
Sports gamblers know that parlay betting provides a unique opportunity to drum up potential profit without increasing your financial risk. Sure, the odds of hitting successful tickets get longer, because more predictions are in play. But you’re also elevating the potential return without demanding a steeper investment. The issue, though, is figuring out whether these wagers are the right way to go. That’s where parlay betting calculators come into play.
These tools are similar to regular betting calculators, which can help you with odds translations and the mathematics behind arbitrage betting. The primary difference, as we’ll get into further, is that they focus more so on payout nuances rather than line conversions—though they can often do this, too.
Wondering why you need a parlay calculator? Particularly if your sportsbook includes one on your bet slip? Read on to find out since this is one of the most interesting sections of our betting guide.
Parlay Betting Calculator Breakdown
How Parlay Betting Works
Before getting into the nitty-gritty of a parlay betting calculator, you need to understand what these wagers actually are. And it's quite simple. Parlay bets involve taking multiple wagers and combining them into a single large. This way, all the outcomes, whether they hit or are successful, are tied together. While this doesn't increase the possibility of a loss, because a sole miss ruins the whole bet slip, it is a great way of drumming up your potential winnings.
How Parlay Betting Calculating Works
When you're looking to build parlays, it's important to know whether the prospective reward is worth what you're investing. That's where parlay betting calculators like ours come in. These handy tools invite you to plug in the odds on each of your wagers, and it'll then generate a total payout, based on the amount you're betting, should all of your individual gambles pay off. Sticking with our NFL example from before, let's assume you're looking to invest in the following four division winners: New York Giants (+350), Seattle Seahawks (+150), Green Bay Packers (+200) and New Orleans Saints (+125). If you find a parlay betting calculator, you would then plug all four of these lines into its interface, enter the $100 you plan to wager and it would return the following information in some form:- Bet Amount: $100
- To Win: $7,493.75
- Total Payout: $7,593.75
Parlay Betting Calculator Conversions
In our above hypothetical, we were trafficking in American odds, the most common lines used in the sports betting industry. But there are three other main odd types that online bookies will use: decimal odds, fraction odds, and implied odds. We break down all of the in-depth differences in our betting odds calculator guide, but all you need to know here is that most parlay betting calculators also have a conversion calculator. These will translate any one of the odd types into all other odd types. They should even provide you with payout information on non-parlay wagers, as well.Why Use Parlay Betting Calculator?
We've alluded to this already. When you're combining a few different wagers—or, obviously, many different ones, it's too difficult to estimate the potential winnings by hand. It's better to get exact answers in real-time, which is what parlay betting calculators do. Now, the bet slips provided by many online sportsbooks can also do these calculations for you. You're absolutely free to use those. But not all websites will give you access to them if you haven't created an account with them or, in some instances, made a deposit at the sportsbook. Third-party parlay betting calculators are free and require no registration.How to Find Parlay Betting Calculator?
Fortunately for our readers, we provide the perfect Parlay Betting calculator right here! Just remember: If you get asked to register for a site or enter any information, just come back to us and use our tool. We will always provide this to our readers and it's an easy-to-use calculator, so even those that are new to betting won't find it difficult to navigate.Is Parlay Betting For You?
Parlay betting calculators are only necessary if you're actually, well, interested in placing parlays. So...should you be? This rests squarely on your tolerance for risk. Longer odds are attached to every parlay. You're tasked with predicting the outcome on two, three, four, or more outcomes rather than just one. If you build a five-bet parlay, hit on four of your wagers, but miss on one, you've lost. Indeed, just because you're throwing more wagers together, that doesn't mean you have to increase your actual bet. But some people can't tolerate the extra risk as it applies to their success rate.Parlay Betting Strategies
Not all betting strategies are for everyone, but one approach gamblers—especially those new to parlays—can take when combining wagers is to strictly stick with what they believe are "lock" outcomes. Basically, this entails choosing games or futures for your bet slip that you feel are overwhelmingly likely to come true and then attaching them to other wagers of the same ilk. Most people will use this parlay betting strategy to milk favorite odds. This particular method can be quite rewarding.