Noob question: Do you parlay or not?

[Turbotec]

New to the college football betting game. For the last 4 years, I have made a trip to Vegas for 1 weekend during college football. And I do my best on Saturday. Most every bet i make is a 3 or 4 team parlay. I cash a few but miss most. What do you guys do more often? Bet single games big or bet parlay for the bigger return.

Seems each year I just break even. Since I don't have a mentor, thought I would ask someone with more experience what works for them

[cpay]

ok myself i like parlay 2......or 3 .................avoid 4 5 6.................

depend if it a single night game ...i like straight bet ...if it on saturday or sunday i would do parlay 2 or 3 ...

[thetrinity]

never aside from very small 25 teamers on 5dimes which i treat like lotto tickets

[gojetsgomoxies]

i'm no expert, but i think parlays are poor value vs. betting each game individually..... but as noted, they are exciting so think of them as scratch-off lottery tix with much, much better odds (i'd think)

[Turbotec]

So maybe i have been going about this all wrong all along. I dont think i have ever bet a single team alone. Anyone else?

[suicidekings]

Over time, you will do MUCH better playing single games than playing parlays. They should make up 95%+ of your total bets. If you really like the excitement of parlays, you can still incorporate them into your betting, but you should be risking a lot less than you would on a straight wager. For example, I'll typically risk $100-300 on a straight wager, but no more than $10 on any parlays of 4+ legs. Maybe up to $50 on a 2-3 teamer, but I probably make 20+ straight bets for each parlay I bet.

Good luck.

[Turbotec]

Great info here suicidekings. Thank you!

[gojetsgomoxies]

funny story about parlays that may not exactly fit this thread.

when ontario (province in canada) started its sports lottery in early-mid 1990's you had to bet minimum of 3 games. i guess you'd call it a parlay.

anyway, they were inexperienced and it was the government... well, it turned out you could bet on games that had already finished. english soccer games i think it was..........

i don't know that exact details (key question would be how many games were like this)....

anyway i think it was a saturday. tons of people went to whatever sources of funds they could find and maxed out on these games...

government paid out on all the bets and at least one person retired from his winings.

but the funny thing about parlay is it might have been just two games that were over where the results were known. so people had to parlay with a still to be played game. they moneyline parlayed massive favourite syracuse (donovan mcnabb as qb) as the 3rd leg and of course syracuse lost.

wonder if the ontario government would have paid out on all the tix is syracuse had won. would have been a bloodbath.

pretty sure it's googlable. i've seen it before. i'll see if i can find a link. would love the exact details on the english soccer games and which syracuse game it was.

http://books.google.ca/books?id=qO9jME9IH2UC&pg=PA130&dq=ontario+lottery+corporation+english+soccer+games+already+complete&hl=en&sa=X&ei=2xI9UrerKoqtigK3m4DIDQ&ved=0CEAQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=ontario%20lottery%20corporation%20english%20soccer%20games%20already%20complete&f=false

page 130... says it was january 2005. i wouldn't take that as definitive though. i remember the syracuse part and it had to be regular season. i could have been wrong then though

[Turbotec]

That is crazy! .