Parlay

In sports betting, a parlay, also known as an accumulator, is a combo wager that links together two or more individual bets. A parlay depends on all of those minor wagers winning together and offer a higher payoff than placing each individual bet separately.

However, parlays are very difficult to hit since losing just one bet means that the entire parlay loses. Please note that whenever one of the wagers in the accumulator is a push, the parlay is reverted to a lower number of selections and the odds are adjusted accordingly.

Usage Example

Ben places a three-team parlay on Team A, Team B, and Team C. If any team fails to cover the point spread, Ben is going to lose his parlay bet. However, if all three teams manage to beat the spread, Ben receives a payout of $600 for every $100 he wagered. Please note that if Ben pushes on one of his picks, his bet turns into a two-team parlay – and if he pushes on two picks, he’d be left with a single straight bet.

Trivia

Despite the fact that parlay bets are paid out at odds higher than the typical single bet, these odds are still lower than the “true” odds. For example, most 2-team parlays have a payout of 2.6:1 whenever both picks are correct. However, if every individual wager was a coin flip that should pay out at 1:1, the “true” odds payout should be 3:1.