Our goal with this series is to talk about some basic betting principles and explore how these concepts can be used to your advantage, for both sports betting and daily fantasy. As we produce more content we will delve into some more advanced concepts  – expanding as we go, on some of the introductory articles in this betting series.
This article is the second in the series and a follow-up to the intro to betting article that was previously posted. Make sure to check out that Betting 101 article for a crash course on the basic bet types, as it serves as a nice prerequisite to this article.
Additional Bet Types
The first thing to go over is the most common bet types and what they mean:
Teasers
A teaser is a parlay type bet with two or more games that allows the bettor to adjust the point spread on the games, for a lower return if they do in fact cover. There are different types of teasers, like adjusting total points or the spread. The teaser total can change depending on how many teams you’ve selected in the parlay. Let’s look at an example:
You like the following teams in the NFL with their spreads listed below:
Dolphins +8 , Patriots -12 , Bears -7
A standard three team parlay bet of $100 would return $600 on a win. However, if you decide you want to do a three-team teaser rather than a traditional three-team parlay, a 6-point three team teaser would allow you to bet the following adjusted lines:
Dolphins +14 , Patriots -6, Bears -1
For this 6-point three-team teaser, a bet of $100 would return $91 on a win.
As you can see, the 6-point teaser adjusts the line 6 points in your favor on each game, making the bet easier to win. However, just like a parlay you have to win all three, and instead of being paid 6-1, a 6-point, three-team teaser in football pays the same as a traditional -110 straight bet. As I said, there are all different types of teasers, so you can certainly experiment with  different combos and payoffs.
Round-Robin Parlays
Round-robin bets aren’t the most common type of bet, but they’re still important to understand as almost all sportsbooks offer them. A round-robin bet is a way to create multiple parlays at once. Most online books will allow you to have between two to six teams when placing a round-robin wager. It’s not required to use round-robin parlays, as you could simply make individual parlays yourself, but the benefit of a round robin is that it saves you the effort. If it sounds a bit confusing, let’s use an example to show how it works. Let’s say you like these three betting picks:
- Brooklyn Nets -4 (-110)
- NY Knicks +3 (-110)
- Phoenix Suns +7 (-110)
Instead of putting all three teams in a parlay, which would offer worse odds than individual two-team parlays, we can create all possible combinations of two-team parlays using a round robin wager.
PARLAY 1
- Brooklyn Nets -4 (-110)
- NY Knicks +3 (-110)
PARLAY 2
- Brooklyn Nets -4 (-110)
- Phoenix Suns +7 (-110)
PARLAY 3
- NY Knicks +3 (-110)
- Phoenix Suns +7 (-110)
Parlay odds don’t change when using a round-robin wager or putting the bets in manually, so again it’s simply a matter of organization and convenience. For two-team parlays with each side listed at -110, the odds will be around +263, which is the standard odds for most sportsbooks. It’s important to note that round robins won’t show up on bet slips as round-robin wagers. Instead, they will show up as individual parlays.
Though round robins are a series of parlays, there is one vital difference between betting a single parlay bet: not every parlay must win for a round-robin bet to be graded as a winner. Each parlay is an independent event and all traditional parlay rules apply.
In terms of the costs involved, you’re going to be paying three times (in this case) as you’re laying the same amount on each of the three parlays. This is only a three-way, two-team parlay but you could add in more games if you like. As you add games to a round-robin parlay you will increase the number of permutations, so be aware how fast that can add up when looking to place a wager. However, the potential upside for a round-robin parlay can be huge if you hit as you’ll have all different combinations of parlays and that can make for a lucrative result if everything clicks.
Overall, round-robin parlays aren’t something I do too often, but make sure you understand what they are and how they work before placing them.. For me, this is something I may take a shot at if I’m looking to have some fun. They offer big upside in terms of return, but value wise they certainly aren’t the best option available.
Most books try to disallow correlation in parlays, but if you can find some external correlation that is something that obviously is a huge benefit to making a parlay or a round robin bet more +EV and gives you a better chance of connecting the dots.
Stay tuned for further articles dissecting the basics of sports betting.
If you have any questions find me in the sports betting channel at @JazzrazDFS on Twitter.
