How a Parlay System Works
What is Parlay Betting
A parlay is a single bet that combines two or more individual wagers as part of a winning system. Although each wager is based on independent outcomes, a parlay betting strategy is built on bets being won in a sequence. The biggest benefit of a parlay betting system is that it provides a much higher payout than the sum of individual bets. The drawback is that if one of the bets yields a loss, the entire parlay is set back and the betting sequence stats again. Therefore casino players who implement a parlay betting strategy into their game take into account that it is considered a high-risk/high-reward strategy.
Parlay System Logic
The simple logic behind a successful parlay betting system is to gradually build your stake by exponentially multiplying winnings. This, while reinvesting your winnings to diversify risk. Parlay bets let you place small wagers while losing, and progressively growing wagers when winning – all this while leveraging the online casino's own money to build your profits. If planned and executed correctly, you can turn this initially high-risk/high-reward system into a strategy that will potentially let you generate large payouts for a relatively-limited risk.
Building Your Parlay Betting System
When building your parlay betting strategy, you will need to first take a somewhat-more risky approach. Over time this should statistically yield higher wins, letting you quickly build up your profits from the winning bets. These winnings are reinvested back into the parlay system while diversifying and reducing your initial risk over time. Practically, when you implement a parlay system on a mobile casino, you reinvest all your profits from a winning bet into the next one. You will keep reinvesting your profits for a predetermined number of consecutive winning bets. If you yield a loss, you should still place the next bet, but it should be smaller. After a parlay loss you should start a new sequence with the initial bet amount.
Parlay System Sustainability
As parlay betting is considered a high-risk/high-reward strategy, it is important to diversify risk and build a sustainable profit base that will last you over a longer period of time. Even if you will initially generate much smaller wins, you should resist the temptation to increase your stake on the next parlay wager beyond your set budget. Sticking to your limits will reduce your chances to lose, and will allow you to continue investing and optimizing your parlay betting strategy over time.
Reinvesting Parlay Wins
Think about your parlay strategy as a betting marathon, not a sprint. For example, imagine you have a high-yield investment which during one quarter generates fantastic returns. You could take these returns and reinvest them back into the same investment vehicle. Even if you lose in the short run thereafter, you still have enough capital to wait until the next profits come in. However withdrawing money out will reduce your potential returns. Or alternatively, bringing more of your own money to invest will further increase your risk of losing.
This is similar to a parlay betting strategy, where you use your winnings (i.e. returns) to bet again (i.e. reinvest). However do not be tempted to bring in more money than your initial betting budget. When using a parlay betting system in a casino you can win serious money from bets by leveraging the casino’s money and investing money that isn’t actually yours. It is important to keep this in mind, and increase your wager with every parlay winning bet. New casino players that implement a successful parlay strategy are very disciplined either way. They aren’t tempted to dip into their pockets and bet more of their own money once they started the parlay betting sequence at the casino table. Oppositely, they also resist the urge to cash out on winnings and spend them elsewhere until their winning goals were achieved. Instead they increase the stake of their next parlay bets.
Diversifying Parlay Bets
Because a parlay bet is comprised of a range of individual wagers, you don’t have to stick to specific games or types of bets like in other betting systems. You can keep betting some of the winnings on your original bet, and then move on to place the rest of your stake on different bets. For example, a parlay sequence can involve both even-money and line bets, etc.
Knowing When to Cash Out
If implementing your parlay betting strategy correctly, you could start growing your winnings exponentially. But keep in mind that in order to sustain a successful parlay strategy, consecutive wins need to keep coming. And in gambling, all steaks at some point come to an end. For that reason, a successful parlay strategy will depend entirely on the player knowing when to end the betting series and cash out the profits. Unfortunately when it comes to parlay wagering, or any other form of gambling, this is always much easier said than done.
