What is a parlay?

How it pays

Each pick is called a leg, and the book multiplies the prices of the legs together. With every leg at the standard -110, a $100 two-team parlay wins $264 and a $100 three-team parlay wins $596, while a $10 three-team ticket wins about $60. The same picks bet one at a time would each win $91 on $100. That is the appeal of a parlay: a small stake and a large number.

What it costs

Two bets at -110 are meant to be two coin flips. Both come in one time in four, so a fair price is 3 to 1. The book pays about 2.6 to 1. Nobody prints that gap on the ticket.

The difference is the book's cut, and it grows with every leg.

Ticket	The book's cut
Straight bet	4.5 percent
Two legs	8.9 percent
Three legs	13 percent
Five legs	20.8 percent

That is why parlays are on the front page of every sportsbook. A book does not advertise the bets it makes least on, and I never saw one that did.

Pushes, voids and same game parlays

At most books a leg that pushes or is voided drops off the ticket and the parlay pays as if it had one leg fewer, but printed parlay cards can be different, and some say ties lose, so I'd read the back of the card before I bet the front.

A same game parlay puts several bets from one game on a single ticket. The legs are related, so the book sets the payout itself and you can't check it by multiplying, which means the cut is harder to see, and it is generally bigger.

If you play them

I'd keep it to two or three legs and stake small, because a parlay is the bet where the price is most against you. Check the payout before you bet it; the parlay calculator shows what a ticket should pay. And I wouldn't use a parlay to get even after a bad day. The parlays guide has the full table, with teasers and round robins.

A parlay is a fair price for a $10 sweat. It is an expensive way to bet for a living.