You have been on a hot streak and are feeling good about a couple of different bets one night. Is there a way to capitalize on this confidence with less capital invested? There is, and it’s called a parlay. These bets are essentially bundles of individual bets that are treated as a single bet. They offer a lower risk profile with big upside, yet they are often much more difficult to hit due to one simple rule: you must hit every individual bet to win the parlay. Parlays allow you to bet less and win more, with the understanding that these bets are more difficult to hit. Let’s see how they work.
I’m going to show how to calculate your parlay value using “moneyline bets” (or “win bets” in some parts of the world) because moneyline odds are quite standard. That being said, all odds formats are convertible and interchangeable, and I’ll explain below how to convert other formats into moneyline odds at the bottom of the article.
How to Calculate Individual Moneyline Profits:
First, in order to understand how to calculate parlays, we must understand individual moneyline bets. A moneyline bet is simply a wager on who or what team will win an event, and the odds will show you who is in favor to win. Imagine FC Barcelona is playing against a U16 football team (a team composed of individuals under 16 years of age). If a book lets you bet both sides evenly, it would make sense to always bet for FC Barcelona, as they would be the heavy favorites. The odds help even the playing field, so to say.
Here is an example of how the book might show this particular matchup.
- FC Barcelona | -3,000
- U16 | +2,800
There are two parts two each moneyline: the plus or minus sign, and a number. The sign shows who is favorited. The minus sign indicates the favorite, and the plus sign indicates the underdog. The number shows the extent to which that person or team is the favorite or underdog, and it indicates the profit in accordance with your bet.
Let’s start with calculating the underdog profit, as it’s a little more intuitive. Remember, the underdog moneyline odds will have the plus sign in front. The underdog odds show you at face value how much you would get paid out in profit based on the size of a $100 wager. If you bet $100 on the U16 team, you would get paid out $2,800 in profit. The formula for any size bet is shown below:
Where:
- Profit = how much money you win
- Wager = how much money you bet
- Moneyline = the value of the moneyline
The profit calculation for the favorite is just as easy mechanically, but it is less intuitive. This moneyline represents how much you have to bet in order to get paid out $100. For this example, you would have to bet $3,000 on FC Barcelona in order to get paid out $100. The formula for any size bet is shown below:
Where:
- Profit = how much money you win
- Wager = how much money you bet
- Moneyline = the value of the moneyline
Individual Moneyline Example:
Let’s stick with our example. FC Barcelona is going head to head with a U16 football team, and the moneyline odds are as follows:
- FC Barcelona | -3,000
- U16 | +2,800
Suppose you have good information that the U16 team will provide a tough showing for FC Barcelona, so you plan on making a $125 bet on the U16 team. Also, suppose your friend, a more risk averse individual, wants to bet $50 on FC Barcelona.
To calculate your profit for your bet on the U16 team, divide $125 by 100, and multiple by the moneyline, as follows.
To calculate your friend’s profit for his/her bet on FC Barcelona, divide 100 by the moneyline and multiply by $50, as follows.
Remember also that, if you win your bet, in addition to your profit, you will get your wager back.
How to Calculate a Parlay Payout:
Now that we understand how to calculate individual moneyline profits, we need just a few more steps in order to calculate a parlay payout. The easiest way to calculate a parlay payout is to first convert moneyline odds to decimal odds.
To convert positive moneyline odds to decimal odds, divide the positive moneyline by 100, and add 1, as shown below:
To convert negative moneyline odds to decimal odds, divide 100 by the negative moneyline, and add 1, as shown below:
Next, all we have to do is a simple string of multiplication. Multiply how much you want to wager by the decimal odd of each individual bet in the parlay. The formula is shown below:
Where:
- Payout = profit plus the amount you wager
- Wager = how much money you bet
- DecimalOdd = the decimal odd for each individual bet
In order to calculate the profit, all you have to do is subtract your wager amount from the calculated payout.
Parlay Payout Example:
Let’s take a look at an example with a parlay that includes three bets. You plan on making a $50 wager. The first game you want to include in the parlay is Game 1 with a moneyline odd of -135, the second game is Game 2 with a moneyline odd of +155, and the third game is Game 3 with a moneyline odd of -220. First, we must convert these moneyline odds to decimal odds. Game 1 and Game 3 will be calculated the same way, where we divide 100 by each moneyline odd and add 1. Game 2 will be calculated by dividing the moneyline odd by 100 and adding 1. The calculations are shown below:
| Game | Moneyline Odd | Calculation | Decimal Odd |
|---|---|---|---|
| Game 1 | -135 | (100/135) + 1 | 1.741 |
| Game 2 | +155 | (155/100) + 1 | 2.550 |
| Game 3 | -220 | (100/220) + 1 | 1.455 |
Next, we simply multiply our wager, which in this case is $50, by all three of those decimal odds.
Lastly, if we want to calculate our profit, all we have to do is subtract our wager, so we get Profit = $322.83 - $50 = $272.83. And there we have it, our parlay profit!
A Note on Moneyline Conversions:
Here I will simply show the formulas to compute moneyline odds from different odds formats. Note that the calculator requires moneyline inputs. That being said, if you are given decimal odds already and want to compute your parlay by hand, there is no need to convert the decimal odds to moneyline odds.
Decimal to moneyline:
There are two methods to convert decimal odds to moneyline odds, one method being for decimal odds less than 2.0, and the other method being for decimal odds greater than 2.0. Decimal odds of 2.0 equates to moneyline odds of +100.
To calculate moneyline odds from decimal odds less than 2.0, divide -100 by the difference between the decimal odd and 1. Then round to the nearest whole number.
To calculate moneyline odds from decimal odds greater than 2.0, multiply the difference between the decimal odds and 1 by 100.
Fractional to moneyline
There are two methods to convert fractional odds to moneyline odds, one method being for fractions less than 1/1, and one method being for fractions greater than 1/1. Odds that read 1/1 are equivalent to +100 moneyline odds.
To calculate moneyline odds from fractional odds less than 1/1, divide -100 by the fraction.
To calculate moneyline odds from fractional odds greater than 1/1, multiply +100 by the fraction.
