"IF" Bets and Reverses I mentioned last week, that if your book offers "if/reverses," you can play those rather than parlays Some of you may not know how to bet an "if/reverse" A complete explanation and comparison of "if" bets, "if/reverses," and parlays follows, together with the situations where each is best An "if" bet is strictly what it appears 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 kind of "if" bet where you bet on the initial team, and if it wins you bet double on the second team With a true "if" bet, instead of betting double on the second team, you bet an equal amount on the next team You can avoid two calls to the bookmaker and lock in the existing line on a later game by telling your bookmaker you need to make an "if" bet "If" bets can even be made on two games kicking off simultaneously The bookmaker will wait before first game has ended If the initial game wins, he will put an equal amount on the second game even though it has already been played Although an "if" bet is in fact 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 next bet can't be cancelled, even if the second game has not gone off yet If the first game wins, you should 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 in time, however, the only method to bet one only if another wins is by placing an "if" bet Needless to say, when two games overlap in time, cancellation of the second game bet is not an issue It should be noted, that when the two games start at differing times, most books will not allow you to complete the next game later https//hi881com/ need to designate both teams when 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 will 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 absolutely no bet on the next team No matter whether the second team wins of loses, your total loss on the "if" bet will be 110 once you lose on the initial team If the first team wins, however, you'll have a bet of 110 to win 100 going on the next team In that case, 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 maximum loss on an "if" will be 110, and the utmost win would be 200 This is balanced by the disadvantage of losing the entire 110, instead of just 10 of vig, 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 In the event that you split however the loser may be the second team in the bet, you then only lose the vig Bettors soon discovered that the way to steer clear of the uncertainty caused by the order of wins and loses is 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 type of double bet, reversing the order of exactly the same two teams, is named 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 need to bet a "reverse," the two 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 initial "if bet, and then 50 on Team B, for a complete win of 100 In the second "if" bet, you win 50 on Team B, and then 50 on Team A, for a complete win of 100 The two "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 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 go onto Team B In the second 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 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 computes in this manner If Team A loses you will lose 55 on the first combination, and also have nothing going on the winning Team B In the second combination, you will 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 initial "if" bet and 5 on the second "if" bet offers you a combined loss 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 rather than 110 once the first team loses without decrease 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 may be 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 put first in the "if" bet What follows can be an advanced discussion of betting technique If charts and explanations offer you a headache, skip them and 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, if you can win more than 525 or even more of your games If you fail to consistently achieve an absolute percentage, however, making "if" bets once 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 on one shouldn't 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 second 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 truth that he is 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 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's got fewer winners Remember that next time someone lets you know that the way to win would be 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 - Whenever 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 positive expectation in mere 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 could think of you have no other choice is if you're the very best man at your friend's wedding, you're waiting to walk down the aisle, your laptop looked ridiculous in the pocket of one's tux and that 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 like 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 own arm, you make an effort to make two 55 bets and suddenly realize you only have 75 in your account As the old philosopher used to say, "Is that what's troubling you, bucky" If so, hold your head up high, put a smile on your face, search for the silver lining, and create a 50 "if" bet on your own two teams Needless to say you can bet a parlay, but as you will notice below, the "if/reverse" is an effective substitute for the parlay in case you are winner For the winner, the very best method is straight betting In the case of co-dependent bets, however, as already discussed, there exists 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 the same game, they must be produced as "if" bets With a co-dependent bet our advantage comes from the truth 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 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 are able to net a 160 win when one of our combinations comes 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 without the 110 loss on the losing parlay In a 110 "reverse" bet our net win will 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 will come 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 will be better With co-dependent side and total bets, however, we have been not in a 50-50 situation If the favorite covers the high spread, it is much more likely that the game will review the comparatively low total, and when the favorite fails to 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 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 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 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 out of your 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 are in need of is 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 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 from a win A BC cover can lead to an over 72 of that time period isn't an unreasonable assumption beneath the circumstances In comparison with 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 total 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"