What is a Round-Robin Bet?
A round-robin bet offered at most US betting sites is similar to a parlay in that you are combining single wagers into one bigger wager. The significant difference is that a round-robin only combines a few bets, while parlay bets can be as big as you want to make them. Round robins are also less risky.
If you plan on making a round-robin bet, you’d start by adding several different bets into a parlay. Before you submit the bet you will have an option to choose “round-robin” on the betting slip. Afterward, a few different options will become available to you.
The number of bets you decide to include in your parlay will determine how many different round-robin bets you can make. The easiest way to explain this type of bet is by using this simple three-game parlay example:
- New York Knicks -4
- Chicago Bulls +5.5
- Los Angeles Lakers -6
For a parlay wager, all three of these bets would have to hit for your bet to become a winner. With a round-robin bet, you will have three different round-robin bets created using the selections above.
These three separate two-team parlays would be:
- New York Knicks -4
- Chicago Bulls +5.5
- New York Knicks -4
- Los Angeles Lakers -6
- Chicago Bulls +5.5
- Los Angeles Lakers -6
This gives you a chance to win three separate bets and protects you from losing the entire wager. If at least one of these bets loses, you will be guaranteed to lose two round-robin wagers, but the other bet could still be intact.
Is Round-Robin Betting Worth It?
Most professional sports bettors would caution against round-robin betting because it’s not a fortuitous way to make money in the industry. There is a chance that you can hit on several round-robin wagers, but that’s not easy to do.
A round-robin bet is typically better than a straight parlay, but you are still going to have to hit multiple bets to win the wager and hit even more to make a sizeable profit. Betting on sports is hard enough, and trying to win multiple simultaneous bets further complicates things.
It is often best to stick to single-game wagering and focus on winning a number of those bets each day. Stay away from the lure of winning some additional money by making a round-robin bet. It is not the norm for most sports bettors, and for good reason.
If you are going to make a round-robin bet it should be done to hedge against a large parlay: if there are bets that you are confident about then this could help you win some side money while hoping that your big parlay hits.
Round-robin betting is a type of bet that is only effective in specific circumstances. You don’t want to make it your exclusive option.
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Happy betting!