Tag: BetFTW

Sports Betting 101: Parlay rewards, risks and how to place your bets

The ultimate test of reading the odds

So you’ve cashed a few single tickets in a row, you’re reading the betting lines well and you want to test yourself. It’s time to start setting up some parlays. The bet itself is straightforward: select multiple games and/or player outcomes, and if you guess all of them right, you could turn a single digit wager into a massive payday. It’s also one of the trickiest ways to cash a bet. 

The important thing to remember here is that parlays don’t limit you to wagering on just one sport. While single-sport parlays are more common, you can spread your bets out across as many games, leagues and sports as you’d like. Here’s a look at how to place your bets, win big and avoid disaster.

How A Parlay Works

Parlays allow you to combine multiple bets for bigger payouts. Say you’re certain the Chicago Bears, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Dallas Cowboys are going to cover their respective spreads this week. Rather than betting each game individually, a parlay will combine those three outcomes at significantly higher odds.

If the Bears, Bucs and Cowboys are all -115 favorites (bet $115 to win $100), the parlay odds jump to +553 (bet $100 to win $553). Payouts are calculated by multiplying selected odds with each other, hence why you need at least two wagers to create the bet. 

In order to earn that payday, however, each leg of the parlay must hit. If any of the outcomes you selected fail to occur, the bet is dead. It’s an all-or-nothing scenario.

Here’s where it gets fun: bettors can mix and match outcomes. Let’s say you’re certain the Cowboys are going to cover but you don’t know if the Bucs will do the same. You could add the Cowboys spread and the Bucs moneyline or over/under to complete your parlay. Bettors can also combine player props to make a parlay, meaning you can pick the Cowboys to cover their spread and Tom Brady to throw for a touchdown to create your ticket. The possibilities are endless. 

More Risk, More Reward

The more bets you add to your parlay, the higher the odds and the bigger the payout. Want to place a 16-team parlay on the NFL each week? You may be able to turn a $5 bet into a few thousand dollars depending on the odds. 

You could also place a two-leg parlay for more money with a bit less risk.

The key is picking your spots and outcomes wisely. That +2000 moneyline for the Jacksonville Jaguars may help your overall parlay odds soar, but it could also tank the entire bet. 

It’s up to you to decide and create the best overall wager. If you’re actually seeing the lines well, a parlay will prove it. Even if not, you don’t have to risk much for a worthwhile win.

Gannett may earn revenue from Tipico for audience referrals to betting services. Tipico has no influence over nor are any such revenues in any way dependent on or linked to the newsrooms or news coverage. See Tipico.com for Terms and Conditions. 21+ only. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ), 1-800-522-4700 (CO), 1-800-BETS-OFF (IA).

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ON SITE: Can Tom Brady waltz into New England and take down the Patriots?

Our reporter on the ground analyzes the Buccaneers-Patriots matchup, and the return of Tom Brady to New England.

In this episode of ON SITE, host Mackenzie Salmon talks with the Providence Journal’s Patriots beat reporter, Mark Daniels, to get a lookahead at the marquee game of the young NFL season. It’s Tom Brady back in New England, taking on his old coach Bill Belichick and rookie QB Mac Jones.

The line has the Buccaneers as 7.5 point favorites away from home, per Tipico Sportsbook. Daniels looks at the Patriots team this year and wonders if they have enough to keep pace with high flying Tampa Bay … or at least keep it close enough to cover the spread.

Gannett may earn revenue from Tipico for audience referrals to betting services. Tipico has no influence over nor are any such revenues in any way dependent on or linked to the newsrooms or news coverage. See Tipico.com for Terms and Conditions. 21+ only. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ), 1-800-522-4700 (CO).

College football’s most interesting betting lines: Week 5

Some lines for Week 5 of the college football slate make perfect sense. Others require explanation. A lot of explanation.

Goodbye, September. Hello, college football.

The schedule gods have blessed the gateway between summer and snow with a stacked lineup. Four games feature showdowns between ranked opponents. Friday night features a clash of undefeated Big Ten programs, one of which happens to also be a top-5 team (please take this hype at face value and do not research who these teams are).

Saturday provides a test of Notre Dame’s fraud content when it faces Cincinnati, which is one win and then 10 more away from maybe possibly being the first Group of 5 team to crash the College Football Playoff. Arkansas, at top-10 program because lesser gods of chaos have had their batteries charged by the past 18 months, will be rewarded for its 4-0 start with a game against Georgia, whose roster may or may not just be several parts of a harvest combine reassembled every Saturday. Ole Miss gets ‘Bama in a game that is never, ever weird and delightful.

Also, Connecticut plays Vanderbilt in a night contest capable of erasing nine decades of gridiron innovation and potentially suck Nashville into a black hole with it, leaving behind only vague memories of David Allan Coe and lonely sashes that say “-elorette” in its wake.

In honor, let’s break down the five most interesting lines — provided by Tipico as of September 30 — for this beautiful weekend of college football.

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Wisconsin-Notre Dame highlights the most intriguing NCAAF games of the weekend

Let’s have some fun this weekend.

