Parlay bet is another word for an accumulator bet. This involves betting on the outcomes of two or more separate events jointly. If one bet in the series fails, the whole stake is lost.
This increases the odds compared with betting on the events separately, meaning that when the bet succeeds, the win is large in comparison to the stake. However, the bet is of course less likely to succeed than if the events were taken separately.
For example, a bettor might want to place money on all of the following four events:
Manchester United to beat Sunderland at 2/1
Everton to beat Liverpool at 3/1
Arsenal to beat Chelsea at 1/1
Tottenham to beat Aston Villa at 5/1
He has £1 to stake. If he puts 25p on each match separately and they all win, he will win £2.75 (2×0.25 + 3×0.25 + 1 x 0.25 + 5×0.25) plus his £1 stake. But if he puts them on as an accumulator or parlay bet with a £1 stake, he will win £7.50 (2×3x1×5x0.25) plus his stake.
On the other hand, if the first three bets won but Tottenham lost, staking separately he would win £1.50 (2×0.25 + 3×0.25 + 1 x 0.25) plus only 75p of his £1 stake, giving a net profit of £1.25. But if he had bet them on an accumulator he would have a loss of £1 – his whole stake.
Where there are two events, the accumulator is usually called a double. When it is three events, it is a treble.
Statistically over a large number of bets in the long term there should be no advantage either way. However, many people feel that an accumulator adds to the excitement of betting and a lot of sports betting fans will have a small accumulator bet as a fun bet in addition to their regular bets.
Parlay bets tend to appeal to bettors who prefer occasional large wins to more frequent small wins, and those who like to bet small stakes.
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September 6, 2008
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