What Is A Key Parlay Bet? Know Everything About It

In sports betting, a Key Parlay bet is an innovative and intelligent way of putting multiple bets. If you ask, what is a key parlay bet, we have a detailed overview ready for you!

The key parlay bet involves selecting three or more squads as well as picking a “key” squad. After that, each of the other teams is coupled with this crucial team in a separate parlay bet. For instance, if you pick one team, like Team A, to be your key, then through parlay bets, you can either include Team B or C in it. 

The possibility of concentrating on one strong team and still being able to win several bets exists in this technique. There is more to this; let’s learn all about parlays and key parlays! 

What Is A Parlay Bet?

A parlay bet is a common sports betting technique. Basically, it’s a method of amalgamating several bets into one stake. 

They are also called “accumulators” and “multi” in some parts of the globe. In order for the parlay to win, every single individual bet must be successful. 

If any of the wagers in a parlay don’t go through, the whole parlay wager will be null and void. The risk involved with this type of betting increases, but so does its reward.

Parlays are attractive because they pay more than other types of bets. Since parlays are harder to win, sportsbooks—businesses that take bets—tend to offer bigger payoffs for them. 

The payouts get better when even more individual bets are added to a parlay because there is an effect known as multipliers, which increases the possible payout.

Moreover, many other bookmakers allow players to place their parlays online. Parlay formats can also be found on mobile betting platforms such as DraftKings, FanDuel, or BetMGM. You can easily build one on these platforms by making multiple selections with your phone. 

How To Calculate Parlay Odds?

Because various sportsbooks use different approaches, it might be difficult to calculate the parlay odds. A wide range of wagers can possibly go into a single parlay. 

Michigan betting companies take into account the winning chances of each wager and the probability of choosing winners across all Parlays games. Based on this information, they can compute potential returns. 

You can use online parlay calculators to get a rough idea of how much money you could win from a parlay.

Parlays have pre-set payouts since they are determined at the time of betting – remember that. Your payout is guaranteed with this kind of parlay regardless of any change in the odds that happens for some games in your selection before the game starts. 

You can always make a new one using the same selections but with improved prices, which will increase your prospective payoff.

However, as different sportsbooks adopt different approaches, working out parlay odds can be somewhat tricky. Therefore, given the anticipated surge of online and mobile sportsbooks, it is wiser than ever to check out different rates across various bookies and assess their payout percentages before making any decision.

What Is A Key Parlay Bet?

A key Parlay is a particular type of parlay bet in sports betting. Part of the process involves selecting three or more teams and choosing one as the “key.” 

After this, all the other teams are matched with this important team in different parlay bets. For example, if you choose Team A as your key, you can place parlay bets involving Team A and either Team B or Team C. 

This technique allows betting on one strong team while enabling one to win several wagers.

Key Parlays are flexible and, hence, very useful. You can take as many teams as possible, even if you have more than one key team. You may also combine three important teams, Teams A, B, and C, with two other teams, such as Teams D and E, for instance. 

This way, you design a network of wagers that might increase your winning chances. However, do not create parlays with non-essential teams, which in this case are teams B and C.

Key parleys can be quite helpful when one side is clearly the favorite one over another side. They give lots of opportunities to win when your key team wins; it is an intriguing and profitable method.

It also provides greater flexibility and could even increase your odds of winning. By linking additional teams to your key team using parlays, you can create a web of bets pegged on their performance.  

Difference Between Parlay And Key Parlays

Parlays can only be won if every one of the different wagers, or “legs,” wins. The whole parlay collapses if even just one wager fails. Because parlays pay out more than individual bets, they are riskier but have a better chance of paying out. Therefore, if any team loses, your whole parlay bet is gone.

Nevertheless, there is a tactical dimension to an old-school parlay with a critical one in sight. You can thus consider selecting one or more “key” teams to increase your chances of winning a key parlay. 

Consequently, these significant teams are combined with other teams within distinct parlay wagers. 

A normal parlay differs widely from a key type regarding strategy and structure. In classic parlays, every wager counts equally, so when it goes down, everything goes down, too.

