"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 full explanation and comparison of "if" bets, "if/reverses," and parlays follows, along with the situations where each is best An "if" bet is exactly 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 different 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 second team With a genuine "if" bet, rather than betting double on the second team, you bet the same 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 intend to make an "if" bet "If" bets may also be made on two games kicking off concurrently The bookmaker will wait until the first game is over If the first game wins, he'll put an equal amount on the next game though it was already played Although an "if" bet is really two straight bets at normal vig, you cannot decide later that so long as want the second bet Once you make an "if" bet, the next bet cannot be cancelled, even if the next game have not gone off yet If the first game wins, you will have action on the next game Because of this, there's less control over an "if" bet than over two straight bets When 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 with time, cancellation of the second game bet is not an issue https//78wingocom/ should be noted, that when the two games start at different times, most books won't allow you to complete the next game later You must designate both teams once you make the bet You may make an "if" bet by saying to the bookmaker, "I would like 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 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 once you lose on the first team If the initial team wins, however, you would have a bet of 110 to win 100 going on the next team If so, if the second team loses, your total loss would 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 maximum loss on an "if" will be 110, and the utmost win will 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, then you lose your full bet In the event that you split however the loser may be the second team in the bet, then you only lose the vig Bettors soon discovered that the way to steer clear of the uncertainty caused by 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 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 type of double bet, reversing the order of exactly the same two teams, is called 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 only tell the clerk you need to bet a "reverse," the two teams, and the total amount If both teams win, the effect would be the same as if you played an individual "if" bet for 100 You win 50 on Team A in the first "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 result would also function as same as in the event that you played a single "if" bet for 100 Team A's loss would cost you 55 in the first "if" combination, and nothing would look at Team B In the next combination, Team B's loss would cost you 55 and nothing would look at to Team A You'll 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 Instead of losing 110 when the first team loses and the second wins, and 10 when the first team wins however the second loses, in the reverse you will lose 60 on a split whichever team wins and which loses It works out 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, 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 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 second combination for the same 60 on the split We've 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 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 type of disadvantage, however The gain of 50 whenever Team A loses is fully offset by the excess 50 loss 60 rather than 10 whenever Team B is the loser Thus, the "reverse" doesn't actually save us any money, but it has 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 is an advanced discussion of betting technique If charts and explanations give you a headache, skip them and write down the guidelines I'll summarize the rules in an an easy task to copy list in my next article As with parlays, the overall rule regarding "if" bets is DON'T, if you can win a lot more than 525 or more of your games If you fail to 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 some luck to your betting equation it 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 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 is not betting the second game when both lose When compared to straight bettor, 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 reduce 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 definitely cost the winning handicapper money When the winning bettor plays fewer games, he's got fewer winners Remember that the next time someone tells you that the way to win would be to bet fewer games A smart winner never really wants to bet fewer games Since "if/reverses" work out a similar as "if" bets, they both place the winner at an equal 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 ought to be made by successful 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 which you have no other choice is if you're the 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 so 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 in time, you grab your trusty cell 5 minutes before kickoff and 45 seconds before you must 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 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 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 for anyone who is winner For the winner, the 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 which have greater than the normal expectation of winning Since, by definition, co-dependent bets should always be contained within the same game, they must be produced as "if" bets With a co-dependent bet our advantage originates from the point 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 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 choose 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 will be 180 every time among 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 as the reverse loses 120 Thus, the "reverse" has 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 are not in a 50-50 situation If the favorite covers the high spread, it really is much more likely that the overall game will review the comparatively low total, and when the favorite fails to cover the high spread, it really is more likely that the game will beneath the total As we have previously seen, when you have a confident expectation the "if/reverse" is really a superior bet to the parlay The actual probability of a win on our co-dependent side and total bets depends on how close the lines privately and total are one to the other, but the proven fact that they are co-dependent gives us a positive expectation The point at which the "if/reverse" becomes a better bet than 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 need to win one out of the two Each of the combinations has 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 are in need of 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 full 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 from a win That a BC cover will result in an over 72 of the time is not an unreasonable assumption beneath the circumstances As compared 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" may cause us to lose an extra 10 the 28 times that the results split for a complete 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"