Betting 101: If you are going to parlay, heres how to do it – Yahoo Sports

Whats the most popular type of wager? Parlays.

What gets the most attention in the betting world? Parlays.

What should you not do but probably still do? Parlay.

OK fine. Lets be honest, you will continue doing the thing that you probably shouldnt be doing but its fun and it makes things more exciting, and for those reasons, you wont stop. The potential of hitting a big score or sweating out the last leg to only get burned, its both of these emotions that keep you coming back for more.

What if theres a way to parlay responsibly? I think of this now because my betting strategy for tennis is correlated.

In football, favorites are typically no more than maybe -300. In ATP tennis, favorites can be upwards of -2000 because the talent gap between a top-25 player and an opponent outside the top 100 is so large that it lends to creating big moneyline favorites. Theres the option to play a game spread, set spread or game total, but sometimes its best to consider a moneyline parlay.

Outside of ATP, I dont parlay much. Its fools gold in my opinion. In tennis, however, it works for me. I find that it works best in major tournaments, which are best-of-five matches. Playing a parlay in a best of three becomes more tricky, adds volatility and I try to avoid as much as possible. Im comfortable playing ATP parlays, not so much in other sports.

Here are some parlay concepts I use in tennis that can apply to all sports.

Parlays are popular because of the longshot value it could offer. You lay $10 on a +1000 parlay and if it hits, then your $10 is converted into $100. Risk small to win big. The problem is, bettors like to wager real small in an attempt to win real big. In order to do that, bettors create an eight-leg parlay or 10-team parlay, essentially putting together lottery tickets.

Ask yourself, how often have you tried just a two- or three-team parlay? Placing $25 on maybe a 2-1 or 3-1? It may be a smaller payout, but by keeping it to two or three max, then it has a higher probability of working out. The more variables you add, the more risk, then theres more room for volatility.

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When I do a two-player parlay in tennis, its because one leg, Ill call it my base, is a high-conviction, cant lose option. I then pair it with the higher-risk option in order to lower the odds for my low-risk leg.

Example: If I like Rafael Nadal (-350) to defeat his opponent in a clay-court match, Ill pair that with Diego Schwartzman, priced at -200. Nadal is my for sure not necessarily because the odds are higher but because Nadal is the best on clay, in great form, has been dominant and I like all to continue with the idea that he could win in straight sets. Schwartzman is my high risk leg because, although I have confidence in him winning, his opponent could surprise and put up a fight to make the match more competitive than Id like, perhaps going a full three sets.

Essentially what I am doing is now paying a -110 price for Schwartzman. Instead of risking his -200 original price, I paired him with something I consider an auto winner and lowered the odds on a higher-risk play.

Those are my two tips but heres what people get wrong about parlays. Bettors keep adding and adding because they want to increase the payout odds. If your three-team parlay is paying out +110 but you want to add a fourth leg to make it +120 what are you doing? You as a bettor think you are increasing the payout odds but what youre doing is adding more risk.

The one thing I say over and over again, its about cashing tickets, not about grabbing more perceived value. Weather, injuries, wrong calls and other oddball things happen all the time in sports. Keep the risk low with the potential of a payout high.

Lets be real, youre likely still going to put together eight and 10-team parlays but perhaps this could help you better construct these wagers by grouping higher-conviction options instead of just adding lower-probability legs to increase the value.

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Betting 101: If you are going to parlay, heres how to do it - Yahoo Sports