Parlay Calculator
Everyone knows parlay bets are fun. They are also very useful when you can’t find good value on the games you want to bet on. Making your selections into a parlay will give you better odds for bigger winnings. You can use this parlay calculator to see what the potential is for your selections without playing around in a bet slip.
You can see all the odds for the best sportsbooks in our betting odds section. Here you can compare books and see which of them provide your parlay with the biggest return.
The sportsbooks below all offer parlay betting, great odds and service on a range of sports.
Inputs
Odds Offered: The odds on which the parlay in question is offered (only necessary to detrmine premiums)
Risk/Win Amount: The desired risk or win dollar value. Modifying the dropdown selection will recalculate risk/win amount based on offered odds.
Line Set: The line set charged in cents (-110/-110 => 20 cents) Select “user” to define markets per bet (only necessary to determine mathematical odds and premium)
Number of Games: Number of distinct underlying bets represented by parlay
Game N Line: Line offered on straight bet# n (also enter line on opposite side of market if “user” selected for “Line Set”)
Outputs
A parlay (often referred to as an accumulator in the UK) is a single bet whose outcome is determined by two or more underlying bets. Each of the underlying bets must win for the parlay to win. If any of the underlying bets lose, the entire parlay is graded as a loss (if an underlying bet pushes then the parlay is treated as if the pushed leg never existed – so a 4-team parlay would become a 3-team, a 3-team a 2-team, and a 2-team a single bet). Parlays offer a bettor a greater possible return for greater risk. In the UK and Ireland 2-team parlays are known as doubles, and 3-team parlays are known as trebles. (Non-parlay bets are known as singles, emphasizing the fact that these “normal” bets are really just one-team parlays.)
Back in the old days of street-corner betting, making a bet occasionally be a difficult process as it could require physically finding the bookie in order to make a bet. In order to partially overcome this difficulty a player might tell his bookie, “Put $2 on the Brooklyn Dodgers at even odds and if that bet wins parlay it all on tomorrow’s New York Highlanders game at 2/1.” (In this example the player would be risking $2 on Brooklyn. If that bet won he’d have $4 which he’d then be risking at 2/1 odds on New York. If that bet won he’d have $12 of which $2 represented his initial stake and $10 represented his winnings. If either bet lost, he’d be left with nothing.) This way, the player wouldn’t have to wait and see if his first bet won to decide if he could afford to place money on the second bet. It didn’t take long, however, for bookies to figure out that the games a player wanted to parlay didn’t necessarily need to occur sequentially and could in fact take place simultaneously. It didn’t matter which bet was graded at first the result was the same. If any of the underlying bets lost, the entire parlay was graded as a loss, and if all the bets won, the entire parlay was graded as a win.
This calculator determines parlay payouts as well as associated premiums given a set of underlying bet odds.
Note: The calculator accepts US or decimal odds. For Decimal odds greater than or equal to 100, preface the odds with either a “0” or a “d”. For example, decimals odds of 200.0000 would be entered as either “d200” or “0200”.
Parlay Calculator
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Parlay Bet Calculator
A parlay provides sports bettors with the exciting opportunity to earn a large payout despite staking a relatively small amount of money. It can also be a great way to gain more value when betting on a few favorites, and it is a very useful weapon in the sports bettor’s arsenal. Our parlay calculator tells you the fair combined odds when you roll multiple selections together. This allows you to check whether a sportsbook is treating you fairly when it tells you the total payout you can expect to receive. The calculator also allows you to rapidly edit a parlay you are interested in without having to do it on a bet slip.
What is a Parlay?
A parlay bet allows you to roll multiple selections into a single wager in order to generate a larger potential payout. Each selection must win in order for your bet to pay out, but you will earn a significantly larger profit if you can secure a successful parlay. For example, let’s say you believe the New York Giants, the San Francisco 49ers, the Houston Texans and the Indianapolis Colts will all cover the point spread on a particular weekend. You could divide your bankroll into four and place individual bets on each team covering the spread. Alternatively, you could roll all four games into one parlay.
Each team would have to cover the spread in order for your parlay bet to pay off. If just one team lets you down, your bet would crash and burn. However, if all four teams were to cover the spread, you would earn a substantially higher payout than if you had simply bet on all four teams individually. A parlay is a far riskier bet than placing a single on each game, but it leads to a larger payout if successful. It is known as an accumulator, or an acca, in the UK, so you might hear it referred to by those names when reading pick and parlays recommendations.
