Building The Perfect Parlay

Sports gambling is fun, thrilling and exciting. There's nothing quite like placing a bet on your favorite team and living and dying with each play, hoping your bet hits and makes you a winner. And with more and more states legalizing sports gambling, this excitement is being offered to more and more players. One of the best things about sports gambling is that players have a multitude of options for the types of bets they can place. Spread, money line, over/under, game props, player props, futures bets. The list seemingly never ends. But one of the most popular types of bets players can place is a parlay. Parlays are great ways to potentially hit it big and can add even more excitement to your session. But believe it or not, there's a little strategy involved with placing a parlay. So today, we're going to give you some helpful tips on building the perfect parlay. So le't's get right to it!

What is a parlay

Parlays are one of the most popular - and potentially lucrative - bets a sports gambler can make. A parlay is when you place two or more bets on the same ticket. You could place a bet on 3 football games, a football game, baseball game and soccer game, 5 soccer games, 2 basketball games, the options are unlimited. You can even place parlays using game props and player props such as Player A scoring x amount of points and so on.

The more bets you have on your ticket the higher the odds go, meaning the higher the potential payout. But there's a catch. In order for your parlay to hit EVERY bet you place must be a winner. So if you place a 9 leg parlay and only 8 of the bets hit, your entire parlay is a loser.

Tip on building the perfect parlay

Because parlays have the potential to pay out big, players are quick to place them. But in the rush they might be making some big mistakes. So let's take a look at some helpful tips for building the perfect parlay.

Keep it simple

It might be tempting to place a 15 leg parlay that has a +7500 payout. It comes with such high odds because the odds of that hitting are so small you might as well just be burning your money. That's why we recommend keeping it simple. Try to limit your parlays to 2-5 bets, and even 5 is pushing it sometimes. The fewer amount of bets you need to hit the better your chances are going to be that they all hit. And remember, parlays come with some good odds regardless of how many bets you have, so even a 3 leg parlay will pay out nicely if you hit it. By keeping it simple and keeping your bets within the 5 bet range you will be giving yourself the best chance to hit and come out a winner.

Don't favor the favorites

You might think you've found a loophole and that an easy parlay win would be placing bets on a bunch of heavy favorites. You'd be wrong. Even if you placed a 10 leg parlay on heavy favorites, the payout isn't going to be that great. That's because you really aren't taking a risk by betting on heavy favorites. Sure, technically you would win money, but it won't be much and you still have a high chance of losing your parlay. Remember, EVERY bet needs to hit and there are upsets every day in every sport. That's why me recommend mixing and matching. A favorite and an underdog. Two favorites and an underdog. Two underdogs and a favorite. The important thing is that you include some underdogs so that you're giving yourself better payout odds but still keeping your parlay simple enough where you have a chance of it hitting.

Manage your expectations

A lot of players get blinded by the potential huge payouts that parlays come with. But the reality is parlays are difficult to hit and the more bets you place on your parlay the harder you're making it on yourself. A lot needs to go right in order for multiple bets to hit, so you need to constantly remind yourself of that. Remember, a solid 4 leg parlay will come with a nice payout as well, so you don't have to bet huge in order to win. Manage your expectations and you'll be able to enjoy your sessions even more.

Set aside parlay funds

Just like with any type of betting, make sure you set aside a certain amount of your bankroll that is just for parlays. And once that amount is done so should your parlay betting. Remember, parlays can pay out nicely even with small bet sizes. That means you can place multiple parlays at around $5 - $10 and still be in line for some very nice wins. This will allow you to spread your funds out and get more bets in.

Never chase

You might think hitting 8 out of 9 bets on a parlay means you're close to hitting one. So you place another. But this time you only hit 5 of 9. So you place another. And another. And another. Just because you got close on hitting a big parlay doesn't mean "you're due". It means you got lucky but not lucky enough. Think about if you had taken that parlay down a few bets - you'd have won! Never chase parlay wins. They're hard enough as it is and by chasing losses you're going to end up digger yourself a deeper and deeper hole that's going to be impossible to climb out of.

Conclusion

So there we have it! Our helpful tips on building the perfect parlay. Parlays are exciting, thrilling and potentially very lucrative. But remember, a lot needs to go right in order for you to win. So keep these tips in mind the next time you're placing a parlay and be sure to give yourself every opportunity to come out a winner. Good luck!