Parlay calculator: payout, odds and house edge

We earn a commission if you open a Bovada account through links on this page.

Enter your stake and the American odds for each leg, and the calculator shows what the parlay pays and how likely it is that every leg wins at those prices. Add the odds on the other side of each bet and it also takes out the book’s cut, so you can see the fair payout and the house edge on your ticket.

How to read the results

The calculator turns each leg into decimal odds, multiplies them together and applies your stake. The chance all legs win is 1 divided by the parlay's decimal odds, so it includes the book's cut. The fair chance takes that cut out of each leg first, which is why it needs the other side of every bet.

A worked example

The calculator opens with a $10 parlay of -110, +150 and -200, the same legs used in our guide to betting parlays. In decimal odds those are 1.909, 2.50 and 1.50, which multiply to 7.159, or +616. If all three win you get $71.59 back, your $10 plus $61.59 profit. The posted odds put the chance of that at 13.97%, about 1 in 7.

The other sides are -110, -170 and +170. On the second leg, +150 implies 40% and -170 implies 62.96%, 102.96% in all, so the +150 side's fair chance is 40 ÷ 102.96 = 38.85%. The same step gives 50% for the first leg and 64.29% for the third.

Multiplied together, 50% × 38.85% × 64.29% = 12.49%, about 1 in 8. At fair odds the $10 would return $80.08, and the house edge is 1 − 0.1249 × 7.159 = 10.6%.

What the house edge means

The house edge is the share of your stake the book keeps on average, assuming the fair chances are right. At 10.6%, placing this parlay over and over at these prices would return about 89 cents of every dollar, though any one ticket either loses your $10 or pays $71.59.

A single bet at -110 on both sides has an edge of about 4.5%. In a parlay each leg's cut applies to everything riding on it, so three legs at -110 come to about 13% and ten come to about 37%.

The fair figures are estimates. The calculator takes each leg's cut out in proportion to its two prices, the most common way to do it, though books don't always spread their margin that way. It also treats the legs as unrelated, so it can't check a same-game parlay. For a three-way bet such as a soccer money line, leave the other side empty.

Pushes and Bovada's limits

Bovada drops a leg that ties and pays the parlay on the rest, so a four-team parlay with two ties becomes a two-team parlay. To see what that pays, run the calculator again without the tied legs.

Bovada takes parlays of 2 to 16 legs, which is why the calculator stops at 16, and it won't pay more than $1,000,000 on one bet. Our guide to placing a parlay on Bovada covers the bet slip and its other rules.

Bovada is an offshore sportsbook with no US state license, and it doesn't accept players in 19 states and Washington, DC. If your state has legal online sportsbooks, a state-licensed book gives you more protection. Our Bovada review covers the rest.

Related guides

• Parlay cards: fixed payouts next to the true odds
• Money lines explained: reading American odds
• Odds converter: switch odds formats and find the vig on any line
• The magic of 55 percent winners: the math behind -110 odds
• Bovada bonus codes: what parlays do to a bonus rollover

Only bet what you've set aside to lose. If gambling has stopped being fun, call or text 1-800-MY-RESET (1-800-697-3738) for free, confidential help, 24/7, or chat online with the National Problem Gambling Helpline.

Sources

• Bovada help center: Parlay betting (2 to 16 legs, ties, the $1,000,000 payout cap)