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If you’re looking for a high risk, high reward sports bet, parlays are a great option to boost your potential payout without betting on a long shot.
So, what exactly is a parlay? What can be included in a parlay? How do you calculate a parlay payout?
Here’s everything you need to know about parlay betting.
What is parlay betting?
In sports betting, a parlay bet, also known as a combination bet, allows the bettor to combine two or more picks, up to a max of 12, into a single wager.
Parlays are a way to score a bigger return on your bet, without picking a long shot Cinderella team or athlete.
The advantage of a parlay is the higher payout, but it comes with more risk. If any of the bets on a parlay lose, the entire parlay is lost.
Toronto Maple Leafs (-150) vs. Tampa Bay Lightning (+122)
Edmonton Oilers (-100) vs. Colorado Avalanche (+111)
Montreal Canadiens (-120) vs. New York Islanders (+100)
Let’s assume you have made a three-play moneyline parlay bet on the games above and you pick the favourite to win each game. Your picks would be Toronto at -150, Edmonton at -100 and Montreal at -120.
The Leafs, Oilers and Canadiens may all be favoured to win, but if even only one of them suffers an upset loss, the parlay loses as well.
Despite the risk, some bettors feel more comfortable picking teams that are favoured to win on the moneyline, so parlays are a great way to build the potential payout while still feeling secure with the favourites.
What can I include in a parlay bet?
A major reason why parlay bets are so popular is because you can place different types of bets on a single ticket. Point spreads, moneylines, pucklines, totals, and more can all be included on one parlay ticket.
Keep in mind, there are some exceptions on what can be included in a single parlay bet. Parlays containing point spreads, moneylines, pucklines, or individual team totals on the same game are considered correlated parlays and are generally not allowed.
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In the example above, Toronto is -390 on the moneyline and they have a point spread of -9.0. You can’t parlay both those bets together, you need to choose one or the other.
You could, however, pick Toronto to win on the moneyline and the game total to be over 234 points.
Can I bet on multiple teams and leagues in a parlay bet?
You can absolutely combine multiple teams and leagues together in a single parlay bet.
Edmonton Oilers outright 2023 Stanley Cup winner (+736)
Toronto Raptors -9.0 (-110) vs. Indiana Pacers +9.0 (-110)
Vladimir Guerrero to hit a home run against the Tigers (+425)
=
Three-play Parlay +8279
An example of a three-play parlay could include picks of the Edmonton Oilers winning the Stanley Cup at +736, the Toronto Raptors covering the spread as nine-point favourites at -110 and Toronto Blue Jays slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hitting a home run against the Detroit Tigers at +425.
Using Sports Interaction’s parlay bet calculator, the payout on that three-play parlay is +8279, meaning a $10 bet would pay a total of $837.90 if all three bets are correct.
How to calculate a parlay payout
Calculating a parlay payout can be tricky because you are dealing with multiple sets of odds. Those odds can be expressed in three different styles, American odds, decimal odds or fractional odds.
The good news is, sportsbooks often often offer parlay bet calculators such as the one available at Sports Interaction.
If you’re interested in how parlay odds are calculated, you can can follow the steps below:
- Convert American or fractional odds to decimal odds.
- Multiply all the decimal odds together.
- Multiply the result by your bet amount.
- Subtract your original stake to get your parlay odds.
Toronto Maple Leafs -1.5 (-110) vs. Tampa Bay Lightning +1.5 (-110)
Edmonton Oilers -1.5 (-110) vs. Colorado Avalanche +1.5 (-110)
Montreal Canadiens -1.5 (-110) vs. New York Islanders +1.5 (-110)
Let’s imagine you are betting on Toronto, Edmonton and Montreal and the puckline is -110 for each of the three games. That converts to 1.91 in decimal odds for each game. The next step is to multiply those numbers together:
1.91 x 1.91 x 1.91 = 6.97
You now multiply 6.97 by your bet amount, let’s say $10:
6.97 x 10 = 69.7
Then subtract your original bet amount:
69.7 – 10 = 59.7
This means for every $10 you bet, the payout is $59.70. In American odds, that’s +597 and in fractional odds it is 6-1. Betting on favourites at a 6-1 payout is a great return, but remember that you need to win all three games to win the parlay.
Check out Sports Interaction for complete odds for the NHL, NBA, MLB, NFL, UFC and more.
This article was written by Sports Interaction. Sports Interaction’s content provides information that helps readers navigate the new landscape of sports betting in Canada.
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