There are countless 'handicapping services' in the business of providing people who have parlays. They'll tout win rates similar to some of the most impressive straight wager cappers. Needless to say, you will see that they refer to money line parlays as 'safe' bets. On a number of these sites you may have the privilege of dealing with some form of royalty in the field of parlay wagering. Regrettably, thousands will undoubtedly be fooled by this fiction again this football season.
The fact is that exotic wagers keep sports books running a business. Next time you are in Vegas take a look at the discarded tickets you see spread everywhere. It's safe to assume that might be the majority of these losers are made up of such bets placed on both sports and racing. Of all the sucker bets available to sports bettors, the parlay is king. Bettors are lured in by the promise of a huge payout while disregarding the point that there is no reasonable expectation of any return on investment.
The house edge on a typical straight wager at -110 is 4.5%. Compared with many table games this is actually a fairly raised percentage. Many table games and slots provide a better value for the average bettor placing a random wager. However, we all know that betting on sports isn't anything like throwing a set of dice at the back wall.
Chance plays a role in everything the house has to offer. Additionally, there are steps which can be taken to decrease the edge in only about every game. Nowhere in the casino are elements such as for example skill and preparation more useful compared to the sports book. The edge on a straight wager can be reversed in the bettors favor through the use of statistics and expertise in a sport. However, a double digit house edge can never be overcome in the long run.
# of Teams | Actual Odds | Typical Payout | House Edge
2 | 3/1 | 2.6/1 | 10.00%
3 | 7/1 | 6/1 | 12.50%
4 | 15/1 | 10/1 | 31.25%
5 | 31/1 | 20/1 | 34.38%
6 | 63/1 | 40/1 | 35.94%
7 | 127/1 | 75/1 | 40.63%
8 | 255/1 | 150/1 | 41.02%
9 | 511/1 | 300/1 | 41.21%
10 | 1023/1 | 700/1 | 31.54%
As you can see every parlay you can possibly bet has a whopping 10% house edge or better. Such casino advantages tend to be more consistent with keno, and they are equally impossible to overcome over time. There is absolutely no mystery surrounding the planet of parlays. Bettors are attracted to risking a small amount of money for large payouts. The games which are most often played in the casino are slots that offer thousands or even millions in progressive jackpots. The mentality of the bettors is 'Go big, or go back home.' The casino is clearly happy to oblige as millions of bettors go back home with nothing in their pockets every year.
It really is fair to assume that the largest amount of losing bets a book accepts are exotic wagers of equal to or double the home minimum. It is because most bettors do not have a meaningful bankroll reserve for sports betting. Since they don't believe they can make any real money by placing $25-50 on several games weekly they continue taking parlays for $20 or less. By doing this they essentially ensure a substantial loss by the end of the growing season. Meanwhile, should they only placed straight wagers at that same level they would limit their potential losses to a few units at most.
Many bettors assume that because they are keeping how big is their bets low they are not taking on a substantial risk. This analysis is flawed because it ignores several factors. Most importantly, it really is my experience that a lot of bettors do not place just one single parlay weekly. In football this means at the least 34 parlays are placed through the regular season. In baseball that number can simply exceed 100. With a minimal unit bet this is still a dangerous amount of wagers to place with this type of high house edge. For example, if you are placing only 5 team parlays your expectation should be to lose about $35 for every $100 you wager. As the number of bets you place increases it really is inevitable that you'll hit that $100 mark several times over.
Using parlays as a side bet will most likely result in increasing your losses or erasing any profits you managed to make on straight wagers. In '09 2009, I had a client who broke even after increasing his bankroll by 45% using my picks. He were able to do this by placing 'small' side bets including parlays, reverses, and teasers. This is an expensive lesson to learn especially when you consider I issued a similar warning to him.
If you are going to follow his lead and continue using parlays I've a few pointers that may help you in the long run. First of all, the very best value of most parlays is clearly the three team parlay. The difference between your house edge on a 2 & 3 teamer is insignificant, but the payout is a lot more than twice as much. Invest the a glance at the graph you should understand why I'd never bet a parlay of 4 teams or more. However, if you're going to make this investment here are two useful tips:
If you are likely to bet a four or five 5 team parlay, always make it 6 and even 10. The difference between the house edge to add one or two 2 more teams is at 5 percentage points and the payout is significantly higher for both options. The home edge on a 10 teamer is virtually the same as a 4 team parlay, however the actual probability of hitting it are over 1,000 to at least one 1.
If you are going to throw your cash away chasing huge payouts on 7, 8, and 9 team parlays then just bet the 10 teamer. THE HOME edge is approximately 10 points less than all three of those bets also it typically pays about 700/1.
Setting reasonable goals and being patient while attempting to achieve them is the sign of a profitable professional bettor. Hi88 should be kept in check in order to be successful. In this regard, every bettor has two options. You can chase high returns while assuming plenty of unnecessary risk. Or you can minimize your exposure to several units while maintaining an acceptable expectation to improve your bankroll by 50%...The choice is yours.