"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 might not discover how to bet an "if/reverse" A complete explanation and comparison of "if" bets, "if/reverses," and parlays follows, together with the situations in which each is best An "if" bet is exactly what it sounds like Without a doubt Team A and when it wins you then place an equal amount on Team B A parlay with two games going off at different times is a type of "if" bet where you bet on the initial team, and when it wins without a doubt 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 next team It is possible to avoid two calls to the bookmaker and lock in the existing line on a later game by telling your bookmaker you intend to make an "if" bet "If" bets may also be made on two games kicking off as well The bookmaker will wait before first game is over If the initial game wins, he will put the same amount on the second game even though it has already been played Although an "if" bet is actually two straight bets at normal vig, you cannot decide later that so long as want the second bet As soon as you make an "if" bet, the second bet cannot be cancelled, even if the second 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 you bet overlap in time, however, the only way to bet one only if 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 will not allow you to complete the next game later You need to designate both teams when you make the bet You possibly can make an "if" bet by saying to the bookmaker, "I want 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, only when Team A wins, betting another 110 to win 100 on Team B If the first team in the "if" bet loses, there is no bet on the second team No matter whether 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 first team wins, however, you would have a bet of 110 to win 100 going on the second team In that case, if the next team loses, your total loss will 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" would be 110, and the maximum win would be 200 That 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 initial team in the bet losing As you can plainly see, it matters a good deal which game you put first in an "if" bet In the event that you put the loser first in a split, you then lose your full bet If you split but the loser may be the second team in the bet, then you only lose the vig Bettors soon discovered that the way to avoid the uncertainty due to 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'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 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 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 merely tell the clerk you need to bet a "reverse," both teams, and the amount If both teams win, the result would be the same as if you played an individual "if" bet for 100 You win 50 on Team A in the initial "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 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 be the same as in the event that you played an individual "if" bet for 100 Team A's loss would set you back 55 in the initial "if" combination, and nothing would look at Team B In https//sv288app/ , Team B's loss would cost you 55 and nothing would look at to Team A You would lose 55 on each of the bets for a complete 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'll lose 60 on a split no matter which team wins and which loses It computes in this manner If Team A loses you will 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, resulting in a net loss on the second combination of 5 vig The increased loss of 55 on the initial "if" bet and 5 on the next "if" bet offers you a combined loss 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 have accomplished this smaller lack of 60 instead of 110 once the first team loses without decrease in the win when both teams win In both the 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 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 as to which team to place 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 guidelines I'll summarize the guidelines 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 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 an element of luck to your betting equation that 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 or not you win another However, 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 fact that he is 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 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 has fewer winners Understand that the next time someone lets you know that the 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, you can find exceptions "If" bets and parlays ought to be made by a winner with a positive expectation in only two circumstances When there is 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're waiting to walk down the aisle, your laptop looked ridiculous in the pocket of your tux which means you left it in the automobile, you only bet offshore in a deposit account with no credit line, the book has a 50 minimum phone bet, you prefer two games which overlap with time, you grab 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 state, "Is that what's troubling you, bucky" If so, hold your mind up high, put a smile on your own 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 wonderful substitute for the parlay should you be winner For the winner, the very best method is straight betting Regarding co-dependent bets, however, as already discussed, there is 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 that 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 originates from the point that we make the next bet only IF one of 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'd 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 favourite and over and the underdog and under, we can net a 160 win when one of our combinations will come in When to find the parlay or the "reverse" when making co-dependent combinations is discussed below Choosing Between "IF" Bets and Parlays Based on a 110 parlay, which we'll use for the intended 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 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 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 more likely that the game will review the comparatively low total, and when the favorite does not cover the high spread, it really is more likely that the overall game will beneath the total As we have previously seen, once 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 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 confident 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 simply not as outrageous a win-rate since it sounds When making two combinations, you have two chances to win You only have to win one from the two Each of the combinations has an independent positive expectation If we assume the opportunity of either the favourite 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 total 53 � at least 72 of that time period 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 is not 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" will cause us to lose an extra 10 the 28 times that the results 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"