The success of a parley depends much on how important teams perform that day. A gambler may decide to invest more faith in certain sides, thus using this system, among others, to obtain some diversification effect. 

Many gamblers opt for simpler parlay playing in order to increase the potential payout for single wagers. This is what makes them so popular, as you get a lot of money for your small investment. The stakes are higher, though, because each bet must win. 

However, key parlays provide a middle ground between the two extremes. By focusing on important teams, bettors can increase their odds of winning multiple bets that pay the same or more than individual wagers. 

As such, key parlays are ideal for more strategic players looking to maximize their chances of winning.

To pay out at all, a parlay bet has to be made up of several separate bets that will only pay off if each one wins. Thus, you can use a key parlay instead in order to maximize your flexibility and give yourself as many chances as possible to win. 

Successful Parlay Betting Tips

If you are looking forward to parlay betting, here are a few expert tips that might come in handy for you: 

Mix And Match Favorites

It’s better to parlay your favorites. You may need a huge amount for you to have a fair return if you would like to make money betting on large favorites. 

A smaller bet can allow you to maximize your potential payoff by combining two or more favorites in a parlay. This strategy can be used to reduce your betting risk by backing teams that are more likely to win; for example, the New England Patriots and the Kansas City Chiefs would both fit this bill. 

As such, you can increase your return without substantially hiking your risk. This is an excellent way of betting on strong teams while still getting moderate returns from them. 

Shrink It

The stakes are too high; hence, the temptation becomes going all in on parlays bets. However, most of the time, playing it safe is wiser.

Each individual bet has to win for the parlay bet itself to pay off. Thus. Thus, parlay bets necessitate more luck than, say, single-game bets. 

In many cases, when parlays fail, which happens frequently, this will help minimize losses should they occur, an eventuality we are all familiar with, even though there are those who choose its technical terminology and refer to it as hedging their bets instead! 

Find The Cliff

An essential approach in parlay betting involves hedging. Hedge against the last leg of your parlay when you are about to win and get back your original bet or even more. This is called hedging in some quarters. 

For example, if out of three teams that make up a three-team parlay, two have won, you can bet against the third team. By doing this, part of your winnings will be retained regardless of the game’s outcome—a way that allows a partial return on investment.  

Parlays Across Multiple Sports

There is value in parlays spanning multiple sports leagues, too. Instead of confining yourself to one sport only, why don’t you consider adding wagers from another type? 

Doing so would give you more opportunities to spot good bets on multi-sport parlays as opposed to single sports ones alone; for instance, it includes football, basketball, and baseball. 

With this method, lines and odds can be used for several sports, not just one. Therefore, using multi-sport parlays allows one to take advantage of the best picks across different sports simultaneously.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What does a $100 4 team parlay pay?

Enter 4 in the “Number of Games” box and -110 in each game line box to generate a $100 4-team parlay payout. To get the accurate parlay odds of +1228, click “Calculate.” This indicates that if all bets are successful, a $100 wager would pay $1,228.33.

How does a parlay bet work?

A parlay bet combines multiple separate wagers into one. The parlay is only valid if each individual wager pays out. The whole parlay is a loss if even one bet is poor. This wager is prevalent in sports betting and has a higher degree of risk but also offers higher potential winnings.

Are parlay bets worth it?

Although parlays carry a higher degree of risk than individual bets, they also have the potential to yield larger payouts should all bets come in. Since losing a single wager cancels out the entire parlay, mathematically speaking, parlays are nearly never a good bet. 

What does a 50 dollar two team parlay pay?

The odds can make a $50 two-team parlay pay out as much as $174. With some sportsbooks enabling parlays of up to ten or fifteen bets, the payoff grows exponentially with the number of bets. On the other hand, the parlay’s success rate drops as the number of bets increases.

Bottom Line 

When you know what is a key parlay bet, you must have already understood how complicated parlay betting can be. Unless you are an exceptional bettor, this can put your finances at stake. Therefore, an expert tip would be to stay away from parlays unless you are experienced enough.