A parlay features two or more selections. You can technically add dozens of selections to your parlays, but our calculator parlay tool goes up to 15, as you would never actually add more than that. You can place a parlay on several money line selections if you like the moneyline odds on offer. You can place parlays on totals, or spreads, or even futures or prop bets. You also have the ability to mix and match – you might bet on one game going over on total points, two teams to cover the spread, one team to win on the moneyline and two games to go under on total points, all in a single bet. You can also make multiple selections and create various different parlays within that group of selections.
How to Use the Parlay Calculator
Follow these steps to learn how much a parlay you are interested in should pay out:1. The first box is for Odds Offered. You only need to use this box if you want to add in the odds a particular sportsbook is offering on a parlay. If you simply want to know how much a parlay you are interested in should pay, you can ignore this box.2. Enter the amount you wish to stake on a parlay in the Risk Amount box. This is the wager amount. Alternatively, you can change it to Win Amount, enter the amount of money you hope to win, and it will tell you how much you need to stake on the parlay in order to win that amount.3. The third box is for Line Set. You only need to use this box if you want to determine the mathematical odds and premium on spread and totals bets. You can ignore this box if you just want to learn how much a parlay bet will pay.4. Enter the number of games in the parlay (anywhere from two to 15).5. Enter the odds offered on each selection. The parlay calculator accepts US or decimal odds, so you could enter -110 or 1.91, for example. Make sure you enter the minus sign if there are negative odds in a US format.6. Click on “Calculate”.
The parlay calculator will then tell you the mathematical odds, the true parlay odds, the true parlay win amount, the premium paid over mathematical odds and the premium paid over true parlay odds. The most important result to look out for is the “True Parlay Win Amount”. That tells you the amount you should win at a sportsbook based on the risk amount you have entered and the odds on each game selection you have added to the parlay. If a sportsbook offers a significantly lower payout on that parlay, it should set alarm bells ringing.
An Example
Let’s say you have found odds of -110 on New York, San Francisco, Houston and Indianapolis to each cover the spread in their respective NFL games on a particular weekend. You wish to wager a bet amount of $100 on a four-team parlay on these four selections. You would then complete the following steps:• Enter $100 into the Risk Amount box.• Enter 4 in the “Number of Games” box.• Enter -110 in each game line box (make sure you enter the minus sign)• Click “Calculate”.
It will then tell you that the true parlay odds on this bet would be +1228, meaning you should expect a payout of $1,228.33 on a bet amount of $100. If your sportsbook was offering odds of +1220 on that parlay wager, you could enter +1220 in the “Odds Offered” box, and hit “Calculate” again. You would then learn that you are paying a 0.63% premium over the true parlay odds on your bet. You could also go back and enter the Line Set in cents to learn the mathematical odds and the premium you will be paying over the mathematical odds on the bet.
How Are Parlay Odds Calculated
You can simply use our copyright parlay calculator to work out the combined odds on any parlay wager you are interested in. However, some people like to work it out manually. If you wish to work out the combined odds on a parlay, the first thing you should do is convert the odds on each selection to decimal format. You can use our copyright calculator odds converter tool (remember to use the plus sign and minus sign) to do that, or do it manually yourself. Let’s say you have come up with an NBA pick and parlay wager featuring four teams to cover the moneyline:1. Milwaukee Bucks to beat Boston Celtics at -200 (1.5 in decimal odds)2. LA Lakers to beat Portland Trail Blazers at -150 (1.67)3. Houston Rockets to beat Oklahoma City Thunder at +150 (2.5)4. Orlando Magic to beat New Orleans Pelicans at +110 (2.1)
Once you have the decimal moneyline odds for each team to cover the moneyline, you can then multiply them together: 1.5 x 1.67 x 2.5 x 2.1 = 13.15. That tells you that you would gain a return of 13.15 units on every 1 unit in your bet amount. You might choose a bet amount of $10 for parlay wager, and you could then expect a return of $131.50. Decimal odds include the return of your stake, so you would be earning a $121.50 profit and getting your $10 stake back. Decimal odds of 13.15 equate to +1215 in US odds.
When to Create a Parlay
It is generally advisable to avoid adding selections with very low odds to your parlay. They do not add much to the cumulative odds, and they can bust your bet. It is equally advisable to avoid adding selections with extremely high odds. You might prefer to place a single bet on a long shot instead. The best parlays feature selections that fall into a sweet spot in between. Moneyline odds of between -150 and +150 and spreads and totals at -110 or -105 are generally strong additions. Remember to add the + sign or – sign when entering moneyline odds, spreads or totals into this copyright parlay calculator. Most calculators do not include the mathematical odds and premium paid over mathematical odds, so that is an invaluable option for anyone using this tool in order to determine the value of placing an accumulator.
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