Perhaps you have heard about people using Round Robin bets or seen it as an option at your online casino or sportsbook. This strategy is popular with people who don’t want to hedge their bets, by making multiple wagers and tying them together. In this guide, we will take you through everything you need to use this strategy.
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An Introduction To Round Robin
When it comes to sports betting, there are tournaments and events that offer multiple betting opportunities. This is where Round Robin comes into play. As opposed to betting separately on each game or round within an event, a series of smaller parlays are made from a bigger list of teams or players you select.
In the simplest terms: a round-robin wager is a parlay which involves three or more games, where you split the wager up into a number of smaller combinations. Instead of betting on who the winner will be, you are betting on what the overall outcome is, based on your combinations. It is different to a hedge bet in that the wagers will only be on the teams you are betting on.
This can be a lot of fun to play at an online casino that offers sportsbooks. Lists are generated automatically, so you can play as many as you like. Pick enough games and you can create thousands of parlay combinations – if you pick enough teams.
How Round Robin Works
Since regular parlay wagers have such low odds, players should not expect them to become a successful, long-term option. Round Robin can work in your favour to counteract this. Where you have multiple parlay bets, as opposed to just one, your chances of some payout are increased.
Let’s use an example looking at Football teams. If you were to pick three teams that were playing on a Sunday, for example:
If you were to bet $5 on each parlay, with 3 parlays made, the total Risk would be 15. If you placed your bets separately and all three teams won, your winnings would be $22.50. If they were combined into a Round Robin the payout differs as each selection is grouped into a parley. This would increase your winning to $33.75.
Round Robins are great when there is a large number of games to bet on. It can be hard to understand at first, so it is better to start off with smaller numbers until you get the hang of it. This is as there are more selections on the betting board, which means more variance and chance for randomness.
By utilising Round Robin, if one team loses, you can still enjoy some winnings. This is different from a hedge bet where you would lose all your winnings. It essentially improves your odds of winning.
Using the example above, if one of these 3 football teams were to lose, you would not make any money. By choosing a Round Robin you are actually betting on 3 different two-team parlays, involving these 3 teams. So essentially your bet is
Now you only need 2 teams to win money. If all 3 teams win, you win each parlay. As the number of teams increases, so does your bet. So a $5 bet would be 40 for four teams, $45 for five teams, etc. The splits are also different, for example, in a 4 team round, you can choose to split into 6 different two-team parlays or 4 three-team combinations.
Different Types Of Round Robin
In an online casino sportsbook, there are different types of Round Robin that have taken their names from horseracing and American terms. These are as follows:
A Patent is the same thing as a Trixie, but you also get your three bets as single wagers. When you select six teams, you have 57 parlay options. That’s a Heinz.
In addition to this, there is an Each Way Round Robin bet, which is used in horse racing. It involves picking a horse to win and to place in another position, for example, first and third. A win on either of these places guarantees a profit, but the bet is doubled.
An each-way Round Robin involves multiple races on a card, from three to eight picks. You also have the option to add single bets to all the parlays (like a Trixie turning into a Patent). That’s when a Canadian becomes a Lucky 31, or a Heinz becomes a Lucky 63.
How Round Robin Bets Pay Out
As with parlay betting, there is a certain limit to the number of teams you can choose to include where it becomes less profitable to place these bets instead of making straight bets. In parlays, the most profit can be made when there are only two or three teams.
Always make sure that you are familiar with the betting conditions. As you increase the total teams and the number of teams in each parlay you will soon start having to make a lot more bets due to the massive number of nominations available
In a Round Robin, the total winnings of each parlay in the entire round wager are used to determine the payout. Here we use the example of a 3-team round, with each team lined at -110, and a wager of $5:
If all the teams were to win their matches, the parlay odds would be 264. The potential payout per match would be $13.22, and the total payout $39.66
In the table below, the payout is calculated based on the results seeing Team A lose, but both Team B and Team C winning.
Round Robin Bet Payouts
| Parlay Wager | Result | Risk | Parlay Odds | Potential Payout |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team A + Team B | Loss | €5.00 | 264 | $0.00 |
| Team A + Team C | Loss | €5.00 | 264 | $0.00 |
| Team B + Team C | Win | €5.00 | 264 | $13.22 |
Round Robin Betting Strategy
If you are a recreational player who is interested in making combination bets, this is probably the better choice than long-shot parlays. This is due to the fact that you have a higher chance of winning, although the payouts will be lower. You should track your bets regularly to see what types of bets are most successful and then put together some three-best Round Robins to see what your ROI (return on investment) is.
Our advice on a strategy would be to play smaller parlays, increasing in size until you understand the system better. Also make sure that you have an understanding of how odds work, in order to increase your winnings.
A big tip is that you need to know more about the teams and their chances of a win. This is called Handicapping. Handicapping involves researching a sporting event and calculating your own odds based on what you have learned. This gives you an advantage as you increase your chances of winning as you will have a better understanding of how the game will play out.
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Round Robin Conclusion
Round Robin betting is a great way to combine parlay wagers. It allows you to make multiple combinations that may not have been otherwise possible. It works well on events which continue over more than one day, due to the higher chance of variance and random outcomes. By using this bet, you mitigate your risk by increasing the amount of your wager and limiting your parlay card to only two teams. It can take a while when you first start to get the hang of it. You will soon discover whether it works for you and what works best.
Picking too many teams will eventually lead to the odds getting the better of you. When considering your picks, you must ensure that the odds are enough to earn you a profit on their own. Always ensure that you believe your bets have a good chance of winning. Too many people put together their parlays by looking at the higher odds, in the belief that it will lead to higher payouts. Finding a balance between the odds and the probability of an outcome is how players will make their money over long periods of time. Once you start putting them together in practice, you will naturally start to better understand how they work and the different nuances about them that work for you.
It is simple to place a Round Robin bet on most online sportsbooks. You will find the option by either selecting a box on the bet slip or clicking on a tab. Add three selections to your bet slip and then click the permutations tab. Scroll down and click on the Round Robin or patent bet option.
FAQ
A round-robin is a type of parlay containing every combination of the teams playing in one single, huge bet.
It depends on the outcome of the games and the odds. The section on Round Robin payouts has more information
Although an each-way bet or EW is also betting on multiple picks, it is considered two separate bets, unlike a round-robin that combines multiple picks into one.
The most popular sports for Round Robin betting are horse racing, cricket and football. It will also depend on what sports you are familiar with.
Round Robins are a series of parlays between a specific set of teams. While all games must hit for a parlay to be a winner, not every pick must be successful to field a profitable round robin.
There are several types of Round Robin, including Trixie and Patent.
Yes, many sites offer this option.
As many as 10 teams and as few as three teams can be used in Round Robin bets. It is important to remember that this will result in a very high bet.
