A college football parlay is a bet where you combine multiple selections into a single wager, with all of the selections needing to cash your ticket. While the difficulty of winning a college football parlay increases with the number of selections you add, so do the odds. Play Pick’em Fantasy Sport games with CBS Sports and win cash prizes. Play against your friends and or compete for prizes in various formats and game modes.

The BetMGM sportsbook apparrived in Pennsylvania on Dec. 17, a few weeks after the launch of the company’s online casino.

• What Are Football Parlays The theory with point spreads is that a wager on either team to win a football game is as close to a 50/50 shot as possible. You’re not actually betting on which team will win the game, you’re betting on which team will “cover the spread”.
• A parlay is a single wager that links multiple wagers; to win the bet, the player must win all the wagers in the parlay. If the player loses one wager, (s)he loses the entire bet. However, if the player wins all the wagers in the parlay, (s)he wins a higher payoff than if (s)he had placed the bets separately.

“The response to BetMGM Casino in Pennsylvania has been incredible, and we’re thrilled to bring our best-in-class sports betting offering to the Keystone State,” said Adam Greenblatt, BetMGM CEO.

PA’s newest sportsbook provided a betting recap of 2020 that included big bets, parlays and more from users across the eight states where the sportsbook is available.

Although BetMGM was not available in PA at the time, the Seattle Seahawks vs. Philadelphia Eagles game on Nov. 30 posted the third-largest handle of any single game in 2020.

BetMGM reflects on 2020

States with the BetMGM app with the highest handle in 2020:

1. Nevada
2. New Jersey
3. Colorado
4. Mississippi
5. Indiana

Jason Scott, VP of Trading, BetMGM, commented in an email:

“COVID wreaked havoc on the 2020 sporting calendar, which was challenging for both bookmakers and bettors. Despite the pandemic, the 2020 sporting season was a great success. We expect continued growth with betting now available in Indiana, West Virginia, Tennessee and Colorado, as well as further development in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.”

At BetMGM, sports with the biggest increase in betting action this year were MMA, golf and soccer.

BetMGM 2020 betting recap

Biggest single game-winning bet of 2020

• $500K to win $510K on Vikings -0.5 (11/29/20)

Biggest parlay winner of 2020

• $100,000 to win $206,000 on two-team parlay including Cardinals over 7.5 and Athletics -189 (9/10/20)

Biggest single-game parlay winner of 2020

1. 1. $10 to win $15,000 on a 10-team Build-a-Bet parlay (12/27/20)
      • D. Lillard over 8.5 assists
      • J. Harden over 10.5 assists
      • C. Wood over 22.5. pts
      • C.J. McCollum over 18.5 pts
      • D. House Jr. over 9.5 pts
      • D. Lillard over 30.5 pts
      • J. Harden 40+ pts
      • C. Wood over 11.5 rebounds
      • D. Jones Jr. over 4.5 rebounds
      • P.J. Tucker over 6.5 rebounds

Biggest handle of a single game in 2020

1. Deontay Wilder vs. Tyson Fury (2/23/20)
2. Super Bowl: Chiefs vs. 49ers (2/2/20)
3. Seahawks-Eagles (11/30/20)
4. Ravens-Patriots (11/15/20)
5. Vikings-Bears (11/16/20)

Single game that had the biggest win for the books in 2020

1. Ravens-Patriots (11/15/20)
2. Seahawks-Eagles (11/30/20)
3. Vikings-Bears (11/16/20)
4. Eagles-Browns (11/22/20)
5. Chargers-Bills (11/29/20)

Biggest NFL and college football winning bets

NFL biggest-winning single bets

• $500K to win $510K on Vikings -0.5 (11/29/20)
• $283,022 to win $523,591 on Rams +185 moneyline (11/23/20)
• $550K to win $522,500 on Buccaneers +3.5 (11/29/20)
• $582,024 to win $506,361 on Saints -8.5 (11/29/20)
• $550K to win $500K on Titans +3 (11/29/20)

NFL biggest-winning parlay bet

• $132K to win $101K on Bills -250 moneyline and Colts -385 moneyline (10/4/20)

College football biggest-winning single bets

• $550K to win $522,500 on Iowa State -105 moneyline (11/27/20)
• $550K to win $522,500 on Kansas State-Baylor over 44.5 (11/28/20)
• $550K to win $500,500 on Utah +7 (11/28/20)
• $550K to win $500,500 on Georgia-South Carolina over 49.5 (11/28/20)

College football biggest-winning parlay bet

• $9 to win $139,543 on nine-team parlay on Arkansas State +450, App State under 59.5, Coastal Carolina +185, Duke +20.5, Georgia Tech +325, North Carolina under 65.5, Iowa State under 56.5, UTSA +200 (9/12/20)

Biggest NBA and college basketball winning bets

NBA biggest-winning single bets

• $71,881 to win $165,327 on Nuggets +230 (9/15/20)
• $49,293 to win $69,010 on Bucks +140 (9/6/20)
• $56,307 to win $61,937 on Heat -7.5 (9/8/20)
• $57,856 to win $60,749 on Heat +6.5 (9/15/20)
• $60,823 to win $57,782 on Nuggets +5.5 (9/15/20)

NBA biggest-winning parlay bet

• $80 to win $52,797 on a five-team parlay on Heat +135, Nets +1300, Blazers +145, Magic +100, Suns +310 (8/4/20)

