The risk/reward ratio of parlays has long made them an enticing proposition for bettors. Naturally, adding more “legs” to a parlay wager boosts both the difficulty and potential payout. Needless to say, the more outcomes in play, the less tolerable these bets are for the faint of heart.
Payouts on a 2 team parlay are standard throughout the industry at 13/5. Sportsbooks will pay $2.64 for every $1.00 wagered. 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. 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. In this article, I’ll address parlay betting strategies, but first let’s look at parlay odds and how they are calculated. The parlay odds at most Las Vegas sportsbooks are: 2 teams 2.6 to 1 3 teams 6-1 4 teams 10-1 5 teams 20-1 6 teams 40-1 7 teams 80-1 8 teams 150-1. Online the odds are similar, though some sites such as BetNow.
The flip side — the part that makes parlays the darling of many bettors — is how sweet it is when these long-shot wagers do hit.
A New Jersey bettor at FanDuel Sportsbook at New Meadowlands Racetrack experienced that side of the equation Friday night. His MLB/NBA six-team parlay came through, turning his $4,999 wager into a $525,867.50 payout:
Team | Wager | Outcome |
New York Mets | RL -1.5 (+130) | Beat Marlins 11-2 |
New York Yankees | ML +148 | Beat Rays 4-3 |
Golden State Warriors | ML +240 | Beat Rockets 118-113 |
Pittsburgh Pirates | ML +138 | Beat Cardinals 2-1 |
Los Angeles Angels | ML -180 | Beat Orioles 8-3 |
Boston Red Sox | ML -215 | Beat Mariners 14-1 |
One way to at least slightly bump up the odds of parlay success — theoretically — involves going heavy on moneyline (ML) bets. Statistically, there’s typically a higher degree of success in predicting an outright winner than a margin of victory.
However, baseball can certainly be a difficult sport to prognosticate night to night, especially in the early going this season, it seems. So, a six-teamer that relies on correctly pegging four MLB winners still carries a hefty amount of uncertainty.
Predictably, Friday’s winner had to survive a handful of close calls, which all came about an hour apart. The final one of the night involved the sole NBA leg of the wager, one where the better took advantage of a somewhat surprising moneyline:
One of two MLB underdog calls that went right. Rays starter Tyler Glasnow — the primary reason for the Rays’ status as favorites — had given up two runs to the Yankees through five innings. However, Tampa had just overcome that deficit with a three-run surge just before the right-hander took the hill to start the sixth. Glasnow began to succumb to forearm tightness at that point. He was subsequently pulled after allowing two of the first three hitters of the inning to reach.
Reliever Emilio Pagan would go on to allow New York to regain the lead by yielding two runs after entering the game. Then, the bettor would have to sweat out four more chances for the Rays before the Yanks’ 4-3 lead held up for a win. That included a no-out, bases-loaded situation in the bottom of the seventh that reliever Adam Ottavino wiggled his way out of by retiring the dangerous duo of Tommy Pham (strikeout) and Ji-Man Choi (inning-ending double play).
Meanwhile, over in St. Louis, the Pirates and Cardinals were locked in a somewhat unlikely pitcher’s duel. The better had taken an underdog Pittsburgh squad to win outright with the Cards sending the inconsistent and aging Adam Wainwright to the mound. The wily veteran was seemingly operating in a time warp, however, as he’d held the Pirates scoreless through seven innings after allowing a leadoff homer to Adam Frazier.
Meanwhile, although Pittsburgh’s Trevor Williams was just as sharp, St. Louis had finally broken through in the home half of the seventh with a Paul DeJong infield single that knotted the game at 1-1. The sweat wouldn’t last too long, however. Starling Marte put the Pirates right back on top in the visitors’ half of the eighth with an RBI single. Reliever Kyle Krick made it interesting in the home half of the frame by putting two on before whiffing Dexter Fowler and inducing an inning-ending double play from Kolten Wong.
This one may arguably have been the most gut-wrenching of the three while it unfolded. Despite checking in as sizable moneyline favorites, the desperate Rockets hadn’t been able to separate from a short-handed Warriors squad dealing with the absence of Kevin Durant. Then, after snapping a 95-95 tie with 6:43 remaining on a James Harden 10-footer, the Rockets failed to score during the following 3:56. The Warriors built a five-point lead during that span.
Eventually, Chris Paul’s driving layup got Houston to within 104-102 with 1:45 remaining. That’s when the Splash Bros. came through for the lucky New Jersey bettor. Stephen Curry (11 points) and Klay Thompson (three points) would go on to score Golden State’s final 14 points to vault the Dubs into the conference finals and the bettor into a six-figure payday.
ALSO READ: FanDuel Sportsbook Bettor Turns $20 Into $178K With 15-Leg Parlay
Lead image courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook Meadowlands
A parlay is a single bet that links together two or more individual wagers for a high payout. A 2 team parlay might pay 13/5, a three team parlay might pay 6/1, a four team parlay might pay 10/1, and so forth with the payouts getting higher with more teams or totals selected. For a single bet, 2 to 8 teams or totals can be selected.
In order for the parlay bet to win, every one of the wagers must win or push (tie). If any of the selections lose, your wager loses, regardless of the outcome or cancellation of the other games. If one or more selections is a tie, postponed, incomplete, cancelled or rescheduled for another day, then the wager reverts to the next lowest number. For example, if you place a 5 team parlay and have 4 winners and a tie, your wager pays out as a 4 team parlay. If you place a 2 team parlay and one team wins and one ties, the wager becomes a straight bet.
The resulting wager will have the same risk amount with the win being calculated to reflect the odds of the remaining team (Example: On a two team $100 parlay with team A +110 and team B -110 if A ties and B wins the resulting wager will be a straight play on B risking $100 to win $91).