By Larry Rupp
The sports betting market is built on fans putting their money down on who they believe will win a certain game or whether the over/under will hit. While that might historically be the case, one certain kind of wager is making its way into the forefront of the industry. It’s called a same-game parlay (SGP) and involves stringing together multiple bets from one game or team into a parlay to increase potential winnings.
For example, one can create a same-game parlay for any given NFL game using everything from player receiving yards, touchdown scorers, halftime spreads and much more. The possibilities are nearly endless, but the likelihood of hitting these types of wagers is much riskier than that of a single bet. That is because the parlay becomes a loss if any one of the individual legs does not win. It’s an all-or-nothing situation.
However, bettors find an adrenaline rush knowing that the payouts can be astronomical.
This bettor turned $100 into almost $100K on a Sunday Night Football same game parlay 👀
— Pickswise (@Pickswise) October 26, 2021
(via @PointsBetUSA) pic.twitter.com/HM5Ejm7RDb
The concept of a same-game parlay gained prominence when it was introduced by FanDuel Sportsbook in late 2019. It caught fire as a way for bettors to diversify their wagers. So much so that other sportsbooks started to follow. Most recently, DraftKings Sportsbook unveiled their SGP feature right in time for kickoff of the 2021-22 NFL season.
FanDuel knows how important it is to keep bettors coming back to their platform and regularly offers weekly promotions for “risk-free” same-game parlays. This is true for baseball, football as well as basketball. Losing parlays can come back as “bonus” money as long as participants opt-in and follow the instructions. The total is usually limited to a certain amount such as $10 or $25 and must be used within the sportsbook on a winning bet before it can eventually be withdrawn as real cash.
🗣 RISK-FREE #SameGameParlay
— FanDuel Sportsbook (@FDSportsbook) October 26, 2021
Place a Same Game Parlay bet on Game 1 of the World Series tonight. If your bet loses, you'll get a refund up to $10 in site credit! https://t.co/DW5M4LZfDq | #WorldSeries pic.twitter.com/VdAZwEez8p
To really understand the impact of this new-age betting style, just take a look at the numbers. According to FanDuel, almost half of its active users have placed an NFL same-game parlay bet at some point this season. Add in the fact that over half of new users have placed a same-game parlay wager within their first week of using the sportsbook, and it’s no wonder it’s blowing up.
It’s important for bettors aiming to get in on the craze to engage responsibly. Parlays have a historically low hit rate, but there is an art to putting the right same-game parlay together. Correlating legs is a great strategy to employ. If you think an NBA player will be shut down by the opposing defense, parlaying the under on his points scored with the opponent’s moneyline makes a lot of sense.
All things considered, the growth of same-game parlays does not look to be ending anytime soon. To place one now, head over to FanDuel or DraftKings and simply click on any sports game. If same-game parlays are available, a tab will appear at the top of the page ready to be clicked on. It’s that easy.
Picture Credit: Google Creative Commons Licenses
