"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 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 strictly what it appears like You bet Team A and IF 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 in which you bet on the initial team, and if it wins you bet double on the next team With a genuine "if" bet, rather than betting double on the second team, you bet an equal amount on the second team You can 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 can also be made on two games kicking off at the same time The bookmaker will wait before first game has ended If the first game wins, he will put the same 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 you no longer want the next bet Once you make an "if" bet, the second bet cannot be cancelled, even if the second game have not gone off yet If the first 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 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 next game bet isn't an issue It should be noted, that when the two games start at differing times, most books will not allow you to complete the second game later You need to designate both teams when you make the bet You can make an "if" bet by saying to the bookmaker, "I wish 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 if 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 next team wins of loses, your total loss on the "if" bet will be 110 when you lose on the initial team If the initial team wins, however, you'll have a bet of 110 to win 100 going on the second team In that case, if the next team loses, your total loss would be just the 10 of vig on the split of the two teams If both games win, you'll win 100 on Team A and 100 on Team B, for a complete win of 200 Thus, the maximum loss on an "if" would be 110, and the maximum 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 In the event that you put the loser first in a split, you then lose your full bet In the event that you split but 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 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'll bet just 55 on " Team A if Team B" and create a second "if" bet reversing the order of the teams for another 55 The second bet would put Team B first and Team A second This type of double bet, reversing the order of 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 need to state both bets You only tell the clerk you wish to bet a "reverse," both teams, and the total 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 initial "if bet, and then 50 on Team B, for a total win of 100 In https//789bethvcom "if" bet, you win 50 on Team B, and then 50 on Team A, for a complete 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 be the 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 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 one of the bets for a total maximum loss of 110 whenever both teams lose The difference occurs once the teams split Instead of losing 110 once the first team loses and the second wins, and 10 when the first team wins but the second loses, in the reverse you'll lose 60 on a split whichever team wins and which loses It computes this way If Team A loses you will lose 55 on the initial combination, and 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, producing a net loss on the next combination of 5 vig The increased loss of 55 on the first "if" bet and 5 on the second "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 second combination for exactly the same 60 on the split We've 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 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 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 advantage of making the chance more predictable, and avoiding the worry as to which team to place first in the "if" bet What follows is an advanced discussion of betting technique If charts and explanations give you 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, if you can win more than 525 or even more of your games If you fail to consistently achieve a winning percentage, however, making "if" bets once you bet two teams will 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, 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 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 point that he is not betting the next game when both lose When compared to straight bettor, the "if" bettor has an additional expense 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 Anything that keeps the winning bettor from betting more games is bad, and therefore "if" bets will cost the winning handicapper money When the winning bettor plays fewer games, he's got fewer winners Remember that the next time someone lets you know that the best way to win is to bet fewer games A smart winner never really wants to bet fewer games Since "if/reverses" workout 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" Much like all rules, there are 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 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 are waiting to walk down that aisle, your laptop looked ridiculous in the pocket of your tux which means you left it in the automobile, you merely bet offshore in a deposit account with no 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 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 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 own 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 notice below, the "if/reverse" is a great substitute for the parlay if you are winner For the winner, the best method is straight betting In the case of co-dependent bets, however, as already discussed, there is 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 exactly the same game, they must be produced as "if" bets With a co-dependent bet our advantage originates from the fact that we make the next bet only IF one of many 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 favourite and over and the underdog and under, we can net a 160 win when among our combinations comes in When to choose 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 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 Whenever a split occurs and the under comes in with the favorite, or higher will come in with the underdog, the parlay will lose 110 while the reverse loses 120 Thus, the "reverse" includes 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 really is much more likely that the overall game will review the comparatively low total, and if the favorite fails to cover the high spread, it is more likely that the overall game will under 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 possibility of a win on our co-dependent side and total bets depends on how close the lines on the side and total are to one another, but the fact that they are co-dependent gives us a positive expectation The point where the "if/reverse" becomes a better bet than the parlay when coming up with our two co-dependent is really a 72 win-rate This is not as outrageous a win-rate since it sounds When making two combinations, you have two chances to win You only need 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 need is really a 72 probability that when, for instance, 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 have been only � point 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 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 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"