A parlay (often referred to as an accumulator from the UK) is a single wager whose outcome is determined by 2 or more underlying bets. Every one of the underlying bets must win for the parlay to win. If some of the underlying bets lose, the entire parlay is graded as a loss (if an underlying bet compels then the parlay is treated as if the pushed leg never existed – therefore a 4-team parlay would become a 3-team, a 3-team a 2-team, and a 2-team one bet). Parlays provide a bettor a greater possible return for increased risk. In the united kingdom and Ireland 2-team parlays are known as doubles, and 3-team parlays are called trebles. (Non-parlay bets are called singles, highlighting how these»normal» bets are really just one-team parlays.)
Back in the old times of street-corner gambling, building a bet occasionally be a challenging process as it could require physically locating the bookie so as to make a bet. So as to partially overcome this difficulty a participant could tell his bookie,»Place $2 on the Brooklyn Dodgers at even odds and if this wager wins it all on tomorrow’s New York Highlanders match at 2/1.» (In this example the participant will be devoting $2 on Brooklyn. IIf that bet won he would have $4 that he would then be risking at 2/1 odds on New York. If this wager won he’d have $12 of which $2 represented his initial stake and $10 represented his winnings. If either bet lost, he would be left with nothing.) This way, the participant wouldn’t have to wait and see whether his very first wager won to choose if he could manage to place money on the second bet. It didn’t take long, but for bookies to find out that the games a player wanted to parlay did not necessarily need to occur sequentially and could in reality take place simultaneously. It did not matter which bet was graded at first the result was exactly the same. If some of the inherent bets lost, the whole parlay was graded as a reduction, and when all the bets won, the whole parlay was rated as a triumph.
This using a parlay calculator determines parlay payouts as well as related premiums given a set of inherent bet odds.