Week 4 of college football action is upon us, and if it’s anything like the three weeks that preceded it, we are in for some fun.

Appalachian State got the weekend off to a thrilling start with a narrow 31-30 victory over Marshall on Thursday night, as the Mountaineers used a late field goal and a clutch drive to take — and hold on to — the lead. Camerun Peoples (three rushing touchdowns) and Nate Noel (187 yards) were a handful on the ground in the victory. App State was favored by 6.5 points heading into the game

As we focus on the rest of the weekend, let’s take a look at some of the more intriguing matchups to come.

All NCAA odds are courtesy of Tipico Sportsbook. Odds last updated Friday at 12:15pm ET. 

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Heisman Trophy odds: Why Ole Miss’ Matt Corral is the newest favorite in Week 4

Matt Corral put on a show last week, and now he’s the Heisman favorite.

Going into Week 4 of the college football season, the Heisman Trophy favorites look awfully different compared with the start a few weeks ago, when some players got the benefit of the doubt because of the powerhouse teams they play for.

Oklahoma quarterback Spencer Rattler started the season as the 2021 Heisman favorite, while fellow quarterbacks D.J. Uiagalelei (Clemson), Bryce Young (Alabama) and C.J. Stroud (Ohio State) were right up there with him. But in recent years, it’s incredibly rare for the Heisman favorite in Week 1 to end up winning it all, and, according to Tipico Sportsbook, it looks like Rattler’s potential to be an exception is fading.

Through the first few weeks of the season, it didn’t take long for Young to jump to the top as the Heisman favorite, and between his arm and the Crimson Tide’s arsenal of receivers, it made sense.

Stream live college football games every week this season from conferences across the country on ESPN+.

But now, headed into Week 4, there’s a new leader for college football’s most coveted individual trophy, and it’s Ole Miss quarterback Matt Corral, who started the season at +2000.

Through the first three games this season, the junior quarterback has thrown for a total of 997 yards and nine touchdowns and has a 68.8 completion percentage. He has the fifth-best passer rating in the nation right now, and he’s also added 158 yards and five touchdowns on the ground. And he hasn’t thrown an interception yet and is averaging two sacks a game.

Most recently, Corral put on a show with video game-like stats in Week 3 in Ole Miss’ 61-21 win over Tulane, and that’s surely a huge reason why Tipico has him as the Heisman favorite going into Week 4.

Against the Green Wave, he had a 74.2 completion percentage while throwing for 335 yards, and he was responsible for seven (7!!) touchdowns — three in the air and four more on the ground, which was a first in SEC history.

He’s an electric player and can absolutely sling it.

Ole Miss has a bye, so it’s unclear if he’ll remain the favorite after not playing this weekend. And an explosive performance from someone like Young — whose No. 1 Alabama team takes on Southern Miss on Saturday — could obviously change that.

But going into Week 4, here’s a look at the latest 2021 Heisman Trophy favorites, according to Tipico Sportsbook as of Friday.

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NFL Picks Week 3: Matthew Stafford > Tom Brady?

Need straight up picks for your pool? We’ve got ’em, including upsets, locks, and the one pick we really, really overthought.

Hello! Welcome to my first-ever full picks column here at For the Win. Nice place, isn’t it? Very accessible, good folks, etc.

My name is Christian D’Andrea. I’ve been here for about a week now. You may remember me from SB Nation. Or maybe you saw me in some DraftKings videos, likely talking about boy bands or cannibalism or some other non-football topic as a Madden ’21 game droned on in the background. Or perhaps you’re one of the tens of tens of people to subscribe to the NFL and sometimes beer-centric newsletter I help publish.

Either way, I’ve been in a pick-making capacity for a while now and, because some lesser god is looking out for me, I’ve somehow put together a pretty solid record with it. Per NFL Pickwatch, I was the top regular season prognosticator in both 2019 and 2020. Of course, since these were straight-up picks and I live in a state without legalized sports betting, I have turned this talent into roughly zero dollars for myself. My hope is I can help you win some cash in my honor.

(Note: Again, these are straight up moneyline picks. To see the spread on these games, you can check out our USA TODAY scoreboard and odds page.) 

Just looking for picks? Here you go! (All moneyline odds via Tipico.)

  • Panthers (-410) at Texans
  • Washington at Bills (-350)
  • Bears at Browns (-360)
  • Ravens (-400) at Lions
  • Colts at Titans (-240)
  • Chargers at Chiefs (-290)
  • Saints at Patriots (-155)
  • Falcons at Giants (-155)
  • Bengals at Steelers (-170)
  • Cardinals (-350) at Jaguars
  • Jets at Broncos (-600)
  • Dolphins at Raiders (-200)
  • Buccaneers at Rams (+102)
  • Seahawks (-130) at Vikings
  • Packers (+140) at 49ers
  • Eagles at Cowboys (-190)

Looking for some insight? I’ve got that too!

NASCAR championship odds for the 12 remaining playoff drivers ahead of the second round

The latest NASCAR title odds for the drivers who advanced to the next playoff round.

