Round Robin Betting: What Is a Round Robin Bet & How Does it Work?
As a sports bettor, you’re probably well aware of moneyline, point spread, totals, and even parlay bets. But what about Round Robins?
These wagers work off of parlay bets with three legs or more, allowing you to place numerous bets on various combinations of your parlay depending on the number of legs.
The goal of Round Robin bets is to keep the spirit of the parlay but to reduce the risk of a single parlay needing to hit for you to win. Round Robin bets are available at all of the best online sportsbooks.
It may help to consult our guide on parlay betting to compare and contrast the two bet types.
How Round Robin Bets Work
As mentioned, Round Robin bets work in conjunction with parlay bets. Round Robins provides combinations of the initial parlay you build, allowing you to wager on them uniquely.
The appeal of Round Robin bets is that, unlike traditional parlays, the risk is not usually all-or-nothing.
For example, if there are six two-leg parlays, you could still win four of them and receive a payout. In other words, Round Robins allows you to spread the risk across multiple parlays.
3-Leg Example
Let’s look at examples of three-leg parlay with +311 total odds.
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers -285
- New Orleans Saints -148
- Pittsburgh Steelers -122
After you build this parlay, you’ll be able to utilize Round Robin bets. With three legs, there are three combinations. On the bet slip, you’ll choose a wager amount applied to each bet. These three combinations are two-leg parlays.
If you enter $5, you’ll be wagering a total of $15, or $5 for each of the three combinations. So, instead of one bet at +311 odds, you’ll have three bets at $5 each, with a payout of $38.85 if all three combinations win.
To make a comparison, if you bet $5 on the +311 three-leg parlay, you’d be paid $20.59 for a winner. A successful $15 wager would pay $61.78.
4-Leg Example
Now, let’s look at a four-leg parlay to see how that would look:
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers -285
- New Orleans Saints -148
- Pittsburgh Steelers -122
- Minnesota Vikings +114
The total odds for this parlay would be +781. With four legs in your parlay, you can place six two-leg parlays or four three-leg parlays.
- The payout on a $5 wager on the four-leg parlay at these odds is $44.07.
- A $5 wager on each of the six two-leg parlays results in $30 wagered for a potential payout of $90.70
- A $5 wager on each of the four three-leg parlays results in $20 wagered for a potential payout of $103.74
How to Place a Round Robin Bet
Placing a Round Robin bet is simple to do. However, the process will be slightly different from sportsbook to sportsbook because of the differences in the bet slip.
Here, I’ll show you how it looks at DraftKings, which is among the best online sportsbooks:
As you can see on this betslip, you can wager on each leg individually. As you scroll down, you’ll see the parlay odds.
Then, when you add three or more legs, the Round Robin option will become available below that.
From there, you’ll see the possible combinations.
To bet, you’ll simply input the amount you’re OK with wagering on each parlay. Remember, this isn’t the total bet; it’s per parlay. So, if you put in $5 and there are six combinations, you’ll be wagering $30.
How to Calculate Round Robin Odds
Round Robin bets are typically automatically calculated by the sportsbook you're using. For example, here's what a four-leg parlay using Round Robin looks like at FanDuel:
So, with a four-leg parlay, you can bet on six two-leg parlays at +201 or four three-leg parlays at +414.
If you did a $1 bet for each of these, here’s how the payout would be calculated:
- $1 on “By 2’s x6 wager” is $6 total. At +201, you’d potentially win $12.06.
- $1 on “By 3’s x4 wager” is $4 total. At +414, you’d potentially win $16.57.
Remember, this is assuming each of the parlays within those groupings wins.
Strategies for Placing Round Robin Bets
You can use some strategies to maximize your chances of hitting big with Round Robin bets. While I can never guarantee a win, one strategy I often use is finding a three-leg parlay with two favorites and an underdog.
Let’s look at an example:
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers -320
- San Francisco 49ers -290
- New York Giants +260
With this, you’re assuming that the Buccaneers and 49ers win. The Giants are underdogs and slated to lose.
Here’s what each two-leg parlay would look like:
- Buccaneers and 49ers
- Buccaneers and Giants
- 49ers and Giants
Here’s what these look like as standalone two-leg parlays:
- Buccaneers and 49ers: -131
- Buccaneers and Giants: +372
- 49ers and Giants: +384
So, if you bet $10 on this ($30 total), you can win up to $83.31 if all teams win. If the Giants lost, and the 49ers and Buccaneers won as expected, you’d bet $30 and come away with $7.74.
