FinanceCalcs
Parlay Calculator
A parlay combines multiple bets into one wager — all legs must win for the parlay to pay. The payout is multiplicative, which creates large potential payouts from small bets. But the vig compounds with each leg, making parlays significantly worse value than straight bets. Calculate your exact parlay odds, payout, and the true cost of the house edge.
A 4-team parlay at −110 per leg pays 10.5:1. The true fair odds are 14.1:1. The sportsbook keeps 25% of the expected value. That gap widens with every leg you add.
Parlay Calculator
2-leg parlay
Payout: $0 — Profit: $0
Leg-by-Leg Breakdown
| # | Leg | Odds | Decimal | Implied % | Cumul. Prob. |
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Parlay Value Analysis
Standard -110 Parlay Reference
| Legs | Parlay Odds | Payout on $100 | True Odds | House Take |
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"Parlays are how sportsbooks make their real money. Each leg compounds the vig. A 10-leg parlay at −110 per leg has a house edge of over 50%. The dream of the big payout hides the mathematics of near-certain loss."
— Sports Betting Mathematics
Why parlays are bad value
A straight bet at −110 has a house edge of 4.55% (you must win 52.38% to break even on a 50/50 game). A 2-team parlay at −110 per leg pays +260 (true odds: +280). The house edge is 9.1% — double the straight bet. A 5-team parlay at −110 per leg pays +2435 (true odds: +3174). House edge: 21%. The vig compounds multiplicatively with each leg.
The correct parlay payout at true odds is the product of all decimal odds minus 1, times the bet. At −110, decimal odds are 1.9091. A 4-team parlay: 1.9091&sup4; = 13.28 decimal, paying $1,228 profit on $100. Sportsbooks typically pay $1,000–$1,050, keeping an extra $178–$228 — the compounded vig.
Correlated parlays (bets that tend to move together) can sometimes be +EV, but most sportsbooks prohibit them. An example: betting both the over AND the favorite in the same game — if the favorite wins big, both bets win. Books specifically ban these because the correlation reduces the house edge.
Parlay FAQs
What happens if one leg of my parlay pushes (ties)?
Most sportsbooks treat a push as a removal of that leg from the parlay. A 4-team parlay where one leg pushes becomes a 3-team parlay at the original odds for the remaining legs. The payout is recalculated for 3 legs. This is generally favorable — you don’t lose the whole parlay just because one game ended in a tie.
Are same-game parlays (SGPs) better or worse value?
Generally worse value than regular parlays. Sportsbooks heavily adjust same-game parlay odds because the legs are correlated — if the QB throws for 300 yards, the over is more likely to hit. Books reduce the payout to account for this correlation. The house edge on SGPs is typically 15–30%, far above standard parlays.
What is a teaser?
A teaser is a parlay where you move the point spread in your favor by a set number of points (typically 6 in football) in exchange for lower parlay odds. In NFL betting, a 6-point teaser through the key numbers (3 and 7) can occasionally be +EV for experienced bettors, but standard teasers are poor value for most players.
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