There is a lot of fun to be had placing bets on single games, but there are limits to this. Limits of choices and limits on profits. Some bettors want to combine multiple markets into one bet to increase the thrill and increase the payout. This is what parlay bets are.
Every legal US sportsbook app you will visit will offer parlay betting options. This will let you combine two or more bets into one wager. With the greater risks comes a greater reward. Plus, it’s much more exciting as the excitement of sports betting gets stretched over multiple games.
In our expert guide, we will explain everything there is to know about parlay betting. What they truly are, how to place them with sportsbooks, and how to place them on the NFL. We will give you all the information you need to download a sportsbook yourself and give it a go.
A parlay bet combines multiple different bets into one all-inclusive bet. Each different market you add to the parlay is called a leg. These legs can be on the same sports event or spread across multiple. An example would be betting on the moneyline of multiple different NFL games in a week. If all the legs of the bet come through, your payout will be much larger than if you bet on just each leg individually. However, if just one leg fails, the whole bet fails, and you will get nothing.
Anything can happen in sport, and adding more variables into a bet makes them harder to predict. The more variables or legs you add, the higher the payout will be. They are hard to predict consistently, but players love them because of these payouts. This is why they are one of the most popular bets you will see on US sportsbooks.
Placing parlay bets is straightforward to do, and legal US sportsbooks will help you do so. Go to your sportsbook of choice and add two or more markets to your bet slip. Once you are happy with your selection, go to your bet slip. There should be an option to turn the bet into a parlay. Choose this option, place your stake, and confirm the bet.
If you’re a football fan, let us translate this into something a bit more practical. These odds are just imagined for the sake of an example. We will create a parlay from two teams. The odds are as described below:
We’ve already established the parlays are more profitable than single bets. Now we will look at the difference that betting on favorites and underdogs makes to the odds.
The Saints and the Jaguars are the underdogs, as denoted by the (+) next to the number. If we put $100 on these two teams in a parlay, the payout would come to a massive $591.25 from just a $100 stake. Remember, both teams have to be successful for this to come through. Bear in mind the risk that comes with this bet. The sportsbook believes both teams will lose, so statistically, this bet is unlikely to come through. You have to balance the payout against the likelihood.
Looking at the safer option, wagering on the favorites would still return you a decent amount. In this case, we’re talking about the Packers and the Rams, and a $100 bet would return $256.72. This includes both your profit and the return of your wager. This is much more likely to happen but will also reward you less.
With this newfound knowledge about parlay betting on the NFL, you may be keen to try some for yourself. Before you do, you will want to know the state’s laws from where you will be playing. In 2018 the PASPA was struck down by the US Supreme Court, and since then, many states like New Jersey and Colorado have legalized online sports betting. If you are playing from one of the states with the correct legislation, you don’t need to worry. Use your mobile to download the sportsbook of your choice, and place your NFL parlays bets.