Yes, you still lose money, but there are chances underdogs can win, and if they do, along with the favored teams, you’ll win big.
Finally, if you have the funds available, I’d recommend wagering on all possible combinations. For four-leg parlays, there would be six two-leg and four three-leg parlays. These allow you to cover these games in numerous ways.
Here’s what that would look like with the legs above, in addition to another:
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers -320
- San Francisco 49ers -290
- New York Giants +260
- Tennessee Titans -144
In betting all of these combinations, you’d bet $100 total ($10 bet each) and can win up to $374.89.
Below, I’ll provide examples of Round Robin betting strategies across the NFL, NBA, and MLB.
NFL Round Robin Bet
Above, I’ve mentioned and previewed several NFL Round Robin bets.
Here, I’ll show one using point spread bets:
FanDuel is one of the best NFL betting apps for Round Robin bets because you can see the odds for the various combinations.
NBA Round Robin Bet
Next up, let’s look at the NBA.
Here, I’ll use the following games:
With this, you’ll get +280 on the six two-leg parlays and +611 on the four three-leg parlays.
In my experience, certain underdogs don’t win as much as they do in the NFL. There are numerous games throughout an NBA season. In 2023, there were three teams with 22 wins or less in an 82-game season.
There were 12 teams with a winning percentage of less than .500.
The above Round Robin options are from FanDuel, one of the best NBA betting sites.
MLB Round Robin Bet
Below is a four-leg parlay from Caesars Sportsbook, one of the best MLB betting sites for wagering on pro baseball.
- Chicago Cubs -170
- Cincinnati Reds -125
- Tampa Bay Rays -110
- Baltimore Orioles -170
At Caesars, there are some other Round Robin (RR) options available for all sports, including baseball.
Here, you can bet Round Robins in the following ways:
- RR by 2’s from 4: Six two-leg parlays.
- RR by 3’s from 4: Four three-leg parlays.
- RR by 2,3,4’s: All combinations above plus the full four-leg parlay.
- Full Cover from 4: This includes everything above in addition to four moneyline wagers.
As of July 25, 2024, underdogs were 633-830 (43.3%) in the MLB, so I tend to gravitate toward favorites for MLB Round Robin bets.
Alternatives Bets to Round Robins
There are some other ways you can bet Round Robins including Trixie, Patent, Yankee, and Super Yankee.
- Trixie: Four bets with three selections (three two-leg parlays and one three-leg parlay).
- Patent: Seven bets with three selections (three single bets, three two-leg parlays, and one three-leg parlay).
- Yankee: This is the same as the “RR by 2,3,4’s” at Caesars. There are 11 total bets, including the two-leg, three-leg, and complete parlay options.
- Super Yankee: That consists of 26 total bets. For this, you must have a five-leg parlay. With this, you’ll have 10 two-leg parlays, 10 three-leg parlays, five four-leg parlays, and one with all five legs.
These are more ways to bet on Round Robins, which are available in select sportsbooks. Players could opt for these for parlays with more legs, as, again, they diversify risk in unique ways. Patent, Yankee, and Super Yankee include your original parlay and reward you for getting the original one right and the other combinations.
Responsible Gambling while Betting Round Robins
While we’ve discussed the many ways to wager and how much to wager to maximize your Round Robin bets and the strategies that come with them, nothing is more important than responsible gambling.
If you or someone you know is struggling, call or text 1-800-GAMBLER for assistance.
Pros & Cons of Round Robin Bets
- Reduce the risk for a one-off parlay bet
- Multiple betting options
- Diversify risk
- Deploy new betting strategies
- Requires a larger wager
- Potentially less payout if all legs of the parlay win
Remember, with Round Robin bets, the goal is to spread the risk across multiple parlays. In some cases, putting in one underdog is a good strategy on the chance they win. Still, always do your research and make educated additions to your parlays for your Round Robin bets. Also, shop each sportsbook for the best odds and alternative Round Robin betting methods. This will also allow you to redeem multiple sportsbook promos.
So, if you’re ready to try out Round Robin betting, we recommend heading on over to one of our recommended betting apps or websites to get started today and redeem our exclusive welcome bonuses.
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