Mix parlay is a special type of sports bet in modern sports gambling. It’s one of the ways punters try to increase their profits from betting.
How Does Mix Parlay Betting Work?
Traditionally, punters place bets on single events or matches. With a parlay, also known as an accumulator or a multi-bet, the punter combines multiple events into the same bet. Any bet consisting of two or more single events qualifies as a parlay. To calculate the total payout from the parlay, the odds from the 1st event are multiplied by the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and so on depending on the size of the parlay. The cumulative odds are then multiplied by the stake. A mix parlay involves mixing up events from different sports. It’s a parlay that could contain a mix of individual events from, say, tennis, soccer and basketball etc. rather than a pure collection of events from one sport.
Best Scenarios For a Mix Parlay
Mix Parlay betting, or accumulator betting in general, means high risk with potential for high rewards. The best situation to apply this betting strategy, is where that risk can allayed somehow. Here are two examples:
1. Combining High Probability Outcomes
High probability outcomes are those that are highly likely to come true. In a sports betting sense, they are events that are as easy as possible to predict. A good example in soccer is matchups between the national teams of England and San Marino.
| 17 Feb 1993 | England v San Marino | 6-0 | FIFA World Cup |
| 17 Nov 1993 | San Marino v England | 1-7 | FIFA World Cup |
| 12 Oct 2012 | England v San Marino | 5-0 | FIFA World Cup |
| 22 Mar 2013 | San Marino v England | 0-8 | FIFA World Cup |
| 09 Oct 2014 | England v San Marino | 5-0 | UEFA European Championship |
| 05 Sep 2015 | San Marino v England | 0-6 | UEFA European Championship |
| 25 Mar 2021 | England v San Marino | 5-0 | FIFA World Cup |
There’s a running joke in international soccer that the entire San Marino team consists farmers, carpenters and painters – non-professionals. England is a far stronger footballing nation than San Marino and, dating as far back as 1993, has won all meetings between the two. The scorelines have been quite convincing, too. 5-0, 6-0, 7-1, 8-0, etc in favor of England. So it is fair to say that it’s highly likely that England wins any contest against the San Marino national team. This is a good example of a high probability outcome. Now an outcome that is that easily predictable will obviously be priced lower. A good betting strategy is to find several such high probability outcomes and combine them into a mix parlay bet. The odds for the individual events are low, but when totaled up, can potentially lead to a truly handsome payout. A true mix parlay involves mixing up different sports. This then would mean finding other high probability events from various sports to bet on the parlay. How many single events to combine depends on how much risk the punter is comfortable taking.
2. Large Parlays For Low-stake Gambles
Another interesting betting strategy is to combine a large number of single events into a mix parlay to be bet on with a low stake. It is not unheard of for punters to have parlays consisting of as many as 20 or 30 events! It’s the very definition of taking a gamble. It is not too likely to pay off but when it does, it feels very much like winning the lottery. The key to this tactic is to choose several, very low-odd outcomes. Naturally, each of these events is very likely to come true. The real question is whether all 15, 20 or 30 events can all come true. Even though the events are high probability, a punter needs some authentic stroke of good fortune to smile upon him in order to win the parlay.
That’s why, for this strategy, low stakes are the way to go. What qualifies as a “low” stake of course depends on individual economic situations. But it should be an amount that, if lost, would not make much of a dent on a punter’s finances. A large mix parlay like this will not often win, so a punter needs to be resilient and patient. When eventually a win comes through, which is once in a blue moon, the profit raked in will be more than enough to cover all failed attempts and still leave the punter smiling all the way to the bank!
