There was a time when sports betting in the U.S. was legal only in Nevada; while in some states, accepting wagers on sports matches was limited to parlay. All that is history now after the Supreme Court struck down the 1992 Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) in May 2018; granting all other jurisdictions the right to offer regulated sports betting that includes various types of betting options in addition to parlay.
What is quite interesting though is that parlay betting is still popular among sports punters, not only in the U.S. but worldwide. In Asian countries like Indonesia, parlay betting on soccer is quite popular as a strategy, more so now that BwinBet365, has daily offers of 100% cashback on soccer parlay bets placed in the bookmaker’s local judi bola sites.
What is Parlay Betting
Parlay betting is the opposite of placing a single-bet, as two or more bets can be combined into one wager. That combined wager may comprise any of the products offered as bets by a bookmaker — from moneylines, to point spreads, proposition bets or futures.
It’s important that a parlay combination comprises bets on different games, either for the featured sport or for different sports. However, a two-sport mixed parlay depends on the sportsbook, as some bookmakers are inclined to allow parlay bets only a single sport but for two or more different matches.
The main advantage of placing parlay bets is the possibility of collecting a larger payout when compared to winning on a single straight bet. Although a parlay payout comprises different bets, a parlay payout is fixed once the related bet is placed. Even if the odds change on line bets, the parlay payout will not be affected.
The downside to this type of betting though, is that for a parlay bet to win, a punter has to win on all betting components of that parlay. Otherwise, if only one of the combined bet wins, a parlay punter will not be able to collect the related payout because losing on any component makes a parlay bet unsuccessful.
Effect of Game Cancellations on Parlay Bets
An area of concern that has been bugging newbie sports bettors about parlay bets is that due to the pandemic, game cancellations are now common. How does a canceled game affect a parlay bet?
If a game involving a parlay component gets cancelled while a punter wins on all other bets comprising a parlay, the punter can still collect the payout. If there are 3 bets comprising a parlay, the payout will be adjusted to the equivalent ot a 2-bet parlay payout in case one game gets cancelled.