"IF" Bets and Reverses I mentioned last week, that when your book offers "if/reverses," you can play those rather than parlays Some of you might 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 An "if" bet is strictly 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 differing times is a kind of "if" bet where you bet on the initial team, and if it wins without a doubt double on the next team With a true "if" bet, instead of betting double on the second team, you bet the same amount on the second 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 wish 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 is over If the first game wins, he will put an equal amount on the next game though it has already been played Although an "if" bet is in fact two straight bets at normal vig, you cannot decide later that you no longer want the next bet As soon as you make an "if" bet, the second bet cannot be cancelled, even if the second game have not gone off yet If the initial game wins, you should have action on the next game For that reason, there is less control over an "if" bet than over two straight bets Once the two games you bet overlap with 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 with time, cancellation of the next game bet is not an issue It should be noted, that when both games start at different times, most books won't allow you to complete the next game later You must designate both teams when you make the bet You can make an "if" bet by saying to the bookmaker, "I would like to make an 'if' bet," and then, "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 first team in the "if" bet loses, there is absolutely no bet on the second 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 initial team If the first team wins, however, you would have a bet of 110 to win 100 going on the next team In that case, if the second 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 utmost loss on an "if" would 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 and every 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 If 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 avoid 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 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 next bet would put Team B first and Team Another This sort 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 need to state both bets You merely tell the clerk you would like to bet a "reverse," both teams, and the total amount If both teams win, the effect would be the identical to 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 complete win of 100 In the second "if" bet, you win 50 on Team B, and 50 on Team A, for a total 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 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 cost you 55 and nothing would look at to Team A You would 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 Rather than losing 110 when the first team loses and the second wins, and 10 once the first team wins but the second loses, in the reverse you will lose 60 on a split no matter which team wins and which loses It works out 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 next 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 loss of 55 on the initial "if" bet and 5 on the next "if" bet offers you a combined lack of 60 on the "reverse" When Team B loses, you will lose the 5 vig on the initial 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 when the first team loses without 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 could not 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 may be the loser Thus, the "reverse" doesn't actually save us hardly any money, but it does have the advantage 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 rules I'll summarize the rules in an easy to copy list in my own next article As with parlays, the general 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 a winning percentage, however, making "if" bets whenever you bet two teams will 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 on one shouldn't be made dependent on whether you win another On the other hand, for the bettor who includes a negative expectation, the "if" bet will prevent him from betting on the next team whenever the initial 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 second game when both lose When compared to https//one88center , 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 amount 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 Understand that next time someone tells you that the way to win is to bet fewer games A good winner never wants to bet fewer games Since "if/reverses" work out a similar 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" Much like all rules, you can find exceptions "If" bets and parlays should be made by a winner with a positive expectation in only two circumstances If you find 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 could think of which you have no other choice is if you are the best man at your friend's wedding, you're waiting to walk down that aisle, your laptop looked ridiculous in the pocket of your tux and that means you left it in the automobile, you merely bet offshore in a deposit account without credit line, the book has a 50 minimum phone bet, you prefer two games which overlap with time, you grab your trusty cell five 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 make an effort to make two 55 bets and suddenly realize you only have 75 in your account Because the old philosopher used to state, "Is that what's troubling you, bucky" If that's the case, hold your mind up high, put a smile on your own face, search for the silver lining, and make a 50 "if" bet on your own two teams Needless to say you could bet a parlay, but as you will see below, the "if/reverse" is an excellent substitute for the parlay if you are 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 benefit of increased parlay odds of 13-5 on combined bets that have greater than the normal expectation of winning Since, by definition, co-dependent bets must always be contained within exactly the same game, they must be made as "if" bets With a co-dependent bet our advantage comes from the truth 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 favourite and the underdog and 110 each on the over and the under We'd 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 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 making 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 Whenever a split occurs and the under will come in with the favorite, or over comes in with the underdog, the parlay will lose 110 while the reverse loses 120 Thus, the "reverse" has a 4 advantage on the winning side, and the parlay includes 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 have been not in a 50-50 situation If the favourite covers the high spread, it is 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 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 on how close the lines privately and total are to one another, but the fact that they are co-dependent gives us a confident expectation The point where the "if/reverse" becomes an improved bet compared to the parlay when making 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 merely have to win one out of the two Each 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 need is really a 72 probability that when, for example, Boston College -38 � scores enough to win by 39 points that the overall game will go over the full total 53 � at least 72 of the time as a co-dependent bet If Ball State scores even one TD, then we are only � point from a win That a BC cover will result in an over 72 of the time is not an unreasonable assumption beneath the circumstances When 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 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"