"IF" Bets and Reverses I mentioned last week, that if your book offers "if/reverses," it is possible to play those rather than parlays Some of you may not learn how to bet an "if/reverse" A complete explanation and comparison of "if" bets, "if/reverses," and parlays follows, along with the situations in which each is best https//mocbaiteam/ "if" bet is exactly what it sounds like Without a doubt Team A and when it wins then you place the same 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 if it wins without a doubt double on the second team With a genuine "if" bet, instead of betting double on the second team, you bet the same amount on the next team It is possible to avoid two calls to the bookmaker and secure the current line on a later game by telling your bookmaker you want to make an "if" bet "If" bets can even be made on two games kicking off concurrently The bookmaker will wait before first game is over If the first game wins, he'll put an equal amount on the next game even though it was already played Although an "if" bet is really two straight bets at normal vig, you cannot decide later that so long as want the second bet Once you make an "if" bet, the second bet cannot be cancelled, even if the next game have not gone off yet If the first game wins, you should have action on the second game Because of this, there's less control over an "if" bet than over two straight bets When the two games without a doubt overlap in time, however, the only way to bet one only when another wins is by placing an "if" bet Needless to say, when two games overlap in time, cancellation of the next game bet isn't an issue It should be noted, that when both games start at differing times, most books will not allow you to fill in the next game later You must designate both teams once you make the bet You possibly can make an "if" bet by saying to the bookmaker, "I wish to make an 'if' bet," and, "Give me Team A IF Team B for 100" Giving your bookmaker that instruction would be the same as betting 110 to win 100 on Team A, and then, only when 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 initial team If the initial team wins, however, you would have a bet of 110 to win 100 going on the next team If so, if the second team loses, your total loss would be just the 10 of vig on the split of both teams If both games win, you'll win 100 on Team A and 100 on Team B, for a total win of 200 Thus, the utmost loss on an "if" will be 110, and the maximum win would be 200 That is balanced by the disadvantage of losing the entire 110, instead of just 10 of vig, each time the teams split with the first team in the bet losing As you can see, it matters a great deal which game you put first in an "if" bet If you put the loser first in a split, you then lose your full bet In the event that you split however the loser is the second team in the bet, then you only lose the vig Bettors soon discovered that the way to steer clear of the uncertainty caused by the order of wins and loses would be to make two "if" bets putting each team first Instead of betting 110 on " Team A if Team B," you would bet just 55 on " Team A if Team B" and then make 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 type of double bet, reversing the order of the same two teams, is named an "if/reverse" or sometimes just 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 have to state both bets You only tell the clerk you need to bet a "reverse," both teams, and the amount If both teams win, the result would be the identical to if you played an individual "if" bet for 100 You win 50 on Team A in the first "if bet, and then 50 on Team B, for a total win of 100 In the next "if" bet, you win 50 on Team B, and then 50 on Team A, for a total win of 100 Both "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 initial "if" combination, and nothing would go onto Team B In the next combination, Team B's loss would set you back 55 and nothing would look at to Team A You'll lose 55 on each of the bets for a total maximum lack of 110 whenever both teams lose The difference occurs once the teams split Rather than losing 110 when the first team loses and the next wins, and 10 when the first team wins however the second loses, in the reverse you will lose 60 on a split no matter which team wins and which loses It computes in this manner If Team A loses you'll lose 55 on the initial combination, and have nothing going on the winning Team B In the second combination, you'll win 50 on Team B, and have action on Team A for a 55 loss, resulting in a net loss on the next combination of 5 vig The loss of 55 on the first "if" bet and 5 on the next "if" bet gives you a combined lack of 60 on the "reverse" When Team B loses, you'll lose the 5 vig on the initial combination and the 55 on the next combination for exactly the same 60 on the split We've accomplished this smaller loss 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 the two reversed "if" bets for 55, the win is 200 when both teams cover the spread The bookmakers would never put themselves at that sort of disadvantage, however The gain of 50 whenever Team A loses is fully offset by the extra 50 loss 60 rather than 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 preventing the worry concerning which team to put first in the "if" bet What follows can be an advanced discussion of betting technique If charts and explanations provide you with 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 overall rule regarding "if" bets is DON'T, when you can win more than 525 or even more of your games If you cannot consistently achieve an absolute percentage, however, making "if" bets whenever you bet two teams can save you money For the winning bettor, the "if" bet adds some luck to your betting equation it doesn't belong there If two games are worth betting, they should both be bet Betting using one should not be made dependent on whether or not you win another Alternatively, for the bettor who has 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 second game when both lose When compared to straight bettor, the "if" bettor has 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 reduce the number of games that the loser bets The rule for the winning bettor is strictly opposite Anything that keeps the winning bettor from betting more games is bad, and therefore "if" bets will definitely cost the winning handicapper money When the winning bettor plays fewer games, he has fewer winners Remember that next time someone tells you that the best way to win is to bet fewer games A good winner never wants to bet fewer games Since "if/reverses" work out exactly the same as "if" bets, they both place the winner at the same disadvantage Exceptions to the Rule - When a Winner Should Bet Parlays and "IF's" As with all rules, there are exceptions "If" bets and parlays should be made by a winner with a confident expectation in only two circumstances If you find no other choice and he must bet either an "if/reverse," a parlay, or a teaser; or When betting co-dependent propositions The only time I could think of that you have no other choice is if you're the very best man at your friend's wedding, you are waiting to walk down that aisle, your laptop looked ridiculous in the pocket of your tux which means you left it in the car, you only bet offshore in a deposit account with no line of credit, the book has a 50 minimum phone bet, you like two games which overlap with time, you pull out your trusty cell 5 minutes before kickoff and 45 seconds before you must walk to the alter with some beastly bride's maid in a frilly purple dress on your arm, you make an effort to make two 55 bets and suddenly realize you merely have 75 in your account As the old philosopher used to state, "Is that what's troubling you, bucky" If so, hold your mind up high, put a smile on your face, look for the silver lining, and make a 50 "if" bet on your own two teams Of course you can bet a parlay, but as you will notice below, the "if/reverse" is a good substitute for the parlay when you are winner For the winner, the very 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 odds of 13-5 on combined bets which have greater than the normal expectation of winning Since, by definition, co-dependent bets must always be contained within the same game, they must be produced as "if" bets With a co-dependent bet our advantage comes from the point that we make the second bet only IF among the propositions wins It would do us no good to straight bet 110 each on the favourite and the underdog and 110 each on the over and the under We would simply lose the vig no matter 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 favorite and over and the underdog and under, we are able to net a 160 win when one of our combinations will come 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 among 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 among 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 will come in with the favorite, or over will come in with the underdog, the parlay will eventually 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 will be better With co-dependent side and total bets, however, we are not in a 50-50 situation If the favorite covers the high spread, it really is much more likely that the game will review the comparatively low total, and when the favorite does not cover the high spread, it is more likely that the overall game will beneath the total As we have previously seen, if you have a positive 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 to one another, but the proven fact that they are co-dependent gives us a positive expectation The point at which the "if/reverse" becomes an improved bet compared to the parlay when coming up with our two co-dependent is really a 72 win-rate This is not as outrageous a win-rate as it sounds When making two combinations, you have two chances to win You only need to win one out from the two Each of the combinations comes with an independent positive expectation If we assume the opportunity 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 overall game will go over the total 53 � at the very least 72 of the time 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 the time is not an unreasonable assumption beneath the circumstances Compared to a parlay at a 72 win-rate, our two "if/reverse" bets will win a supplementary 4 seventy-two times, for a total increased win of 4 x 72 = 288 Betting "if/reverses" may cause us to lose an extra 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"