If bets and reverses

The if bet

You pick two sides and put them in an order. The first is a straight bet. If it wins, the book places the second bet for you, using the same stake. If the first loses, the second is never placed and the ticket is over.

Say you make a $110 if bet on side A, then side B, both at -110. There are three ways it can go.

Result	What happens	You
A wins, B wins	Win $100 on A, then $100 on B	+$200
A wins, B loses	Win $100 on A, lose $110 on B	-$10
A loses	B is never bet	-$110

The order is yours, not the schedule's. You can put the late game first if that is the side you like more, and I would: the first side carries the whole ticket, so it should be the one you trust.

Against two straight bets

Bet $110 straight on each side and the first two rows are the same. The difference is when A loses. With straight bets, A losing and B winning leaves you at -$10, and both losing costs $220. With the if bet, both of those come out at -$110, because B was never bet.

So the if bet gives up $100 when your second side would have won, and saves $110 when it would have lost. What you really get is a cap: you never have more than $110 at risk, where two straight bets put $220 on the line. On a credit account or a small balance that is the point of it. You can play both games on Sunday with one bet's worth of exposure.

Put a parlay next to it. A $110 two-team parlay at -110 a leg, paid at full odds, wins about $291 when both cover and loses the $110 if either fails. The parlay pays more for the sweep and gives you nothing back on a split. The if bet pays less for the sweep and only costs you $10 on a split, as long as the split goes the right way.

The reverse

A reverse is two if bets on the same two sides, one A then B and one B then A. It takes away the worry about the order. Most books count a $110 reverse as $110 on each if bet, so $220 at risk, though some books divide the stake instead, and the ticket will tell you which.

Result	A then B	B then A	You
Both win	+$200	+$200	+$400
A wins, B loses	-$10	-$110	-$120
B wins, A loses	-$110	-$10	-$120
Both lose	-$110	-$110	-$220

Now compare it with straight bets of $220 on each side. When both win, you make $400 either way. On a split, the straight bets lose $20 and the reverse loses $120. When both lose, the straight bets lose $440 and the reverse loses $220. A reverse is a way of having $220 on each side when you're right and only half that when you're wrong, and you pay for it with an extra $100 on every split.

With three sides the reverse becomes six if bets, one for each order, and the stake multiplies with it. Read the total risk on the ticket before you confirm, because it climbs faster than people expect.

What the book thinks of them

The vig is the same -110 on every bet placed. An if bet doesn't hide a bigger margin the way a parlay does, so from a book's side it is just straight business with conditions attached. I never minded writing them. The time to be careful with them is a losing week, when they look like a way to stay in action on less money.

House rules matter here. Most books let you choose whether a push or a cancelled game on the first side lets the second go ahead, and if you don't choose, the book's default applies. Some books limit which bets can go in an if bet, or won't take one where the second game starts before the first one ends. Read the house rules for both before you build one.

When I'd use one

I'd use an if bet when I liked two sides, had one side I liked more, and wanted to keep the risk to one stake. I'd use a reverse when I liked both the same and could stand the larger risk. I wouldn't use either to bet more than I'd planned, because both are still bets at -110, and the arithmetic of the vig does not care how the ticket is arranged.

Count a reverse as the full amount it puts at risk when you size it against your bankroll. Two stakes is two stakes, however neatly they're tied together.