This Week: Hansel Wei on Parlays. Read the whole article in Hansel's Zone at GoSportsBet.

  Parlays can be one of the most lucrative payouts in sports wagering, but they can be one of the most frustrating losses too when they narrowly miss. Let’s review the basic idea of a parlay: the player bets on the outcome of two or more games, and as the number of teams he picks goes up, so do the odds at which he is paid out. The teams can span a variety of sports and the events wagered on can take place on different days. GoSportsBet and other books tend to offer everything from 2- to 12-team parlays, and the more teams you pick, the greater your potential payouts. However, the catch is that if even one of your teams loses, the whole parlay is a loss. Many bettors choose to play a weekly parlay at a low bet. Like a lottery ticket, many people feel it is worth spending a tiny amount in order to give themselves a chance at a big payout; unlike a lottery, though, in the case of parlays the player feels that there is more to picking the winning combination than just luck. GoSportsBet’s minimum bet is one dollar for a 12-team parlay, and many bettors take advantage of this each week. The odds of getting 10 or 11 of your picks correct in a 12-team parlay are naturally much higher than the odds of recording a perfect score. With that in mind, many books including GoSportsBet have started offering “progressive” parlays. These bets essentially give you insurance, so that if you miss one or two picks, your card is still a winner. For instance: a GoSportsBet regular 12-team parlay pays 1,800 to 1 odds if all 12 picks win. A 12-team progressive parlay pays 900 to 1, but if 3 teams out of 12 lose, the player is still paid out at 3 to 1 odds. If you’re essentially resigned to losing your bet, but want a slim shot at a huge payday, the regular parlay is the way to go. If you’re pretty confident about most but not all of your picks, and want to give...

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