And sportsbooks' profits are multiplying in tenfolds because of their shiny new product Same-Game-Parlay, where you can parlay wagers within a single game/event. What's even worse is that the books are now allowing their users to add more legs from other event/games to make a Same-Game-Parlay-X, ultimately making a massive parlay in 2+ games/events. This new type of parlay has replaced traditional parlay as their cash cow product for sportsbook, and  SGP(s/x) has been postively receptive for bettors, but it's been more positively receptive for sportsbook (profit-wise) because of the subtantial growth and significant engagement from their users.

It wasn't always like this. Las Vegas, the gambling capital of the world, did not entertain the idea of having their customers to wager Same-Game-Parlay because they simply did not have the technology and the arithmetic, but the old bookmakers knew they would fall behind if they did not adapt. FanDuel was credited first for introducing SGPs in 2019 and all the other gambling companies follow suit, offering SGPs to their customers.  It was a win-win, fans were requesting, demanding for SGP, they were (are) loving it and the books were generating more profits than ever before! But is it really a win-win? I guess it all depends on who you are talking to. I won't deny that there are some sharps (sports betting pro) in this market that are really good at handicapping SGP(s/x) and making a viable living off it, however, for most bettors, they have no idea what they are betting on and others are taking a chance that has a slim chance of hitting. Bettors are literally blinded by the money, they aren't thinking about the risk they are taking. The more legs you add the more risk you take. For any type of parlays you need every leg to come through and it's very difficult to win. They know that you're cooking all these ridiculous parlays and they know that you're losing 90% of the parlays you cooked. But do you know how much you are really losing?

What the average bettor don't know is that they're plummetting their bankroll/savings down the toilet, especially when they are betting parlays. According to Billy Walters, you are essentially risking $1.50 for every $1 you placed with your sportsbook and that is an insane advantage for the books (check out his interview in JRE podcast, it's really fascinating). Sportsbooks like FanDuel, DraftKings, BETMGM, and many other gambling entities are in business to make money and they are making millions off the casual and average bettors. They are not in business to run a charity. Sure you see winners and you see those big parlay smack (matter in fact sportsbook highlight them intentionally on their social media platforms. Must I state the obvious?), but how about the losing parlays? How often do you see them? You might see those longshot parlays that come so close from hitting, but how about the other losing parlays? Bettors discard, disregard them without a second glance. You don't ever see them because they don't care to post them and the betting community forbids others from posting them. You won't ever see Floyd Mayweather Jr. show you his losing slips (let me know if you see one). He only post his winning slips and generally that's most bettors and cappers today. All these losing parlays is adding up to their losses. It might not seem much to throw $5 or even $1 onto a 10-1 odds  parlay (+1000 odds will pay you a $50 on a $10 wager) or SGP, but you would be surprise how much you lose track of your parlay bets that accumulate your collective losses. Believe it or not, but your sportsbook most likely have a stat sheet where it tracks your bankroll and shows betting history. The problem is that most bettors don't even bother looking at their financial stat sheet and just assume that they're profitting, but it could be further from the truth.  You could be unknowingly losing $100's or even $1,000's a month (or a week). Instead of making money, you are losing tenfolds of money and the worst part of all this is that you don't even know!

It's not your fault! Their model is all design in favor of the house, just like the casino, every table game the house has a statistical advantage and that especially includes in sports betting. The oddsmakers create the lines based on their analytics and they place the lines where it will create a friction among the bettors, ultimately when they receive equal amount of  the bets on both sides of a coin flip matchup, they will get theirs regardless who wins.  For example, let's say you want to wager on the Texans and Chargers game tonight. The game is a PK (Pick 'em) which means that both teams are evenly matched and it is a toss up. So let's say your book has either team to win outright ML at -110 (Chargers ML is -110 and Texans ML is also -110) and you want to wager Chargers ML, but let's say your friend also wants to get in the action and disagree with your pick, hence bets on the Texans ML. Both of you place $11 to win $10 on the outright winner, but only one of you will come out $10 richer (theorectially the game does not end in a tie). The books will profit regardless of which team wins. Yes, they will have to payout to the winning wager, but they will also receive money from the loser and from the vig (what book charges you per wager, in this particular would be $1 of the $11 wager). Now imagine multiplying that. If 100 bettors wagered $11 on the Texans and another 100 wagered $11 on the Chargers that would give the books $100 in profit no matter who wins the game! That's no risk for the books. This is how the books make their money, as intermeditator. Books are always adjusting their ML price, the line and the spread, so if they receive respectable money on one side, they will increase the odds/line on that particular side to try entice other bettors to take a bite. This is a winning formula for sportsbook and they are literally banking on it. But what if I told you that sportsbooks have an even bigger statistical advantage when bettors wager on parlays?

You have a much better chance winning a blackjack hand or betting even/odd on a roulette spin than hitting a 3-legged traditional parlay or SGP. Why do you think books offer you a boost(s) for parlays and SGPs? Because ironically it gives them a boost against the bettor. Parlays are certainly rewarding when it hits and it multiplies all your losing parlay efforts (you generally just need to hit one parlay to cover your losses). But that is the genius beauty of this concept. When you lose you want to win it back (oftentimes it's very deflating when you come really close to hitting it, especially when you lose by a single leg) and you chase after a big win. And when you win you get hooked by the wins and you just want more of it. Bettors are not looking at the bigger picture here. They are overlooking their massive losses and highlighting their big (small) wins. Over time you are losing expontentially more when you are doing parlays than bettors wagering on straight bets.