Parlays are one of the most popular forms of wagering because of the large potential payouts and the ability to get action on multiple matches at once with very low risk.

A parlay is a single wager that combines multiple bets. If you win, you get a huge payout. But in order to be victorious, you must win every single item within your bet. If any one single bet item is a loss, you lose the entire parlay.

Payouts are calculated by multiplying all the odds from the bets on the parlay slip. The more bets you add to the parlay, the more difficult to win, but is rewarded with an increased payout.  

Working through an example should help you to understand exactly how a parlay works.

How to pick a parlay?

If you bet $5 on each of the above matches individually, you would risk $20 and the total payout winning all four would only be $53.50!

Now let's take a look at the bet and returns for parlays for 2, 3, or all 4 of the underdog teams with a $5 bet.

Parlay Examples with a $5 Bet

Teams

Odds

Total Payout

2 Team Parlay (Fnatic, Luminosity)

2.65 * 2.65 = 7.02

$35.10

3 Team Parlay (Fnatic, Luminosity, Liquid)

2.65 * 2.65 * 3.01 = 21.14

$105.70

4 Team Parlay (Fnatic, Luminosity, Liquid, Hellraisers)

2.65 * 2.65 * 3.01 * 2.3 = 48.62

$243.10

But if you bet $5 on all 4 underdogs to win in a parlay, your $5 could win you $243.10. This is why parlays are so much fun! A small wager can return a huge sum, almost 50:1 in this case.

Bookmakers are also big fans of parlays because it forces the player to be perfect with their bets. If you bet $10 on two matches at even money (1.9:1) and win only one, you lose $1. If you risk $10 on a parlay of the same games you lose $10. Pretty sweet deal for them.

There are both positives and negatives to parlays. How much enjoyment you get from them will depend on your betting profile and bankroll. Try one today and decide for yourself!