Round Robin Bets: How Round Robin Betting Works

Round robin bets offer the payout potential of larger parlays without as much risk. The name comes from round robin tournaments in which every team plays every other team at least once.

The concept of a round robin in sports betting is similar but not identical to a parlay. In short, bettors can choose a list of wagers they like and build multiple, smaller parlays from that list rather than wrapping them all into one large parlay. As a result, the bettor can cover multiple outcomes with a round robin to secure payouts even if some individual legs fail.

New bettors are often befuddled by round robins due to the sheer number of possible betting combinations. However, US sports betting technology has become sophisticated enough to ease the process significantly. Today, round robin bets are more accessible to bettors of all skill levels.

Even so, it’s still beneficial to understand how round robins work, why they mitigate risk, and whether they’re good bets. Read on for everything bettors need to know about round robins.

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How Does a Round Robin Bet Work?

At its core, the round robin bet is multiple smaller parlays constructed from a larger parlay. The main benefit is that not every item on the larger list must win for the bettor to receive a return on their investment.

The downside is that each portion of a round robin pays less than a full parlay. Bettors are trading higher returns for more security, as they might do by having a balanced stock portfolio.

The best way to illustrate how round robins work is to consider a simple example.

Imagine a bettor has their eyes on three -110 point spreads involving the following teams:

• Los Angeles Rams -2
• Atlanta Falcons -3
• Miami Dolphins +10.5

The simplest option would be to create a traditional 3-leg parlay, which would return $695 at +595 if all three teams win their games. Alternatively, the bettor could create a round robin covering three different outcomes:

• Parlay #1: Los Angeles Rams -2 and Atlanta Falcons -3
• Parlay #2: Los Angeles Rams -2 and Miami Dolphins +10.5
• Parlay #3: Atlanta Falcons -3 and Miami Dolphins +10.5

The traditional parlay would only pay if all three teams win their games. By contrast, the above round robin breaks it down into several two-team parlays that don’t have as strict winning conditions.

Each portion of the above round robin pays as long as two of the selected teams win. For example, consider what happens if the Atlanta Falcons lose their game.

In a standard parlay covering all three teams, the entire wager would lose if the Falcons come up short. In the round robin, a Falcons loss only derails two of the component parlays, and #2 still wins. By choosing a round robin, the bettor has covered all three teams but can still score a payout even if one of them loses.

A round robin involves a minimum of three bets and can involve whatever maximum the book allows, usually 15 or more. In the simple example above, notice that the only option is to create three 2-leg parlays, otherwise known as a 2’s x3.

Add a fourth team, and the number of possible combinations swells significantly. A bettor with four teams in mind can create six 2-leg parlays and four 3-leg parlays for a total of 10 combinations:

• Team A and Team B
• Team A and Team C
• Team A and Team D
• Team B and Team C
• Team B and Team D
• Team C and Team D
• Team A, Team B, and Team C
• Team A, Team B, and Team C
• Team A, Team C, and Team D
• Team B, Team C, and Team D

Round robin bettors can choose to bet all ten wagers, or they can bet only the six 2-leg parlays or the four 3-leg parlays. They can even include the traditional 4-leg parlay for 11 total bets in what is known as a Yankee Round Robin.

Other Round Robin Combinations

As a bettor adds more wagers to a round robin, the number of combinations grows nearly exponentially. Some other common round robin variations include:

• Canadian: All combinations of a round robin covering five teams – 26 total bets
• Heinz: All combinations of a round robin covering six teams – 57 total bets
• Super Heinz: All combinations of a round robin covering seven teams – 120 total bets

A Heinz consists of 15 2-leg parlays, 20 3-leg parlays, 15 4-leg parlays, six 5-leg parlays, and one 6-leg parlay. That should give bettors a sense of just how crazy round robins can become.

Remember, bettors that want to limit their exposure can choose not to bet all combinations of a round robin. For instance, they may only want to bet the 2- or 3-leg parlays. That’s allowed. However, they must bet all combinations within a parlay group. They cannot bet eight or ten out of the 15 2-leg parlays in a Heinz – it must be all 15.

In-Play Round Robin Wagers

Most betting apps permit in-play round robins just as they permit in-play parlays. Bettors can even create round robins from a combination of in-play and pregame bets.

However, in-play odds change frequently, especially for fast-paced sports like basketball, so the sportsbook may not accept a round robin at the bettor’s desired price.

The book may offer an alternative price, which may or may not be more favorable to the bettor. It may even reject the bet outright when the book has temporarily or permanently suspended in-play betting on a particular market.

How to Place a Round Robin Bet

US online sportsbooks have streamlined the process of making round robin bets. It’s nearly as easy as making a traditional parlay wager, but there is some nuance involved.

1. Log in to your favorite sports betting site or mobile app.
2. Find at least three desired bets, preferably from different games, and select them. Sportsbooks typically feature spreads, totals, and moneylines on the main sports category pages. Customers can find alternative lines and props by visiting a specific game’s betting menu.
3. The bet slip will appear on the screen after the user selects the first wager. And once the bettor has selected three or more bets, the round robin option will appear on the bet slip.
4. Decide which round robin combinations to bet (2-leggers, 3-leggers, all combinations, etc.), and enter the desired wager amount.
5. Hit the “Place Bet” button, and it’s off to the races.

The layout of round robin bets varies slightly from book to book, but adapting to the nuances of each sportsbook is easy once bettors get the hang of it. Here’s how DraftKings Sportsbook presents round robins:

Two points of note:

1. The wager amount entered by the bettor is per combination, not for the entire round robin. For example, if there are ten combinations and the wager size is $10, the actual bet will be $100. New bettors often forget this and end up wagering more than intended.
2. Sportsbooks do not show the odds to win each round robin combination. Some, like Caesars Sportsbook, provide the odds and payouts for groups of winning combinations (see below), but not individual parlays. If bettors want to know how much each combination will pay before placing a wager, they’ll have two options: Either calculate it themselves or plug the combinations in manually. Hopefully, sportsbooks will upgrade their round robin convenience tools sometime soon.

The first point is so important that it’s worth clarifying. If the intention is to bet $100 total on a round robin, divide $100 by the total number of bets. If there are ten combinations, bet $10. If there’s 25, only bet $4. The last thing bettors want is to inadvertently bet multiples of their intended wager and be unable to reverse it.

Round Robin Payout Example

The best way to understand how round robin payouts work is to see one in action.

Assume a bettor wants to place a 2-pick round robin comprised of four teams for a total of six combinations. All wagers are -110 point spreads. The wager size is $10, for a total of $60 wagered.

Here is the list of possible round robin bet outcomes.

• If zero or one teams win, none of the round robin combinations win. The bettor wins nothing, a loss of $60.
• If two teams win, exactly one combination will win. The bettor is paid on 2-leg parlay odds of +264 for that winning wager. The payout is $36.40 for a total loss of $23.60.
• If three out of four teams win, three combinations hit, and the bettor is paid on odds of +264 three times. The total payout is $109.20 for a profit of $49.20.
• If bettors are fortunate to run the table, then they’ll win all six parlays for a grand total of $218.40.

Had the bettor in question instead placed a standard 4-leg parlay and missed just one leg, they would have lost it all. But by choosing this round robin, three out of four wins puts the bettor firmly in the black.

Round Robin Bets FAQ