Parlay betting is an advanced wager type that allows sports bettors to make several wagers together as one large bet. Seasoned gamblers and engaged Major League Baseball bettors often use parlays because their payouts are substantially higher than the sum of the individual bets that comprise the ticket. In other words, MLB parlay betting is a great way to maximize your potential winnings on bets that are otherwise low-yield when placed by themselves.
This works because every wager that is part of a parlay bet has to hit in your favor in order to actually win the bet. If any single bet in your parlay goes the other way, you lose the entire wager. Since you have a greater chance to lose parlays, sportsbooks like Bovada, SportsBetting, 5Dimes, and others are all keen on offering compelling odds to their customers as enticement for taking the outsize risk.
While some legal Internet betting shops will offer pre-packaged parlays, all the top sportsbooks also allow you to create your own parlay bets. Bear in mind that, depending on your sportsbook of choice, some parlays are limited to the same kinds of bets (run line parlays, straight up parlays, over/under parlays, etc.), though parlays are not limited to the same games (or necessarily even the same sports) themselves.
To better understand the way parlays work, consider this MLB parlay betting example. Let’s say that you’ve visited your sportsbook and saw that three of the day’s games were very appealing on their respective run lines, as follows:
If you were to place $110 on each favorite above individually, you would make a total of $300 in winnings for your $330 risk should each team win its respective game. That’s not a bad haul, but remember: not everyone puts that much cash on single contests. Since most bettors make much smaller wagers, let’s say that you placed $11 on each of these bets. Your payout for a $33 risk would then be $30. Again, nearly doubling your money is never a bad thing, but if you think all three bets are a sure thing, you can make a lot more by putting them together in a parlay.
In a parlay, these three winning bets would be worth substantially more than the above sums. Typically, even if you’re sticking to favorites, parlays increase your comparative potential payout by around 30-50%. Thus, that $330 you won could earn $450, while that $33 could net you $45. Those are meaningful and compelling gains.
However, the real magic of parlay betting on MLB baseball occurs when you come across a surefire upset on the boards at your sportsbook. While this doesn’t really work for run line bets (since all payouts are typically identical, regardless of a team’s favorite or underdog status), straight bet parlays feature huge earning potential if you mix in a winning underdog or two. Consider the same three games, only this time with a straight parlay:
If you take all three favorites individually (for the amounts posted, to keep the math simple) and they each win, you’ll get $300 for a $430 wager. In a parlay format, you might get as much as 50% more, which would be $450 in winnings on that same $430. However, if you firmly believe the Rays will beat the Yankees and pick them (along with the two other favorites), you could actually double those winnings, so you’d be pushing a $900 payout for your $430 risk. If you add another underdog to the parlay and that hits, too, you can win a total of $2000 or more. Of course, if any of those underdogs lose as expected, you’re out everything.
Overall, parlay betting is a fantastic way to maximize your daily payout potential. However, it’s not for the faint of heart, as the risk is considerably greater than making individual bets. After all, if you get two of three individual bets right, you’ll still make a decent profit, but if you get two of three legs of a parlay right, you make absolutely nothing and lose your initial wager. (Note: Parlays are not limited to three legs. Most sportsbooks will allow you place MLB parlays with as many legs as you wish.) Anyone who has experience with betting on MLB parlays has surely felt the emotions on both sides of this exciting wager type.