"IF" Bets and Reverses I mentioned last week, that when your book offers "if/reverses," it is possible to play those instead of parlays Some of you may not understand how to bet an "if/reverse" A complete explanation and comparison of "if" bets, "if/reverses," and parlays follows, combined with the situations in which each is best An "if" bet is exactly what it appears like You bet Team A and IF it wins you then place an equal amount on Team B https//hi881com/ with two games going off at differing times is a type of "if" bet in which you bet on the initial team, and if it wins you bet double on the next team With a genuine "if" bet, instead of betting double on the next team, you bet the same amount on the second team It is possible to avoid two calls to the bookmaker and secure the existing line on a later game by telling your bookmaker you need to make an "if" bet "If" bets may also be made on two games kicking off at the same time 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 was already played Although an "if" bet is in fact two straight bets at normal vig, you cannot decide later that so long as want the next bet Once you make an "if" bet, the next bet can't be cancelled, even if the next game has not gone off yet If the first game wins, you will have action on the next game For that reason, there's less control over an "if" bet than over two straight bets When the two games without a doubt overlap with time, however, the only way to bet one only when another wins is by placing an "if" bet Of course, when two games overlap in time, cancellation of the second game bet isn't an issue It should be noted, that when the two games start at differing times, most books won't allow you to fill in the second game later You need to designate both teams when you make the bet You can create 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 when Team A wins, betting another 110 to win 100 on Team B If the initial team in the "if" bet loses, there is no bet on the next team Whether or not the second team wins of loses, your total loss on the "if" bet will be 110 when you lose on the first 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 next team loses, your total loss would be just the 10 of vig on the split of both teams If both games win, you would win 100 on Team A and 100 on Team B, for a total win of 200 Thus, the maximum loss on an "if" will be 110, and the maximum win would be 200 This is balanced by the disadvantage of losing the full 110, rather than just 10 of vig, each and every time the teams split with the first team in the bet losing As you can see, it matters a good 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, you then only lose the vig Bettors soon discovered that the way to steer clear of the uncertainty due to the order of wins and loses is 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 make a second "if" bet reversing the order of the teams for another 55 The second bet would put Team B first and Team Another This kind of double bet, reversing the order of exactly the same two teams, is called 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 merely tell the clerk you want to bet a "reverse," the two teams, and the amount If both teams win, the result would be the identical to if you played a single "if" bet for 100 You win 50 on Team A in the first "if bet, and 50 on Team B, for a complete win of 100 In the next "if" bet, you win 50 on Team B, and 50 on Team A, for a total win of 100 Both "if" bets together create a total win of 200 when both teams win If both teams lose, the effect would also be the same as if you played an individual "if" bet for 100 Team A's loss would set you back 55 in the first "if" combination, and nothing would look at Team B In the second combination, Team B's loss would set you back 55 and nothing would go onto to Team A You'll lose 55 on each of the bets for a complete maximum loss of 110 whenever both teams lose The difference occurs when the teams split Instead of losing 110 once the first team loses and the second wins, and 10 once 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 next combination, you will win 50 on Team B, and also have action on Team A for a 55 loss, resulting in a net loss on the next mix of 5 vig The loss of 55 on the initial "if" bet and 5 on the second "if" bet gives you a combined lack of 60 on the "reverse" When Team B loses, you will lose the 5 vig on the first combination and the 55 on the next combination for the same 60 on the split We have 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 the 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 instead of 10 whenever Team B is the loser Thus, the "reverse" doesn't actually save us any money, but it has the benefit of making the chance more predictable, and preventing the worry as to 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 simply write down the rules I'll summarize the guidelines in an an easy task to copy list in my own next article As with parlays, the general rule regarding "if" bets is DON'T, when you can win a lot more than 525 or even 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 some luck to your betting equation it doesn't belong there If two games are worth betting, they should both be bet Betting on one should not be made dependent on whether or not you win another However, 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 fact that he could be not betting the next 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, anything that 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 Whatever keeps the winning bettor from betting more games is bad, and for that reason "if" bets will cost the winning handicapper money Once the winning bettor plays fewer games, he has fewer winners Understand that the next time someone lets you know that the way to win would be to bet fewer games A smart 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, you can find exceptions "If" bets and parlays should be made by a winner with a positive expectation in mere 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 can think of that you have no other choice is if you are the best man at your friend's wedding, you are waiting to walk down the aisle, your laptop looked ridiculous in the pocket of one's tux so you left it in the car, you only bet offshore in a deposit account without line of credit, the book has a 50 minimum phone bet, you prefer two games which overlap in time, you grab your trusty cell five 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 own arm, you make an effort to make two 55 bets and suddenly realize you only have 75 in your account Because the old philosopher used to say, "Is that what's troubling you, bucky" If that's the case, 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 Needless to say you can bet a parlay, but as you will see below, the "if/reverse" is a superb replacement for the parlay should you be 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 gets the benefit 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 the same game, they must be made as "if" bets With a co-dependent bet our advantage comes from the fact that we make the next bet only IF among 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 usually 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 can net a 160 win when among 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 Based 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 without 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 without the 220 loss on the losing if/reverse Whenever a split occurs and the under will come in with the favorite, or higher comes 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 would 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 more likely that the overall game will go over the comparatively low total, and when the favorite fails to cover the high spread, it really is more likely that the overall game will under the total As we have previously seen, when you have a confident expectation the "if/reverse" is really a superior bet to the parlay The specific probability of a win on our co-dependent side and total bets depends on how close the lines on the side and total are one to the other, but the proven fact that they're co-dependent gives us a confident expectation The point where the "if/reverse" becomes an improved bet than the parlay when coming up with our two co-dependent is a 72 win-rate This is simply 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 of the two Each one of the combinations comes with an independent positive expectation If we assume the chance of either the favourite or the underdog winning is 100 obviously one or the other must win then all we are in need of is a 72 probability that when, for example, Boston College -38 � scores enough to win by 39 points that the 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 have been only � point from a win That a BC cover will result in an over 72 of the time isn't an unreasonable assumption under the circumstances Compared to a parlay at a 72 win-rate, our two "if/reverse" bets will win an extra 4 seventy-two times, for a complete increased win of 4 x 72 = 288 Betting "if/reverses" may cause us to lose an extra 10 the 28 times that the results split for a complete increased lack 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"