Examining parlays in sports betting

Parlay wagers have a storied and much-debated place in the history of sports gambling.

It is typically a single wager that links together at least two separate games and requires all outcomes chosen to succeed to cash in. If you fail to bat 1.000 on your picks in a parlay, you lose.

Are parlays a good idea?

The debate around parlays within the gambling community originates from the house take and true odds on strung-together outcomes. Looking at just a two-game parlay at even-money odds, the true probability of outcome is 3:1. And yet, parlay payout is only 2.6:1. This equates to a much higher house take than a traditional straight or single bet.

Traditionalists and purists will argue parlays are bad bets—every sportsbook offers them and encourages them because of this increased house take, and you're a sucker if you play them. Twitter personalities and sportsbooks of all sorts actively promote when a gambler hits a 10-teamer because it encourages so many others to dive in and throw money away on their own 10-teamers.

Parlays offer more thrills

There is some truth to this sentiment. But what got us into gambling in the first place? Was it grinding out at 54% on straight bets exclusively, always betting 1-3% of our bankroll and never more than 10% a day? I doubt it. We started because we liked the thrill of a score—because we wanted to win not just enough money to buy a beer, but to buy the whole bar a round of beer. If you are able to pick winners consistently at a 55% rate, not only will you make incredible amounts of money on straight bets, but you can make substantially more money on parlays.

Parlays can be life-changing

History often determines whether a decision was right or wrong. If you hit a life-changing parlay for $100,000 on an NFL Sunday, who am I to tell you it was a poor decision, just because the math said you weren't getting fair odds? The truth is, it ended up being a great decision, because variance and luck was in your favor that day.

Parlays may not always be wise bets, but they're definitely more fun (and profitable) when you win.