of both events occurring are much less likely, and you will get paid far less often than if you bet each element individually.

3-Leg Parlay

Bet #1: Moneyline @ -195
Bet #2: Moneyline @ -455
Bet #3: Moneyline @ -165
Overall odds: +199

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Just to ram home the point about the odds involved, we chose three moneyline favorites to populate our parlay here. To reiterate, each of these choices is expected to win their game.

However, the combined chance that all three bets will win is still almost 2 to 1 against. So, bear in mind that in parlays, there’s no such thing as a safe option.

10-Leg Parlay

Bet #1: Moneyline @ +145
Bet #2: Moneyline @ +145
Bet #3: Puck Line @ +118
Bet #4: Over 5.5 Goals @ +105
Bet #5: Moneyline @ +180
Bet #6: Moneyline @ -195
Bet #7: Moneyline @ -143
Bet #8: Moneyline @ -455
Bet #9: Over 231 points @ -112
Bet #10: Spread @ -112
Overall odds: +85379

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2 Team Parlay 3 Bets Cheat

Here is an example of how outsized both the odds and payouts for a parlay can get. Here we have a collection of 10 wagers that are all going off at odds shorter than 2 to 1. Yet, the combined odds of all 10 events is a staggering 853.79 to 1!

One other thing to note is that, in order to construct this parlay, we had to choose from different games each time. In order for a parlay to be valid, there cannot be bets that are related to one another – for instance, you cannot bet both the moneyline and total for a single game.

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Parlay variants

Along with standard parlays, sportsbooks commonly offer one or more variants of the combination bets. These variants each have their own appeal, so judge for yourself if you want to try them out.

Teasers

One of the most common parlay variants is the teaser. The teaser is the sportsbook’s attempt to lessen some of the risk that comes with parlay betting.

Quite simply, a teaser allows the bettor to tease, or move, the odds of the bets in a parlay in his or her favor. Teasers are only permitted for point spreads and totals – it wouldn’t really make sense to try and apply a teaser to a moneyline.

You must adjust each leg of a teaser by the same number of points. So, if you move one of your selections by five points, all of your selections must move by five.

However, the movement will always be in your favor. So, a bet on a favorite might reduce the spread, but a bet on an underdog would increase it.

Of course, nothing is free in this world, and teasers come with a price. Specifically, a successful teaser will not pay out as much as a parlay with the same selections. The sportsbook charges a premium for the reduced risk.

Still, for a bettor who wants to try parlays but doesn’t like the risk profile, a teaser might be a way to slide into things. The odds will still be long, but maybe not as unacceptably so.

For more information about teasers, click here.

Pleasers

Please be aware that sportsbooks will sometimes offer a parlay variant called a pleaser. While they are less common, they are simply the mirror image of teasers.

So, the odds in a pleaser will actually be worse than a standard parlay. However, the associated payout will be higher to compensate for the increased risk.

If a parlay just isn’t risky enough for you, a pleaser might be exactly what you’re wanting. Keep an eye out for them.

Round Robins

Round robins are a fascinating variant of parlays because of their margin for error. Almost every parlay requires perfection to pay out, but round robins have no such requirement.

Round robins are bets that are combinations of parlays. If parlays were a mathematical concept, round robins would be the next power of exponent to them – the cube to parlays’ square, so to speak.

Since they are composed of multiple parlays, it is possible to win a portion of a round robin even if one (or more) of the parlays fails. The different permutations mean that parts of the round robin might not be affected by the doomed parlay.

If you’re confused, don’t worry.

Example

2 Team Parlay 3 Bets

You have 5 bets (A, B, C, D, and E) you want to make. You could make a single 5-leg parlay that would look like this:

• ABCDE

-or-

You could make a round robin with 10 separate 2-team parlays in it. Here’s how it would look:

• AB
• AC
• AD
• AE
• BC
• BD
• BE
• CD
• CE
• DE

2 Team Parlay

Now…let’s say that you lose bet B.

2 Team Parlay Meaning

In the case of the parlay, the entire bet is lost. However, in the case of the round robin, six of the parlays are still alive and well:

3 Team Parlay Payout

• AC
• AD
• AE
• CD
• CE
• DE

2 Team Parlay 3 Bets Unblocked

So, even though the loss would’ve been disastrous for the straight parlay, it’s not the end of the world on a round robin. If you want to do some parlay betting but want to have some backup options, a round robin might be the way to go.