"IF" Bets and Reverses I mentioned last week, that if your book offers "if/reverses," you can play those instead of parlays Some of you might not know how to bet an "if/reverse" A full explanation and comparison of "if" bets, "if/reverses," and parlays follows, together with the situations where each is best An "if" bet is exactly what it sounds like Without a doubt Team A and when it wins then you place an equal amount on Team B A parlay with two games going off at different times is a type of "if" bet in which you bet on the first team, and when it wins you bet double on the second team With a genuine "if" bet, rather than betting double on the second team, you bet the same amount on the second team You can avoid two calls to the bookmaker and lock in the current line on a later game by telling your bookmaker you wish to make an "if" bet "If" bets can even be made on two games kicking off concurrently The bookmaker will wait until the first game has ended If the first game wins, he'll put an equal amount on the second game though it has already been played Although an "if" bet is actually two straight bets at normal vig, you cannot decide later that you no longer want the second bet As soon as you make an "if" bet, the next bet can't be cancelled, even if the next game have not gone off yet If the first game wins, you will have action on the second game Because of this, there is less control over an "if" bet than over two straight bets Once the two games without a doubt overlap with time, however, the only method to bet one only when another wins is by placing an "if" bet Needless to say, when two games overlap with time, cancellation of the second game bet isn't an issue It ought to be noted, that when the two games start at different times, most books won't allow you to fill in the next game later You need to designate both teams once you make the bet You can make an "if" bet by saying to the bookmaker, "I want to make an 'if' bet," and then, "Give me Team A IF Team B for 100" Giving your bookmaker that instruction would be the identical to betting 110 to win 100 on Team A, and, only if Team A wins, betting another 110 to win 100 on Team B If the initial team in the "if" bet loses, there is absolutely no bet on the next team Whether or not the next team wins of loses, your total loss on the "if" bet would be 110 once you lose on the first team If the first team wins, however, you'll have a bet of 110 to win 100 going on the next team If so, if the next team loses, your total loss will be just the 10 of vig on the split of the two teams If both games win, you would win 100 on Team A and 100 on Team B, for a complete win of 200 Thus, the maximum loss on an "if" would be 110, and the maximum win would be 200 That is balanced by the disadvantage of losing the full 110, instead of just 10 of vig, each time the teams split with the initial team in the bet losing As you can see, it matters a great deal which game you put first within an "if" bet In the event that you put the loser first in a split, then you lose your full bet In the event that you split but the loser is the second team in the bet, then you only lose the vig Bettors soon found that the way to steer clear of the uncertainty due to the order of wins and loses would be to make two "if" bets putting each team first Rather than betting 110 on " Team A if Team B," you'll bet just 55 on " Team A if Team B" and then create a second "if" bet reversing the order of the teams for another 55 The next bet would put Team B first and Team Another This kind of double bet, reversing the order of the same two teams, is called an "if/reverse" or sometimes only a "reverse" A "reverse" is two separate "if" bets Team A if Team B for 55 to win 50; and Team B if Team A for 55 to win 50 You don't need to state both bets You merely tell the clerk you intend to bet a "reverse," the two teams, and the amount If both teams win, the effect would be the same as if you played a single "if" bet for 100 You win 50 on Team A in the initial "if bet, and 50 on Team B, for a total win of 100 In the next "if" bet, you win 50 on Team B, and 50 on Team A, for a complete win of 100 The two "if" bets together result in a total win of 200 when both teams win If both teams lose, the result would also function as same as in the event that you played a single "if" bet for 100 Team A's loss would cost you 55 in the first "if" combination, and nothing would go onto Team B In the next combination, Team B's loss would cost you 55 and nothing would go onto to Team A You would lose 55 on each of the bets for a total maximum lack of 110 whenever both teams lose The difference occurs when the teams split Rather than losing 110 once the first team loses and the second wins, and 10 once the first team wins but the second loses, in the reverse you'll lose 60 on a split whichever team wins and which loses It works out this way If Team A loses you'll lose 55 on the initial combination, and also have nothing going on the winning Team B In the second combination, you'll win 50 on Team B, and also have action on Team A for a 55 loss, producing a net loss on the second combination of 5 vig The loss of 55 on the first "if" bet and 5 on the second "if" bet gives you a combined lack of 60 on the "reverse" When Team B loses, you'll lose the 5 vig on the first combination and the 55 on the next combination for the same 60 on the split We've accomplished this smaller lack of 60 instead of 110 once the first team loses with no reduction in the win when both teams win In both single 110 "if" bet and both reversed "if" bets for 55, the win is 200 when both teams cover the spread The bookmakers would never put themselves at that type of disadvantage, however The gain of 50 whenever Team A loses is fully offset by the extra 50 loss 60 instead of 10 whenever Team B is the loser Thus, the "reverse" doesn't actually save us any money, but it does have the benefit of making the risk more predictable, and avoiding the worry as to which team to place first in the "if" bet What follows is an advanced discussion of betting technique If charts and explanations offer you a headache, skip them and write down the rules I'll summarize the rules in an easy to copy list in my next article As with parlays, the general rule regarding "if" bets is DON'T, when you can win more than 525 or more of your games If you cannot consistently achieve a winning percentage, however, making "if" bets whenever you bet two teams can save you money For the winning bettor, the "if" bet adds an element of luck to your