Successful parlay punters define the initial bet, number of consecutive winning bets, and winning goal. For example, define that you need to invest €10 for an initial bet in order to generate a profit of €100 within 3 consecutive winning bets. Once these goals are reached, you should cash out and either leave the table or begin a new parlay betting sequence. Even you will be tempted to place a fourth bet after three wins, you are now aware that you are taking a higher risk.
Examples of Parlay Betting
Once you understand the basic principles and rules, implementing the parlay system is straight forward. You should decide on the initial bet amount, and then increase it every time you win, or return to the initial bet when you lose. You also need to set profit goals that will be a set amount, and number of winning bets that you reach before taking your winnings off the casino table. Here are some examples of how to use a parlay betting system:
For the sake of simplicity, we will use an example where your initial bet is €10 and your profit goals are an €80 profit within 3 consecutive winning bets. We will also assume it is an even money bet that pays 1:1 for landing on red on the roulette table for example. Your first €10 bet is on red, and if you win your next bet should be €20 on red. Win again, and wager €40 on red, which if you win this time you are left with €80 which should be your cash out point. In case you lose at any time during this session, simply return to your initial €10 wager and start over again.
In the previous example we used an even money bet, however parlay betting isn’t limited to a specific type of wager. Let’s use another example of playing blackjack with initial bets of €20. If you will hit a blackjack on your first hand at the table, you will be paid out €30 in winnings (as blackjack pays 3:1), and will have a total of €50 (€20 your initial stake plus €30 winnings). Now you can make a €50 wager on the next hand, and if you keep winning go up to your cash-out limit. In case you lose, start again with an initial €20 bet.
Parlay Betting System Pros and Cons
When considering gambling strategies, it is also important to take into account the main factor which is luck, and build a risk-management system to monitor and leverage the unpredictable outcomes. There are many betting systems and strategies such as the Martingame, D’Alembert, Doubling Up and Adding one, and Positive & Negative Progressive to name just a few. As luck has it, there’s no one perfect system and each has its advantages and disadvantages. Following are some of the parlay system’s pros and cons:
Pros
- Exciting and fun
- Easy to learn and implement
- Can be used across many types of bets and games
- Leveraging house money to reduce risk
- Implements small bets and small losses
Cons
- Risky strategy
- Win depends on independent bet outcomes
- Based on consecutive wins
- Requires player discipline
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Parlay Blackjack Betting System
If you are a blackjack player, we definitely recommend you to explore the parlay betting system. Parlay betting is considered one of the most fast-paced, exciting strategies in the game of blackjack. It requires you to double your bets at the blackjack table after every win. And it’s not as easy to keep your profits when letting your winnings ride on every wager. For this reason, blackjack players also refer to parlay as the ‘Let it Ride’ system.
Any profits that you make are treated as the casino’s money until you cash out. So by ‘letting it ride’, or ‘parlaying’ every win into a new wager, a blackjack player is risking more cash. But keep in mind that that this cash comes from pure profit on the blackjack table. No matter how you call it though, Parlay is a very popular system amongst many blackjack players around the world.
Before sitting at the blackjack table, set up your consecutive-win and profit goals for cashing out. It should be a realistic goal that will help you manage risk and create a stepping point for building your profits. If you are placing €15 bets on each hand, it is hard to imagine you will hit a €1,500 goal before losing a few times. But if you are looking for an initial win, say €105 while making €15 bets, is pretty much within a realistic range.
Here’s how the sequence will look like if you are using the parlay system at the blackjack table and doubling your bets on three consecutive wins:
- €15 wager: €15 total profit + €15 stake
- €30 wager: €45 total profit + €15 stake
- €60 wager: €105 total profit (€120 win, less €15 initial stake)
As you can see, you will only need three winning bets in a row to get to your winning goal. Because this is a realistic target, it is reachable even if you lose a few bets. Setting your limits will depend on how much money you are willing to risk at the blackjack table and how long you feel like playing. If setting up attainable goals and sticking to limits, a blackjack parlay strategy can be lots of fun, and also give you a chance to win some nice cash.