Parlay Calculator

There's something undeniably exciting about parlays. You put down $20 and suddenly you're looking at a potential $500 payout if everything hits. It's why sportsbooks promote them so heavily—they're fun, they create action across multiple games, and honestly, they're profitable for the house.

The catch, of course, is that all your picks have to win. Not most of them. All of them. Go 3-for-4 on a four-leg parlay and you lose your entire stake. That's a 75% hit rate with nothing to show for it. This is why serious bettors will tell you parlays aren't a smart long-term strategy.

But here's the thing—they can still be worth it in certain situations. Small recreational bets to make a full slate of games more interesting? Sure. A correlated parlay where outcomes are linked (like a quarterback's passing yards and his team winning)? Those actually can provide value. Just go in knowing the math isn't in your favor.

The math behind parlays is actually pretty straightforward if you're working with decimal odds. You just multiply all the odds together. Three legs at 2.00 odds each? That's 2.00 × 2.00 × 2.00 = 8.00. Put $10 on that and you'd get back $80 total—your $10 stake plus $70 profit.

American odds make it slightly more annoying because you have to convert everything to decimal first, do the multiplication, then convert back if you want to see it in the +/- format. This is exactly why this calculator exists—it handles all that conversion work for you automatically.

One thing to understand is that the odds multiply, but so does the risk. A three-leg parlay with each leg at -110 (about 52.4% implied probability) gives you about a 14.4% chance of hitting all three. Not 52.4%. Not even close. That big payout number looks attractive until you realize how rarely it's going to come through.

Sportsbooks make money on parlays in a couple of ways. First, that standard -110 vig gets compounded across every leg. You're not just paying the house edge once—you're paying it multiple times in a single bet. The more legs you add, the more that edge adds up.

Second, some books actually pay out parlays at slightly worse odds than the true mathematical calculation. They'll offer "parlay cards" with fixed payouts that look good but are actually a worse deal than calculating the true odds yourself. Always check what your actual multiplied odds should be.

Finally, there's the psychological factor. People love the idea of turning $10 into $1,000. It's the lottery effect—a tiny stake for life-changing money. Sportsbooks play into this with things like "parlay insurance" and "parlay boost" promotions that make the bets feel safer or more valuable than they actually are.

Okay, so parlays are usually -EV (negative expected value). But there are some situations where they can be useful or even smart:

Correlated parlays: If two outcomes are related—like betting on a running back to score a touchdown AND his team to win—the combined probability is higher than two independent events. Some sharp books ban these, but recreational books often allow them and don't adjust the odds properly.

Hedging opportunities: A parlay that's down to its final leg can create hedging opportunities where you can guarantee a profit by betting the opposite side. This is especially valuable in tournaments or contests where you're playing with house money.

Entertainment value: Look, not everything has to be about optimal EV. If throwing $5 on a four-team parlay makes watching football all day more fun, and you can afford to lose that $5, go for it. Just don't confuse entertainment betting with serious bankroll management.