Ultimate Guide to the Round Robin Wager

If you are a recreational sports bettor, you have likely limited financial resources that you can allocate to your sports betting activity. That can be a bit prohibitive if you like playing multiple games from the board each week. The best solution? You might get the game coverage you desire by wagering smaller amounts on parlays that allow you to tie multiple games together in one wager.

Of course, the process of building your parlay tickets can be a little trying if you want to focus on certain games but aren't sure how to make the betting process. Might we recommend that you use the "Round Robin" wagering option?

If we are going to make such a recommendation, it would be prudent for us to define the betting option and provide a couple of useful examples. We'll do that in the following sections.

What is a Round Robin Wager?

Before we define a Round Robin bet, it would be prudent for us first to define a parlay, a bet that serves as the basis for Round Robin bets. Let's go to Fox Sports for a proper parlay definition:

"A parlay is a single wager that combines two or more selections ("legs")— such as point spreads, moneylines, totals, or (where allowed) props—into one ticket. All legs must win for the parlay to cash. If any leg loses, the entire bet results in a loss. Parlays offer higher potential payouts than betting legs individually because the odds multiply together, but the risk also rises for the same reason."

Parlay Example: Imagine for a moment that you have a wagering interest in three NFL Football games: Dallas Cowboys -3 over the Chicago Bears, the Los Angeles Chargers +4.5 over the Kansas City Chiefs, Green Bay Packers -8 over the Cleveland Browns, and the Los Angeles Rams/Detroit Lions game over 46 pts. If you have a bankroll of $100, you could only wager $25 per game (straight bets) for a possible return of $91 if you were lucky enough to hit all four wagers. That's a lot of wagers for a minuscule return. If you were to put all four games in a parlay for the same $100, your potential return would be upwards of $1,200. That looks tempting, right? Of course, you would now have to hit all four games to claim that money, not a small task. That brings the Round Robin wager into the mix.

Per the Sporting Post website, the Round Robin wager is defined as follows:

"A round robin bet is a type of parlay where multiple smaller parlays are created from a list of teams or picks."

In this case, all of the applicable games would be listed on the same betting slip. It's a bet of convenience if nothing else. Assuming you wanted to use the aforementioned four games in a series of two-team parlays, you would have to place six separate parlay bets. If you were to tie these same legs together in a Round Robin, it would be one wager, covering the same two-team parlays.

From a money perspective, the cost would end up being the same regardless of whether you bet the six parlays or the one Round Robin. Assuming you intend to wager the same $100, you will effectively end up with six parlays at $12.50 each. The gross return at an estimated 6-1 odds on each parlay would be $87.50 ($12.50 x 7) for a net profit per parlay of $75 ($12.50 x 6). There is no variation in the gross and net returns between separate parlay wagers or a Round Robin. Again, betting the Round Robin is a wager of convenience.

Note: Hitting two games within a Round Robin structure would result in one winning parlay for a return of $87.50. That would create a slight loss of $12.50 on the overall Round Robin wager. Hitting three of the four games would create an overall return of $175 for a net profit $75.00. A glorious net profit of $600 is awarded if all four games go the right way.

As a point of reference, a pure 4-team parlay would bring an approximate net profit of $1,100. However, you have to remember that you would have to hit all four games for that return. There's far less risk, wagering a 2-team round robin where hitting two of the four games delivers a near break-even return.

The Benefits of Using the Round Robin Option

We feel the best way to clarify the effectiveness of using a Round Robin option would be through listing the pros and cons associated with such a betting option. To that end, here are a few notable pros/cons associated with Round Robin wagering:

The Pros

• Saves time and effort when compared with placing separate parlays


• The risk is mediated in comparison to a single parlay if at least half the legs listed on the Round Robin come back as winning legs


• Round Robins can offer a strategic wagering tool within a larger sports betting strategy


• Solid wagering option for sports bettors who like to focus on underdogs


• The Round Robin betting option is almost always available with both retail and online sportsbooks


• Placing an online Round Robin bet is as simple as clicking one extra button
  

The Cons

• You would have to be careful with the math because Round Robins can get expensive based on the number of legs involved


• The profit would be significantly less than hitting one parlay if all legs were to come back as winners


• Round Robins are a bit more difficult to track because the breakdown of individual parlays might not be evident
  

Tips for Using Round Robin Wagers

The viability of betting Round Robin wagers depends a lot on how such wagers are employed. This is not a betting option that we would promote across the board. Instead, we would like to offer up the following tips, which will allow you to decide for yourself if this option will suit your sports betting needs:

- Place games on which you have strong opinions within a Round Robin bet

- We would not recommend listing over five games due to affordability issues.

- Check your math and bankroll before pressing the online Round Robin bet button.

- By including underdog money line bets in a Round Robin, the potential returns will escalate quickly.

- Round Robins work equally well for any viable betting market where multiple events are available.

- We would suggest starting the use of Round Robins with fewer teams and a smaller bankroll until you get comfortable with the concept.

How to Place an Online Round Robin Wager

While placing Round Robin wagers online might vary slightly from one online sportsbook to the next, the process is almost always easy to do. Here's a step-by-step guide:

Step #1 - Find the Round Robin option on your sportsbook
Step #2 - List all of the bets you want included
Step #3 - Select the number of legs you want included in each Round Robin parlay
Step #4 - Select the amount you want applied to each Round Robin parlay
Step #5 - Submit the wager and await the sportsbook's confirmation

If you have any questions about the process, one of the sportsbook's customer service representatives should be able to offer assistance.

Conclusion: We hope we have brought clarity to this particular sports betting option. If used properly, we think the Round Robin bet could fit well within your overall sports betting strategy. At the same time, we would not recommend you rely heavily on this type of wagering option. It could get quite expensive. At the end of the day, you should view Round Robins as an affordable way to control your bankroll while getting action down on a larger selection of games/events.

Good Luck!