betting equation it doesn't belong there If two games are worth betting, then they should both be bet Betting using one shouldn't be made dependent on whether you win another Alternatively, for the bettor who includes a negative expectation, the "if" bet will prevent him from betting on the next team whenever the first team loses By preventing some bets, the "if" bet saves the negative expectation bettor some vig The 10 savings for the "if" bettor results from the point that he could be not betting the next game when both lose When compared to straight bettor, the "if" bettor comes with an additional cost of 100 when Team A loses and Team B wins, but he saves 110 when Team A and Team B both lose In summary, whatever keeps the loser from betting more games is good "If" bets decrease the number of games that the loser bets The rule for the winning bettor is exactly opposite Anything that keeps the winning bettor from betting more games is bad, and for that reason "if" bets will definitely cost the winning handicapper money When the winning bettor plays fewer games, he's got fewer winners Remember that next time someone tells you that the best way to win is to bet fewer games A smart winner never really wants to bet fewer games Since "if/reverses" work out a similar as "if" bets, they both place the winner at an equal disadvantage Exceptions to the Rule - Whenever a Winner Should Bet Parlays and "IF's" Much like all rules, you can find exceptions "If" bets and parlays ought to be made by successful with a confident expectation in mere two circumstances When there is no other choice and he must bet either an "if/reverse," a parlay, or perhaps a teaser; or When betting co-dependent propositions The only time I can think of that you have no other choice is if you're the best man at your friend's wedding, you are waiting to walk down the aisle, your laptop looked ridiculous in the pocket of your tux which means you left it in the car, you merely bet offshore in a deposit account without line of credit, the book includes a 50 minimum phone bet, you prefer two games which overlap with time, you pull out your trusty cell 5 minutes before kickoff and 45 seconds before you need to walk to the alter with some beastly bride's maid in a frilly purple dress on your arm, you try to make two 55 bets and suddenly realize you merely have 75 in your account Because the old philosopher used to say, "Is that what's troubling you, bucky" If so, hold your mind up high, put a smile on your face, search for the silver lining, and create a 50 "if" bet on your own two teams Of course you can bet a parlay, but as you will see below, the "if/reverse" is a good substitute for the parlay if you are winner For the winner, the best method is straight betting In the case of co-dependent bets, however, as already discussed, you will find a huge advantage to betting combinations With a parlay, the bettor is getting the advantage of increased parlay probability of 13-5 on combined bets which have greater than the standard expectation of winning Since, by definition, co-dependent bets must always be contained within exactly the same game, they must be produced as "if" bets With a co-dependent bet our advantage comes from the fact that we make the second bet only IF one of the propositions wins It could do us no good to straight bet 110 each on the favorite and the underdog and 110 each on the over and the under We would simply lose the vig regardless of how often the favorite and over or the underdog and under combinations won As we've seen, if we play two out of 4 possible results in two parlays of the favourite and over and the underdog and under, we can net a 160 win when among our combinations comes in When to find the parlay or the "reverse" when coming up with co-dependent combinations is discussed below Choosing Between "IF" Bets and Parlays Predicated on a 110 parlay, which we'll use for the purpose of consistent comparisons, our net parlay win when one of our combinations hits is 176 the 286 win on the winning parlay minus the 110 loss on the losing parlay In a 110 "reverse" bet our net win would be 180 every time one of our combinations hits the 400 win on the winning if/reverse minus the 220 loss on the losing if/reverse When a split occurs and the under comes in with the favorite, or higher will come in with the underdog, the parlay will lose 110 as the reverse loses 120 Thus, the "reverse" includes a 4 advantage on the winning side, and the parlay has a 10 advantage on the losing end Obviously, again, in a 50-50 situation the parlay would be better With co-dependent side and total bets, however, we have been not in a 50-50 situation If the favourite covers the high spread, it really is much more likely that the game will go over the comparatively low total, and if the favorite does not cover the high spread, it is more likely that the game will under the total As we have already seen, if you have a confident expectation the "if/reverse" is a superior bet to the parlay The actual possibility of a win on our co-dependent side and total bets depends upon how close the lines on the side and total are one to the other, but the fact that they are co-dependent gives us a positive expectation The point where the "if/reverse" becomes a better bet compared to the parlay when coming up with our two co-dependent is a 72 win-rate This is not as outrageous a win-rate since it sounds When making two combinations, you have two chances to win You merely need to win one out of the two Each of the combinations has an independent positive expectation If https//55win55fun assume the chance of either the favorite or the underdog winning is 100 obviously one or another must win then all we need is really a 72 probability that whenever, for example, Boston College -38 � scores enough to win by 39 points that the game will go over the full total 53 � at least 72 of that time period as a co-dependent bet If Ball State scores even one TD, then we are only � point away from a win That a BC cover can lead to an over 72 of that time period is not an unreasonable assumption beneath the circumstances As compared with a parlay at a 72 win-rate, our two "if/reverse" bets will win an extra 4 seventy-two times, for a total increased win of 4 x 72 = 288 Betting "if/reverses" may cause us to lose a supplementary 10 the 28 times that the outcomes split for a complete increased loss of 280 Obviously, at a win rate of 72 the difference is slight Rule At win percentages below 72 use parlays, and at win-rates of 72 or above use "if/reverses"