Parlay Betting Guide
The number of betting options available to people these days should ensure that there is something for everyone, even if you are looking to focus on one particular sport or league. If you are a fan of basketball, the NBA or the Euroleague, you’ll be glad to know that parlay bets are available for your favourite sport or league. In fact, parlay bets are available for virtually all sports, or even a combination of sports you can find in a sportsbook.
You may see a parlay bet being referred to as a “combo bet” or an “accumulator bet” but in brief, this is a single bet that links together two or more spate wagers. For a parlay bet to be successful, all of the individual components of the parlay bet must win. This obviously increases the difficulty but this is a challenge that many punters enjoy and appreciate. There is also the fact that there is a higher payoff associated with a parlay bet than placing individual bets on each game or matchup. If you are extremely confident of the outcome of two or three matches, the return you would receive from placing one bet combining all three of these tipped outcomes is far more attractive, and this is what most people are looking for.
| # | Betting Site Review | % | Bonus | Visit Betting Site | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Everygame Review |  |  | $20 free bet | Everygame | |
| 2 |  | Bovada Review | | | 50% | $250 | Bovada |
| 3 |  | BetOnline Review | | 25% | $1000 | BetOnline | |
Bet365 T&Cs: New Customers only. Bet £10* & Get £30* in Free Bets. Sign up, deposit between £5* and £10* to your account and bet365 will give you three times that value in Free Bets when you place qualifying bets to the same value and they are settled. Free Bets are paid as Bet Credits. Min odds/bet and payment method exclusions apply. Returns exclude Bet Credits stake. T&Cs, time limits & exclusions apply.
Parlay bets are popular for a number of reasons
Parlay bets can add excitement, they can make the game watching experience more enjoyable and of course, they can provide people with a far greater return on their investment. These are all key reasons why people would place a parlay bet but of course, the odds are riskier, which is why there is a benefit to a sportsbook providing this form of bet.
In the context of the NBA, you may have looked through the NBA schedule and found a number of games that attract your attention. The Boston Celtics look a good bet at home to the New Orleans Pelicans and you think that the Oklahoma City Thunder have enough about them to take care of the Bulls in Chicago.
The Thunder at -3 while the Celtics are at -8 and you believe that both of these teams will cover their spread. In this instance, rather than placing two individual bets on the matches, placing a parlay bet covers both of these games and if your bet is correct on both games, you win and if you bet is incorrect on one or two of these games, you lose.
Parlay bets can also include Money Line and Over/Under bets
It is also possible to place a parlay bet on the Money Line and for Over/Under bets in basketball. It is also possible to combine these lines and a Point Spread bet in the same parlay bet.
In this regard, say you were looking to take the Oklahoma City Thunder at -3.5, the Boston Celtics at -120 and you have looked at the Euroleague schedule and you are convinced that a bet on the OVER market at 155.5 between FC Barcelona Lassa and Panathinaikos Athens is the smart bet.
In this parlay bet, you are looking for:
- The Thunder to win by a minimum of 4 points
- The Celtics to win outright
- The game between FC Barcelona Lassa and Panathinaikos to have at least 156 points
All three legs of this bet must be successful for your parlay bet to win.
A breakdown of odds in Parlay bets can be viewed below:
| Number of teams in Parlay | Odds | Amount won |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | 3.60 | £260 |
| 3 | 7.00 | £600 |
| 4 | 11.00 | £1,000 |
| 5 | 28.00 | £2,000 |
| 6 | 41.00 | £4,000 |
| 7 | 76.00 | £7,500 |
While a straightforward parlay bet often provides enough excitement and interest for many punters, a lot of basketball betting fans find that hedging is a good way to safeguard their return from parlay betting. Hedging is a term more commonly associated with investment managers and it should be seen as a way of minimising losses and ensuring some form of profit as opposed to maximising income. On a point of principle, there will be some gamblers who will never hedge but for the more casual punter, it can be a good way to come away with a return.
An example of hedging comes with a three team parlay with the last game starting at a later time than the other two games. If the first two elements of the parlay bet have been successful, the parlay bet comes down to the final game. In order to return a profit, some players will place a bet of 50% of the amount the parlay will provide if successful. This guaranteed a profit.
If the punter bet £100, they would win £600 for their parlay bet. After 2 of the 2 bets have come up, placing £300 on the opposite outcome of the game means that the punter is guaranteed to win £200, regardless of the score of the final game.