Whether you’re new to the world of online gambling or an experienced player that’s seen it all, a parlay odds calculator will likely be a useful tool.
Before jumping into the mathematics of how to calculate a parlay, we’ll first explain exactly what a parlay bet actually is. Essentially, a parlay bet is a bet where multiple outcomes are combined to create one bet, with all the odds of your selected bets being tied together. If you’re familiar with accumulator bets, then parlays will be easy to understand as they’re the same thing.
Using a calculator to work out the return on your parlay bet is a great way to see what you can win before committing to laying down the bet. On our parlay calculator below, you can select up to 15 teams or bets quickly, and see the potential win amount should your wager come in. You can also use any bonus bet offers from sportsbooks when selecting your parlay.
Parlay bets are beneficial to bettors as they often save money and can be far more profitable than standard single bets, albeit with a greater risk of losing. To win a parlay bet, each of your selections must come good. Even if you’ve chosen 15 bets and 14 of those end up winning, that single loss will prevent you from securing the win. With this information in mind, it’s usually not worth creating a parlay bet jam-packed with favorites. Doing so will require that you wager more money and add more selections to win the big bucks, which actually decreases your chances of being rewarded a profitable return.
You may be wondering how you can calculate a parlay or an accumulator yourself. To do so, we recommend using a parlay calculator app or a website that offers a free parlay calc. There are some simple formulas to keep in mind when putting your parlay together, and we’ll go through them now.
There’s no need to be an expert at math to understand the ins and outs of a moneyline parlay calculator. The first thing to understand is single moneyline bets. A moneyline bet is where the bettor chooses a specific outcome, like a win. By putting multiple moneyline bets together, you get the parlay bet.
Say, for instance, you plan to bet on a soccer game involving Liverpool and Leeds United. Your favorite sportsbook offers similar odds on both sides, so it makes sense to bet on a Liverpool victory as they’re the better team. In this case, the online casino has team A, Liverpool to win the game at -4,000 and Leeds at +3,800.
As you can see, odds are made up of a plus sign, minus sign, and numbers. These are the three most important elements to moneyline betting. The minus represents the favorite, while the plus symbol tells you which team is the underdog. By looking at the number, it’s possible to calculate your profit for each bet.
Finding your profit when betting on the underdog is relatively easy, considering the number beside the number beside the plus symbol tells you exactly how much you’d win if you were to wager $100 on that outcome. In the Liverpool vs Leeds encounter, a $100 bet on Leeds United would result in a $3,800 win for the bettor. The formula is: Wager divided by 100, multiplied by the moneyline = total profit. We found the profit from betting on a Leeds victory by dividing our wager of $100 by 100, then multiplying that number (1) by 3,800.
To calculate your profit when betting on the favorite, you’ll use a similar formula: 100 divided by the moneyline, multiplied by the wager. Using our example of Liverpool vs Leeds United, we would divide 100 by 4,000, then multiply the result of that (0.025) by our wager ($4,000). This equals $4,000. Therefore, we now know that it would require a $4,000 bet to earn $100 profit. Of course, all this can be done without straining your brain by using the gambling calculator above.
Wondering what the best book is for your parlay bets? Why not have a look at our dedicated guide to the best parlay betting sites and apps.
You don’t need to get a pen and paper out every time you want to calculate the odds of your football parlay odds, although some people prefer to do it that way rather than using an accumulator bets calculator. To find the odds of a parlay bet, simply convert your odds to decimal form and multiply them one by one. For example, imagine you’ve chosen five selections at odds of -350, -200, -225, -450, and -500. In order, these convert to 1.29, 1.5, 1.44, 1.22, and 1.2. By multiplying each of these together, we get odds of 4.07. For one dollar that you bet on these odds, a win would return $4.07. So, if you placed a bet of $10 with these odds, you’d win $40.70 in profit. In US odds, 4.07 reads as +307, so your bet would be a favorite.
There are two neat methods you can use to find out what the decimal to moneyline conversion is. The first is for decimal odds less than 2.0, and the other for decimal odds worth more than 2.0. To find your moneyline odds from decimal odds less than 2.0, divide the difference between the decimal odd and 1 by -100. Afterward, round up to the nearest whole number. To discover your moneyline odds from decimal odds greater than 2.0, take the difference between the decimal odd and 1, then multiply it by 100.
You don’t need to choose a fancy Las Vegas parlay calculator, most sportsbooks will provide a parlay calculator when you add your wagers to the betslip. You can, of course, use our free online moneyline parlay calculator above and it will do the exact same job, for free. Even if you’re just looking for a 2 team parlay payout and high-risk bets don’t particularly interest you, a parlay calculator odds feature can make things significantly easier.
Ask different people if they should use a 15 team parlay calculator or even place a parlay wager or round robin bet in the first place you will likely get different answers. Those who regularly read betting tips and have a refined strategy for making steady profits will likely claim parlays are for suckers. They will probably claim parlays do not represent true odds for any sport event and you are better off with a single bet over a parlay wager. There is definitely a feeling among some bettors that the only winner from any multiple bet is the sportsbook and your bet slip should only contain a more straightforward sports bet.
However, there are professional gamblers who will say that you can generate a big payout from a relatively small outlay. Also, those in favor of parlays will argue you can quickly get on a hot streak and there are now different variants of a single bet parlay to keep it exciting. Most sportsbooks now offer progressive parlay and same game parlay options allowing bettors the opportunity to maximize their profits. There is no doubt there is enough variety and the potential to win big from a small stake compared to an individual bet.
Of course, both sides of this argument are correct. Online sportsbooks undoubtedly do well against most parlay bettors as most players will likely end up being around 50% overall. Consequently, even if you only place a two team parlay you will still lose and every leg must hit and that would be 1-1. All of the major sportsbooks, such as DraftKings sportsbook, FanDuel sportsbook and Caesars recognize this and do encourage towards parlays when betting on sport. This is because it is challenging to win one game, let alone several games, so books will have as many parlay or round robin betting types as they can.
The benefits of parlays is that the postseason playoffs are appealing, and you have a better chance of winning big than yo do on something like the lottery. Additionally, if you feel you have a good knowledge of a league, the NFL for example, you could bet on 5 teams in an NFL week with some confidence. You can also bet the point spread, moneyline or even props for your parlay bet.
Ultimately, if you decide on a parlay, use our parlay bet calculator. Using a calculator will give you a view of the implied probability in the format of American odds or fractional odds and your parlay payouts.
A standard two-team parlay pays odds of 13 to 5, so risking $10 on two winning sides or totals would have a profit of $26. A three-team parlay (often called three-team) has odds of 6 to 1 ($10 would win $60). So despite being harder to win, you have to win much less often to stay profitable.
Multiply all the underdog and favorite lines together to get the total value of your odds. For example, with the odds above: 2.8 x 3.5 x 1.71 x 1.45 = 24.29. So your odds will be equal to 24.29:1. A winning bet of $10 would pay 24.29 x $10 = $242.90.
A 10-team parlay will pay 643 times your bet value, assuming each leg of the bet has -110 odds. For example, if you place a $10 bet on a 10-team bet, your payout would be $6,430.
A 15-team parlay could pay +16,000. However, each leg will have to win for this to succeed, which is unlikely.
A two-team game (assuming all bets are 50/50 propositions) has four possible outcomes (Win-Win, Win-Lose, Lose-Win, Lose-Lose), so you should hit 1 out of every four times or 3-1 odds against you. However, the standard win for a 2-team game is 13-5 (2.6-1).