The NASCAR Cup Series playoffs opened with 16-drivers competing to advance and ultimately for the championship at the end of the 10-race postseason. But after the first three playoff races, four drivers — Aric Almirola, Tyler Reddick, Kurt Busch and Michael McDowell — were dropped from championship contention, while the remaining 12 moved onto the next round.

After the first elimination race at Bristol Motor Speedway last weekend, drivers who advanced to the Round of 12 are: Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., Kyle Larson, Ryan Blaney, Kyle Busch, Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman, William Byron, Joey Logano, Brad Keselowski, Christopher Bell and Kevin Harvick.

The three Round of 12 races are at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Talladega Superspeedway and Charlotte Motor Speedway’s Roval, and after that, the playoff field will shrink again down to eight drivers.

So ahead of the Round of 12, here’s an updated look at the latest NASCAR championship odds for the dozen remaining contenders, according to Tipico Sportsbook as of Thursday afternoon.

Related: Predicting the winner of every 2021 NASCAR Cup Series playoff race, including the champ

And if you’re curious how this compares with where these drivers started at the beginning of the playoffs, we’ve got you covered here.

Gannett may earn revenue from Tipico for audience referrals to betting services. Tipico has no influence over nor are any such revenues in any way dependent on or linked to the newsrooms or news coverage. See Tipico.comfor Terms and Conditions. 21+ only. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ), 1-800-522-4700(CO).

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Fantasy football stock watch heading into Week 3: Cooper Kupp up, Ezekiel Elliott down

Who’s up and down heading into Week 3?

Welcome to our 2021 fantasy football stock watch, in which we’ll examine who’s trending up or down in fantasy after each week.

OK, we’ve got two weeks of football to examine, enough to start rethinking some players for fantasy purposes. This should help you if you want to make a trade or two, whether it’s to buy low or sell high (is it too early to do that? Nope! Start asking around!).

So, as we’ll do every couple of weeks or so, let’s begin with the good news for fantasy owners about some of the QBs, RBs, WRs and TEs we’ve watched so far, followed by the bad news:

An NFL bettor lost $737K on a soul-crushing 16-leg parlay thanks to the Lions

Oh NO!

If you’re the person who had completed 15 of the 16 legs of an incredible NFL money-line parlay, I’m so sorry about what happened on Monday Night Football.

Said bettor had nailed the first 15 teams — he or she bet on the moneylines of Washington, the Bears, Browns, Rams, Bills, Patriots, 49ers, Raiders, Panthers, Broncos, Cardinals, Bucs, Cowboys, Titans and Ravens.

The 16th team, to turn $25 into $736,959? The Detroit Lions.

By now you know that the Green Bay Packers defeated the Lions on Monday night, so my hope is that this person hedged a ton by putting some serious cash on the Pack winning this one.

If not? That’s truly brutal.

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Before The Snap: College football predictions, picks against the spread for top Week 3 games

Before The Snap analyzes the top games of the week and adds some predictions.

Welcome to Before The Snap, For The Win’s college football series where we’ll break down the sport’s trending storylines, examine each week’s biggest matchups and track the College Football Playoff and Heisman Trophy races.

Early in the college football season, blowouts are expected, and Week 2 had plenty of those.

But for the more competitive games, last weekend did not disappoint with Notre Dame sneaking away with a win over Toledo, Texas A&M surviving Colorado, Arkansas rocking Texas and a couple big upsets — like Oregon beating Ohio State and Stanford taking down USC, which led to Clay Helton’s overdue firing.

Plus a rescued cat!

There’s no guarantee Week 3 will be just as exciting, but there are a handful of good matchups to watch, including three games between top-25 teams.

Here’s some key info about the games we broke down with predictions in the latest episode of Before The Snap, with betting info provided by Tipico Sportsbook as of Wednesday.

Stream live college football games every week this season from conferences across the country on ESPN+.

No. 1 Alabama at No. 11 Florida

When: Saturday, Sept. 18, 3:30 p.m. ET
Where: Gainesville, Fla.
Channel: CBS
O/U: 59.5
Spread: Alabama -14.5

(USA TODAY Sports, AP Photo)

No. 22 Auburn at No. 10 Penn State

When: Saturday, Sept. 18, 7:30 p.m. ET
Where: University Park, Penn.
Channel: ABC
O/U: 52.5
Spread: Penn State -6.5

No. 19 Arizona State at No. 23 BYU

When: Saturday, Sept. 18, 10:15 p.m. ET
Where: Provo, Utah
Channel: ESPN
O/U: 51.1
Spread: Arizona State -3.5

Virginia at No. 21 UNC

When: Saturday, Sept. 18, 7:30 p.m. ET
Where: Chapel Hill, N.C.
Channel: ACCN
O/U: 65.5
Spread: UNC -8.5

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Gannett may earn revenue from Tipico for audience referrals to betting services. Tipico has no influence over nor are any such revenues in any way dependent on or linked to the newsrooms or news coverage. See Tipico.comfor Terms and Conditions. 21+ only. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER (NJ), 1-800-522-4700(CO).