Parlay (gambling)
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This article does not cite any references or sources. (September 2009) |
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This article may contain excessive, poor, or irrelevant examples. (September 2010) |
A parlay or accumulator is a single bet that links together two or more individual wagers and is dependent on all of those wagers winning together. The benefit of the parlay is that there are much higher payoffs than placing each individual bet separately since the difficulty of hitting it is much higher. If any of the bets in the parlay lose, the entire parlay loses. If any of the plays in the parlay ties, or "pushes", the parlay reverts to a lower number of teams with the odds reducing accordingly.[citation needed]
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Odds and payout [edit]
Parlay bets are paid out at odds higher than the typical single game bet, but still below the "true" odds. For instance, a common 2-team NFL parlay generally has a payout of 2.6:1 if both picks are correct.[citation needed] In reality, however, if one assumes that each single game bet is a coin flip and would be expected to pay out at 1:1, the true payout should instead be 3:1, a substantial difference.
Examples [edit]
Example 1 [edit]
Alex places a three-team NFL parlay on the Packers, Bears and Bengals. If any one of those teams fail to cover the spread, Alex loses his parlay bet. But if all three teams beat the spread, Alex gets paid $600 for every $100 bet.
If Alex pushes on one of those picks, he then has a two-team parlay. If he pushes on two picks, he would then have a straight bet.
Example 2 [edit]
| Home team | Away team | Home win | Draw | Away win | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arsenal F.C. | Manchester United F.C. | 1.70 | 3.20 | 4.50 | 0–0 (draw) |
| Chelsea F.C. | Fulham F.C. | 1.70 | 3.30 | 4.40 | 2–1 (home win) |
| Liverpool F.C. | Tottenham Hotspur F.C. | 1.30 | 4.00 | 8.50 | 3–1 (home win) |
Winning example [edit]
You wager £1,000 on Arsenal/Manchester United to draw, Chelsea to win and Liverpool to win. You win £6,072 as you correctly predicted all three results.
The calculation is: £1,000 × 3.2 × 1.7 × 1.3 = £7,072, less the stake of £1,000.
Losing example [edit]
You wager £1,000 on Manchester United to win, Chelsea to win and Liverpool to win. You lose the wager as Manchester United did not win.
Please Refer to Chart Below [edit]
The following is an example of a traditional Las Vegas Parlay Card, which shows the typical payouts for up to 11 team parlay bet:
| Number | Odds |
|---|---|
| 2 Team Parlay | 13 to 5 |
| 3 Team Parlay | 6 to 1 |
| 4 Team Parlay | 10 to 1 |
| 5 Team Parlay | 20 to 1 |
| 6 Team Parlay | 40 to 1 |
| 7 Team Parlay | 75 to 1 |
| 8 Team Parlay | 150 to 1 |
| 9 Team Parlay | 300 to 1 |
| 10 Team Parlay | 700 to 1 |
| 11 Team Parlay | 1100 to 1 |
See also [edit]
- Full cover bet
- Trixie (bet)
- Each-Way (bet)
- Progressive parlay
- ComboBet
- The movie Silver Linings Playbook, in which two characters have a parlay
