What does the parlay bet mean in bookmaker lines

Parlay (accumulator) in sports betting is very popular among bettors due to the possibility of “hitting the jackpot”. At the same time, professional bettors recommend wagering parlay bets carefully and deliberately. In this article, we intend to discuss the meaning of a parlay bet, analyze its principles of operation using an example, and evaluate the feasibility of using this kind of bet.

What does the parlay bet mean

The parlay bet meaning is simple to understand because it’s just a combined bet of several (2 or more) singles, each of them taking care of the “hit” of the bet. Namely, at least one of the outcomes of having lost will entail the entire bet having lost, so you should be more skeptical about the analytics for parlay bets on the Internet. For the parlay bet to “hit”, every single one of the events must end with a win or a bet-back option.

The parlay bet odds is a derivative of the odds of each event, multiplied by each other, the odds of the bet-back event being counted as 1.0. In case all the events in the parlay bet are a bet-back, then the parlay bet itself is to be calculated with 1.0 odds.

How to calculate the parlay bet odds – an example

Let’s figure out how the parlay bet works. To see how the parlay bet is calculated, let’s use an example from some real sports events. For the experiment, let’s take 3 events:

Liverpool – Everton: “2nd Half with Most Goals” at 1.99 odds.
Newcastle United – Liverpool: “Total over 2.5” at 1.66 odds.
Crystal Palace – Leeds United: “Total under 3” at 1.59 odds.

The “locomotion” odds is as follows: 1.99 x 1.66 x 1.59 = 5.252. With the stake of 100 GBP, we are to get 525.24 GBP or 425.24 GBP net profit. Let’s calculate parlay bets for all possible options:

All 3 bets “hit”: we get a profit of 525.24 GBP.
The first 2 outcomes “hit”, and in the Crystal Palace vs Leeds United event we have a bet-back (3 goals being scored): in this case, the total parlay odds is getting changed to 3.303 (1.30 x 2.08 x 1.0), respectively, and the profit will only be 330.3 GBP.
At least one of the bets “does not hit”: in this case, the parlay bet is to be considered lost, the money wagered being lost.

In case of a bettor wagering a 100 GBP bet for each of the outcomes of the parlay in individual bets (by betting singles), the winnings are to be significantly less: (1.99 x 100) + (1.66 x 100) + (1.59 x 100) = 524 GBP or 224 GBP of net profit. Of course, the risk of losing all your stakes in case of parlay bet is much higher, but you get paid for this risk with an increased odds. So now we figured out how the odds is being calculated in parlay betting.

Parlay betting bet-backs

First, we need to understand what a bet-back means in general betting (not in parlay betting only). Bet-back option is the calculation of the bet at the 1.0 odds. There are several reasons for a bet-back:

the bet-back option is actually allowed in the bet (H1(0), TU3, etc.);
the event is being canceled or postponed for a long period;
the match is being wrapped up ahead of schedule;
the BO mistakenly set the odds too high, resulting in cancellation of all bets;
the match is being declared prearranged.

Now let’s analyze the bet-backs of a bet wagered in a parlay of three singles for some fictitious matches:

Team 1 – Team 2: “TU 3” at 1.9 odds.
Team 3 – Team 4: “H1 (0)” at 1.6 odds.
Team 5 – Team 6: “TU 3” at 1.8 odds.

The total odds of this parlay bet is 5.47, so with a stake of 100 GBP we get 447 GBP of net profit. What are the possible bet-back options in this parlay bet? There are only 3 of them:

Bet-back for one of the events: let’s imagine that the first outcome is being “bet-backed” (the odds is to be set as 1.0), the other two getting hit successfully. In this case, the parlay odds will be 1.0 x 1.6 x 1.8 = 2.88, and the net profit will be 188 GBP.
Bet-back for two events: let’s set the “bet-back” for the first and second events, it resulting in the parlay odds being brought to 1.0 x 1.6 x 1.0 = 1.6. Accordingly, the net profit from such “wad” will be meager 60 GBP.
Bet-back for all three events: in this case, the funds being wagered are to be simply returned to the bettors, since the total parlay odds is 1.0.

Advantages and disadvantages of parlay betting

Parlay sports betting is very popular in the betting world for they bring lots of profit. However, this kind of bets has not only positive characteristics but also lots of negative ones.

You can also be interested in: betting handicap explained

Pros of parlay betting

big winnings, even with a single bet;
you can wager your bets not only prematch, but also live;
uncertainty can be mitigated by a lower odds.

Cons of parlay betting

the larger the number of events, the more difficult to win;
it is impossible to accumulate several outcomes of a single event into one bet;
the bookmakers’ margin grows with each outcome added to the “parlay”;
some bookmakers restrictions imposed on the parlay betting.

What does the parlay bet mean in bookmaker lines