Ever heard about Round Robin Betting? It is a bet that allows you to combine multiple parlays into one stake. Round Robin betting can be challenging to understand, as it’s not commonly used by most bettors. However, this type of bet allows you to spread the risk of losing single or multiple parlays while still gaining a return.
In this blog, we will dive deep into the core understand how round-robin betting works, and know its various aspects. We also take examples across various sports, different strategies, and how to calculate round-robin odds.
Let’s get started!
Table of Contents
It is a type of betting strategy where users place multiple parley bets on a group of teams or individuals. This strategy combines multiple bet combinations within a single stake. The significance of round-robin betting is to increase winning chances on online sportsbooks while on the other hand distributing the risk across different outcomes. The odds for this bet type can be calculated using a round-robin bet calculator for more accurate results.
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Let’s understand how round-robin betting works.
To understand the workings of a round-robin bet, let’s understand the below pointers.
1. When you place a round-robin bet, you add multiple desired wagers to your bet slip, then combine those into smaller parlays.
2. You then bet on each parlay to create a field of several bets you think you will succeed.
3. When you are placing a parlay bet, you can create 2-leg, 3-leg, or even bigger parlays. So there are several ways to combine round robins.
Let’s understand it with examples below to know how these different choices work.
The simplest way to understand a round-robin bet is to see a running bet. Here are two examples of round-robin bets that displayed how bets can be interesting and complicated.
Let’s use the three biggest sports leagues—NBA, MLB, and NHL to better understand. Now, create a money line round-robin over these sports. Selecting three teams keeps it simple because the breakout parlays are smaller. Here are our selections to explain how round robins work:
You will get three separate 2-game parlays and total odds of +367 after combining these selections into a round-robin. Here are the three parlays:
a. Parlay 1:
b. Parlay 2:
c. Parlay 3:
This bet would be listed in a sportsbook as “Round Robin (2’s) x3 wagers. When you enter your bet amount on each parlay within the round-robin. So a $1 bet would be $3, and a total of $1 per parlay.
The maximum payout for this bet is $14.01. But this payout is only achievable when all three teams win. But that’s only if all three teams win. As one of your parlays combines two bets, you only get a small return if the Cubs and Celtics win the round.
The second example of round-robin betting makes things interesting. Let’s know how. When you make five selections, you have many more options for how you break your round-robin into smaller parlays. You can break the round-robin into one of the following combinations when you pick five bets:
You can bet on more than these in a single bet slip, too. So if you like the 5 four-pick parlays and the 10 two-pick parlays, or even bet on both, make two round robins with a few easy clicks without having to repeat all your picks.
Let’s make a five-team MLB moneyline round-robin to show how this works. Here are the 5 picks.
You can break your selections into a round-robin bet using different parlay bets. It is impossible to write each detail here so we can pretend that you wanted to break those picks into 5 four pick parlays. Here’s how they break out
A. Parlay 1
B. Parlay 2
C. Parlay 3
D. Parlay 4
E. Parlay 5
Here you built five unique parlays. Each parlay can be considered as a separate wager from here. Consider round robins a shortcut to making multiple interrelated parlay bets. Also, remember that they are high-risk because each leg needs to hit for a parlay to win.
Calculating the odds for a round-robin bet can be complex. However, with a solid understanding of the fundamentals, you can use a sports betting calculator for this. You can even use a round-robin bet calculator for calculating round-robin odds. Also, converting to decimal odds makes calculation easier. For instance, let’s place a round-robin stake on three soccer teams A, B, and C. The odds for each team to win their games are as follows:
The two team parlays created will be AB, AC, and BC.
Now, you can calculate the payout for each parlay by multiplying the stake by the decimal odds. Let’s say, you make a bet of $10 on each parlay:
Now take a look at the potential returns of round-robin betting for a combination of winners and losers from this bet given below. What we get to know at this point is that the total wager across the four bets is $40 and won’t change irrespective of the results.
As you can see above, a few teams and combinations winning or losing will affect the profit at the end of the bet. There are two scenarios in the example above where teams can lose and we still make a profit, whereas, if Team B were to lose, we make a loss.
This highlights the strategy that needs to be used with these bet types to profit long-term. They are great ways to maximize profits. However, if the wrong team loses, it can be tough for your bottom line. Additionally, using a round-robin bet calculator can help you calculate odds more effectively.
The placements of round-robin bets vary from site to site. Here we have used the online sportsbook Bet to highlight the key steps to know how to place a round-robin bet.
Round-robin betting isn’t as easy as it seems to be. Have the wrong pick and it can wipe out profit on all your bets. However, there are certain times when this bet type can have huge rewards. Below we have listed some round-robin strategies that will you take advantage of.
Here you include all possible combinations of parlays with your selected teams. Let’s take an example for easy understanding, you have four teams A, B, C, and D. You can create six 2-team parlays as AB, AC, AD, BC, BD, and CD. Similarly, four 3-team parlays can be created as ABC, ABD, ACD, and BCD. The full coverage strategy offers the highest coverage but requires a larger stake.