College basketball biggest-winning bets

• $440K to win $462K on Gonzaga -16 (11/27/20)
• $450K to win $427,500 on Clemson -105 (11/26/20)
• $347,473 to win $316,201 on Boston College -1 (11/26/20)
• $313,290 to win $297,625 on Villanova -5.5 (11/26/20)
• $275K to win $239,250 on Pepperdine -3 (11/25/20)

College basketball biggest parlay bet

• $23,083 to win $65,051 on two-team parlay with Georgia -5.5 and Seton Hall -26.5 (12/8/20)

Largest MLB winning bets

MLB biggest-winning single bets

• $164,309 to win $427,203 on Angels +260 (9/6/20)
• $221,254 to win $380,258 on Rockies -1.5 (9/5/20)
• $200K to win $310K on Orioles +155 (9/5/20)
• $75K to win $232,500 on Orioles +310 (9/4/20)
• $230K to win $230K on Rockies +100 (9/5/20)

MLB biggest-winning parlay

• $100,000 to win $206,000 on two-team parlay including Cardinals over 7.5 and Athletics -189 (9/10/20)

Lead image credit: AP Photo/Alex Brandon

You may be confused as to what that means. For years it was a battle cry amongst my roommates and me, particularly during football season, and when you got to yell it, chances were you were buying drinks that night. But what does it mean, and what’s a parlay?

What is a Parlay?

A parlay is a type of sports bet in which you combine multiple individual bets (typically 2-10 bets) into one bet or “card.” Combining the bets gives you worse odds to win, but a larger reward for winning. The larger the amount of wagers included in your parlay, the larger the payout.

In order for a parlay bet to win, you must win each individual bet on the card. For instance, let’s say I bet the Patriots, the Ravens and the Texans all to win their games on any given Sunday. If all three win, I will get a much larger payout than if I just bet each game individually. However, if any of those teams lose their bet, the entire card is lost.

The only exception is in the case of a “push,” which is the gambling term for a tie. If one of the games on the card pushes, that wager is removed from the parlay. So, in the case of our three team bet above, if the Ravens tied their game, it becomes a two bet parlay. If the Patriots and Texans then win their games, the bet pays out as a 2 team parlay. The payout will be smaller than if they all three won, but hey, you still win some money!

While the odds of winning large parlays (5-10 wagers combined) are relatively low, they allow you to risk a small amount of money for a potentially large reward. For instance, a 10 team parlay bet purchased for $25 would pay out over $16,000 if you won every game.

Now that you understand the basics, let’s look at what kinds of bets you’ll be pairing together to make your fortune!

Types of Parlays

Over/ Unders

Over/Under bets (or bets on the “total) are wagers made on the total amount of points that will be scored during any given game by both teams. The sports book sets the “line,” which is the number you will be basing your decision on. You bet on whether you think the total amount of points scored will be over or under that number.

Over/Under, or Totals, bets are very common in betting parlays because they allow you to make multiple bets on the same game. A common strategy is to bet which team you think will win, and then parlay that bet with whether you think the game will go “under” or “over.”

So, let’s say your Uncle Tony got a tip that Aaron Rogers has a secret shoulder injury, and it will be difficult for Green Bay to throw the ball. The line is set a 53.5. Plus, they are playing the Browns, so you still think they will still win. You may want to bet Green Bay and the under. So you are betting that Green Bay will win the game, but it may be lower scoring due to the injury, and thus the total points scored by both teams will be less than 53.5.

You may have noticed the half a point I included in the example above. In sports betting these half points are called “the hook.” The sportsbooks use half points for most bets, especially over/unders, which limit the opportunities for a push. They “hook” bettors into one side of the bet or the other.

Point Spreads

Point Spreads, commonly referred to just as “the spread,” are what makes sports betting interesting. Without them, we could all just bet the favored team every week, make a lot of money and break Vegas within a month.

A point spread evens the playing field between teams by taking points from the favored team and giving them to the underdog. So, for instance, the Chiefs are playing the Colts in what is expected to be a tightly contested game. The Colts are favored to win by a field goal.

On the sportsbook board, or the betting site, this would look like “Colts -3” or “Chiefs +3,” depending on which side you wanted to bet. So, if you bet the Colts -3, but the Colts win by 1, you actually lost that bet by 2 points. If you bet the Chiefs +3, congratulations, you won!

How many points the underdog gets, or the size of “the spread,” depends on how mismatched the teams are. In the NFL, the spread rarely goes about 13.5 or so, but in sports like college football, you routinely have teams cover 60 point spreads.

While the point spreads themselves add a degree of complication to the bets, there are additional options that can really add to the fun. They’re called Teasers and Pleasers—my heart rate picks up a little just typing those words out for you!

Teasers

As far as I’m concerned, Teaser parlays are the greatest thing to happen to sports betting since the invention of the online casino. A teaser bet allows you to move that point spread that we discussed above in a way that’s favorable to you, the bettor (typically between 6 and 7.5 points). You get less of a payout if you win a teaser parlay, but it does improve your odds of winning.

So, in the example of the Colts and the Chiefs above, we had the Colts favored by 3 points. If you “teased the line” 6 points, then you’d move that Colts spread from -3 to +3.

You add 6 points to the spread that’s already given. Now you have a bet on the team that’s already favored, and now you win your bet whether they win outright as is predicted, or if they lose by less than 3. I like your chances!

What’s even better is that you don’t have to just tease the point spread, you can tease the total or over/under as well! So, if the point spread was 53.5 as it was in our example earlier, you could tease that line all the way down to 46.5 (7 point teaser), and then bet the over. Or, you could bet the under by moving the over/under up to 60.5. Like taking candy from a baby.

Pleasers