"IF" Bets and Reverses I mentioned last week, that if your book offers "if/reverses," you can play those instead of 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, together with the situations in which each is best An "if" bet is exactly what it sounds like You bet Team A and when it wins you then 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 first 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 You can avoid two calls to the bookmaker and secure the current line on a later game by telling your bookmaker you want to make an "if" bet "If" bets can be made on two games kicking off concurrently The bookmaker will wait until the first game is over If the initial game wins, he'll put the same amount on the next 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 you no longer want the next bet As soon as you make an "if" bet, the next bet cannot be cancelled, even if the second game has not gone off yet If the initial 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 When the two games you bet overlap in 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 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 next game later You need to designate both teams once you make the bet You 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 identical to betting 110 to win 100 on Team A, and, 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 no bet on the next 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 would have a bet of 110 to win 100 going on the second team If so, 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 total win of 200 Thus, the utmost loss on an "if" will be 110, and the utmost 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 initial 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 If you split however the loser is the second team in the bet, then you only lose the vig Bettors soon discovered that the way to avoid the uncertainty caused by 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'll 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 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 intend to bet a "reverse," the two teams, and the amount If both teams win, the effect would be the same as 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 the next "if" bet, you win 50 on Team B, and then 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 function as same as if 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 next 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 complete maximum lack 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 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'll 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 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 next "if" bet gives you a combined lack of 60 on the "reverse" When Team B loses, you'll lose the 5 vig on the initial combination and the 55 on the next combination for exactly the same 60 on the split We've accomplished this smaller lack 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 both reversed "if" bets for 55, the win is 200 when both teams cover the spread The bookmakers could not 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 rather than 10 whenever Team B may be the loser Thus, the "reverse" doesn't actually save us any money, but it has the advantage of making the risk more predictable, and preventing the worry as to which team to put first in the "if" bet What follows is 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, 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 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 should not be made dependent on whether 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 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 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, anything that keeps the loser from betting more games is good "If" bets reduce the amount of games that the loser bets The rule for the winning bettor is strictly opposite Whatever keeps the winning bettor from betting more games is bad, and therefore "if" bets will definitely cost the winning handicapper money When the winning bettor plays fewer games, he's got fewer winners Remember that next time someone lets you know that the way to win is to bet fewer games A smart winner never 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 - When a Winner Should Bet Parlays and "IF's" As with all rules, there are 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 you have no other choice is if you are 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 which means you left it in the automobile, you only bet offshore in a deposit account with no line of credit, the book has 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 try to make two 55 bets and suddenly realize you merely have 75 in your account Because the old philosopher used to say, "Is that what's troubling you, bucky" If so, hold your mind up high, put a smile on your face, search for the silver lining, and create a 50 "if" bet on your 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 in case you are winner For the winner, the very best method is straight betting Regarding co-dependent bets, however, as already discussed, there exists a huge advantage to betting combinations With a parlay, the bettor gets the benefit of increased parlay probability 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 the same game, they must be made as "if" bets With a co-dependent bet our advantage originates from the truth that we make the second bet only IF one of many 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 no matter 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 favourite and over and the underdog and under, we are able to net a 160 win when among our combinations will come in When to choose the parlay or the "reverse" when coming up with 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 without the 110 loss on the losing parlay In a 110 "reverse" bet our net win will 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 When a split occurs and the under comes 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 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 really is more likely that the game will go over the comparatively low total, and if the favorite does not cover the high spread, it is more likely that the overall game will under the total As we have already seen, when 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 to one another, but the proven fact that they're co-dependent gives us a confident expectation The point where the "if/reverse" becomes a better bet than the parlay when coming up with our two co-dependent is 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 merely need to win one from the two Each of the combinations has an independent positive expectation If https//hi880mobi/ assume the opportunity 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 instance, Boston College -38 � scores enough to win by 39 points that the overall 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 are only � point away from a win A BC cover will result in an over 72 of that time period isn't an unreasonable assumption beneath the circumstances Compared to a parlay at a 72 win-rate, our two "if/reverse" bets will win a supplementary 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 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"