In this strategy, you select combinations rather than including all the parlays (possible). It allows you to lower your wager while still maintaining decent coverage. For instance, instead of including all possible combinations for four teams, you might select only the three strongest combinations you believe have the highest winning chances.
This round-robin betting strategy involves adjusting the number of teams in each parlay to keep a balance between risk and reward. For example, you could create a mix of two-team and three-team parlays for balancing risk-reward.. Two-team parlays offer higher winning chances but with lower payouts, while three-team parlays have higher payouts but are riskier. You can manage risk while aiming for significant payouts by finding the right balance between risk and reward.
This strategy prioritizes the strongest teams or individuals with the lowest odds in your parlays. Using this strategy, you increase your chances of winning individual parlays by focusing on the favorites. However, the payouts can be low due to the lower odds associated with the favorites.
The last strategy allows you to diversify your round-robin bets over various sports, instead of placing all your bets on a single sport or event. This divides the risk and allows you to take benefit of multiple betting opportunities. When you select teams or individuals from various sports, you can remove the losses in one sport with wins in another.
As mentioned earlier, this bet type can be challenging and should be approached with caution. A successful group of picks can make huge rewards in a bet. Here are the major advantages and disadvantages of using round-robin betting:
These bets provide multiple winning opportunities, even if one or more teams in your selection lose the game. You increase your chances of hitting at least one winning parlay by creating various combinations of parlays.
Round robin spreads the risk across various outcomes. If one or two teams in a parlay lose, you can still have winning parlays on the fact that the remaining teams perform well. This helps overcome potential losses and stops the entire stake amount.
It provides flexibility in terms of teams you can include and the parlays you can create. You can adjust the number of teams and the size of parlays based on your preferences and the risk you can manage.
These bets have the potential to churn out higher payouts compared to single bets depending on the odds associated with your selected teams. The combined odds can result in an outstanding payout if all the teams in a winning parlay perform as per your expectations.
Round-robin bets require a larger wager amount as compared to single bets since you are placing multiple bets. It means you must have higher funds to cover all the individual bets within the round-robin.
While round-robin betting offers the potential for higher payouts, the profit margins can be lower compared to single bets or straight parlays. It is only when stakes are increased and when you are dividing your wager across multiple parlays.
Round-robin bets are complex to understand and calculate as compared to single bets. When using this bet, you need to consider the odds, potential payouts, and the various combinations of parlays. This complexity can be typical for beginners.
Round-robin bets can have higher variance due to the involvement of multiple combinations and outcomes involved. However, it’s possible to experience both winning and losing streaks, and the results can be unpredictable. This requires great bankroll management and the ability to handle fluctuations in your bet outcomes.
Let’s understand how round robin bet works on horse racing sport.
We take three races that take place across the US.
Kentucky Derby (Race 1)
Preakness Stakes (Race 2)
Belmont Stakes (Race 3)
Just like the other examples we have understood above, here assume that we’ve wagered $12 on each line for this bet and converted it to decimal odds:
You can see that payouts are huge with horse racing. However, there is a small likelihood of picking winners from three races as outlined by the odds. It is the perfect example of risk-reward balance.
There are four alternatives to round-robin betting that are Trixie, Patent, Canadian, and Yankee. While these bets appear to be similar, they differ from each other, and we’ve outlined how below.
Yankee is another alternative to round-robin betting. It involves four selections. It consists of 11 unique Parlays including six doubles, four trebles, and one fourfold accumulator. With this bet type, you cover multiple combinations of your four selections.
It is a multistake that includes three selections. It consists of three double bets and one treble bet, making a total of four bets. In simple words, it means you will have three separate double bets and one treble bet after three selections in a Trixie.
A Patent is a round-robin bet alternative that consists of three selections and seven separate bets. It includes 3 single bets, 3 double bets, and 1 treble bet. With a Patent, you cover all possible combinations of your three selections.
A Canadian or a Super Yankee consists of five selections and 26 separate bets, including ten doubles, ten trebles, five fourfold accumulators, and one fivefold accumulator.
Here’s how round-robin bets are calculated:
The first step in calculating a round-robin bet is to choose how many picks you want for your bet.
Multiply the decimal odds to create the combined odds for each parlay.
For example: a double might be 4.00 * 4.00 = 16.00.
By 2’s and By 3’s are doubles and trebles. Now you have to choose the number of picks and wagers for each type of parlay within your round-robin bet.
This bet is hard to profit from long term. However, if you manage to pick a big winner, it can give you big rewards. Generally, professional bettors don’t use round-robin bets as it is hard to make a profit.
While round-robin bets offer the potential for higher payouts, the risk of losing your entire wager amount is also higher. This is due to round-robin bets requiring multiple parlays to win, and if none of them make it, you lose your entire wager.
