Profitable Parlays - Fact Or Fiction?

· 5 min read
Profitable Parlays - Fact Or Fiction?

There are countless 'handicapping services' available of providing people with parlays. They will tout win rates similar to one of the most impressive straight wager cappers. Needless to say, so as to they refer to money line parlays as 'safe' bets. On a number of these sites you may have the privilege of dealing with some type of royalty in neuro-scientific parlay wagering. Regrettably, thousands will 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 all over the place. It's safe to assume that you will find nearly all these losers are made up of such bets positioned on both sports and racing. Of all the sucker bets available to sports bettors, the parlay is king. Bettors are lured in by the promise of an enormous payout while disregarding the point that there is absolutely no reasonable expectation of any return on investment.

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

Chance plays a role in everything the house provides. There are also steps that may be taken to reduce the edge in only about every game. Nowhere in  bj88  are elements such as for example skill and preparation more useful than the sports book. The edge on a straight wager can be reversed in the bettors favor through the use of statistics and expertise in a sport. However, a double digit house edge can't ever be overcome in the long term.

# 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 see every parlay it is possible to possibly bet comes with a whopping 10% house edge or better. Such casino advantages are more in line with keno, and they are equally impossible to overcome in the long term. There is absolutely no mystery surrounding the world of parlays. Bettors are attracted to risking a small amount of money for large payouts. The games that are frequently played in the casino are slot machines that offer thousands and even millions in progressive jackpots. The mentality of these bettors is 'Go big, or go back home.' The casino is actually pleased to oblige as millions of bettors go back home with nothing within their pockets every year.

It is fair to assume that the largest number of losing bets that a book accepts are exotic wagers of add up to or double the house minimum. For the reason that most bettors don't have a meaningful bankroll reserve for sports betting. Given that they don't believe they can make any real cash by placing $25-50 on a few games per week they continue taking parlays for $20 or less. Using this method they essentially ensure a substantial loss by the finish of the season. Meanwhile, if 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're keeping how big is their bets low they're not taking on a significant risk. This analysis is flawed because it ignores several factors. Most importantly, it is my experience that a lot of bettors do not place just one parlay per week. In football this implies a minimum of 34 parlays are put through the regular season. In baseball that number can simply exceed 100. With a minimal unit bet that is still a dangerous number of wagers to place with such a high house edge. For instance, for anyone who is placing only 5 team parlays your expectation should be to lose about $35 for each and every $100 you wager. Because the number of bets you place increases it is inevitable that you will hit that $100 mark several times over.

Using parlays as a side bet will most likely result in upping your losses or erasing any profits you were able to make on straight wagers. In 2009 2009, I had litigant who broke even after increasing his bankroll by 45% using my picks. He managed to do that 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 going to follow his lead and continue using parlays I have a few pointers that will assist you over time. First of all, the best value of all parlays is clearly 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 look at the graph you need to understand why I would never bet a parlay of 4 teams or more. However, if you're going to make this investment here are two useful tips:

If you are likely to bet a 4 or 5 5 team parlay, always ensure it is 6 as well as 10. The difference between the house edge to include one or two 2 more teams is at 5 percentage points and the payout is significantly higher for both options. The home 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 at least one 1.
If you are going to throw your cash 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 those bets and it typically pays about 700/1.

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