What Is A Parlay?
A parlay is a wager placed on predicting the outcome of multiple events, all predictions must be correct for the bettor to win.
A parlay is a bet type in which you pick more than one outcome. It is easiest to understand how a parlay works by seeing an example. Parlays can be made with a minimum of two markets and up to practically no maximum.
A two market parlay:
Take the upcoming matches in the Premier League this weekend:
| Event | 1 | X | 2 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hull vs Newcastle | 2.70 | 3.25 | 2.87 |
| Crystal Palace v Everton | 2.80 | 3.30 | 2.75 |
| Liverpool v West Ham | 1.66 | 4.00 | 5.75 |
| Stoke v QPR | 1.65 | 4.00 | 6.00 |
| Sunderland v Burnley | 2.25 | 3.30 | 2.62 |
Say that you feel like an expert at picking EPL winners and are extremely confident in two of your picks:
Hull to win over Newcastle and
Sunderland to win over Burnley
You could place two separate bets for these, but you also have the option of combining them into a single parlay pick.
For a parlay pick to be a winner, you must correctly pick each of the outcomes in it. If even one pick is incorrect, the parlay loses, regardless of how many of the other picks are winners.
Why should you bet a parlay?
With parlays, there is a multiplier effect used to calculate your potential winnings if your parlay picks are winners.
Looking at our example picks:
Hull – 2.70
Sunderland – 2.25
If you placed 50 on each of these straight bets and won, you would get:
50(2.70) + 50(2.25) = 247.5
Not bad. However, if you were to parlay the two picks and stake 100 on it your odds would multiply, giving you:
100(2.70*2.25) = 607.5
As you can see, parlay bets have much higher payouts than straight bets, but are also much more risky.
Frequently Asked Questions:
How do I calculate the total odds of a parlay?
To figure out the total odds, simply multiply the parlays together:
Price 1 * Price 2 * Price 3 … = Total Parlay Odds
You can skip the math on calculating a parlay payout using our simple parlay calculator as well.
Can I Parlay across different sports and bet types?
Of course! Parlays can be made for almost any market or event. You could combine the winner of the Super Bowl with an in play tennis bet and an upcoming EPL fixture.
How many markets can I put in a parlay?
There is no upper limit to how many markets you can put in a parlay, but of course the lower limit is 2. A single market bet is just a straight bet!
What does a push mean in a parlay?
A push is when you neither win nor lose a bet, essentially a tie. For example if you chose the Raptors -7, and they won by 7 points. When a push occurs in a parlay, that market is simply removed from the multiplier, if you had a 3 market parlay it becomes a 2, if it was a 4 market parlay it becomes a 3, etc.
Why can’t I put spread and moneyline for the same event in a parlay?
Some oddsmakers will not let you place bets on markets which are correlated.
Correlated markets are markets which are related and dependant on each other and up to the interpretation of the oddsmaker. Some say that the total of an event is related to the winner of that event, others will let you place a moneyline + total parlay on the same event. However, you can almost always place a parlay using markets from different events.