Need help understanding parlay odds

Hi there. I was hoping some kind soul would take pity on me and help me to understand parlay odds when you have a moneyline mixed in with fixed odds.

All of the online parlay calculators and info I find use true odds. There seems to be very little information of how you mix fixed and true odds.

Let's say you place a $40 bet at a book that has a fixed 4-team parlay with odds of 10:1. You choose 3 spreads and one moneyline of -270.

Various books calculate this as a payout of 291. True odds would payout 341. The fixed odds would, of course, be 400.

It seems to me you still use the "true odds" formula of Bet * Factor1 * ... FactorN - Bet where Factor is either 100/Odds + 1 or Odds/100 + 1 (depending on whether they are - or +), however you need to calculate the fixed odds factor somehow for the first 3 factors, then use the real odds factor for the 4th.

Does anyone know how to do this? Thanks.

mystere said:

All of the online parlay calculators and info I find use true odds. There seems to be very little information of how you mix fixed and true odds.

Let's say you place a $40 bet at a book that has a fixed 4-team parlay with odds of 10:1. You choose 3 spreads and one moneyline of -270.

Various books calculate this as a payout of 291. True odds would payout 341. The fixed odds would, of course, be 400.

Click to expand...

Your suggested method is indeed correct.

Fixed odds 4 team parlays at your book pay 11.00 (using European odds). This is n X n X n X n where n is the odds for each individual team. Solving for n = 1.821 (about -122)

To calculate your parlay use 1.821 X 1.821 X 1.821 X 1.37(i.e. -270) = 8.272 or +727. So your payout (profit) on $40 at +727 would be $291.

PS: Some books pay true odds on all parlays giving better returns.

Wow, I have never bet at a book where they don't pay true odds on a parlay when you add a money line to it. I understand when books pay 6-1 for a 3 team parlay or 10 or 11-1 on a 4 teamer but whenever I add a money line to, even a minus, I have always gotten true odds because I always check the calculation.

Thanks for the help. One final question, how did you figure out that the factor is 1.821 (ie, i'm trying to figure this out for 2.6:1, 6:1, etc..). The closest I can figure is, Odds + 1 ^ 1/Teams. Would this be correct?

mystere said:

The closest I can figure is, Odds + 1 ^ 1/Teams. Would this be correct?

Click to expand...

Yes, your example is the 4th root of the odds expressed in European format so Odds + 1 ^ 1/Teams is the correct formula.
This is 4√EU odds. Didn't find the symbol last night. :toast: