Learn
What is a parlay? Parlay meaning and same game parlays
A parlay is one bet on two or more outcomes. The odds multiply, and every leg must win. Play many parlays in the simulator below and see how often they pay.
Legs in each parlay
One ticket pays 6.97 but wins about 1 in 8.0 (12.5% without the margin). To break even you need 144 wins in 1,000; you should expect about 125.
your 1,000 parlays23 other runsaverage90% of runs end in here
How it is calculated
Each leg’s fair chance = (1 ÷ price) ÷ (1 + margin). A margin of 4.8% is what −110 on both sides of a game builds in.
Ticket price = product of the leg prices; ticket chance = product of the leg chances (legs treated as independent – not true for same-game parlays).
Wins in 1,000 tickets follow a binomial distribution: the shaded band and the average come from it exactly. The lines are random runs, each leg drawn separately.
A parlay in three steps
- Pick the legsChoose two or more outcomes, for example three hockey moneylines. Each outcome is one leg.
- The odds multiplyMultiply the decimal odds of all legs, for example 2.50 × 1.50 × 1.91 = 7.16. A $10.00 stake pays $71.59 before rounding.
- Every leg must winOne losing leg loses the ticket. On PROLINE, a void leg is removed and the rest is settled (a stand-alone SGP is refunded instead).
Parlay odds and chance by leg count
| Legs | Fair chance | Parlay odds | Pays on $10.00 | Book's share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Two legs | 1 in 4 (25.0%) | 3.64 (+264) | $36.45 | 8.9% |
| Three legs | 1 in 8 (12.5%) | 6.96 (+596) | $69.58 | 13.0% |
| Four legs | 1 in 16 (6.3%) | 13.28 (+1228) | $132.83 | 17.0% |
| Five legs | 1 in 32 (3.1%) | 25.36 (+2436) | $253.59 | 20.8% |
| Six legs | 1 in 64 (1.6%) | 48.41 (+4741) | $484.13 | 24.4% |
| Eight legs | 1 in 256 (0.39%) | 176.45 (+17545) | $1,764.46 | 31.1% |
| Ten legs | 1 in 1,024 (0.10%) | 643.08 (+64208) | $6,430.82 | 37.2% |
Each leg: a fair coin flip at −110 (1.91). Book's share: average part of each stake kept. Payouts unrounded; PROLINE in store rounds to the nearest ten cents.
Single bet vs parlay
Single bet
- One outcome, one price.
- Book's share is the margin of one market.
- A void single refunds the stake on PROLINE.
- Smaller payouts, smaller swings.
Parlay
- Several outcomes on one ticket, odds multiplied.
- All legs must win; one loss ends the bet.
- Book's share grows: 8.9% at two legs, 24.4% at six.
- A void leg is removed and nothing is refunded, except in a stand-alone SGP.
- At even prices, four legs win about 1 in 16.
Parlay terms
- Leg
- One outcome inside a parlay, for example one team to win one game.
- Parlay odds
- The decimal odds of all legs multiplied together. Check any ticket with the parlay calculator.
- Same game parlay
- A parlay in which every leg relates to the same event.
- Void leg
- A leg declared void, for example a game cancelled and not rescheduled. The parlay continues on the other legs; a stand-alone same game parlay is voided and refunded instead.
- Book's share
- The average part of each stake the operator keeps, built from the margin on every leg. See the margin calculator.
- Round robin
- Several smaller parlays built from one set of picks. See the round robin calculator.
- System bet
- A fixed set of parlays, such as Trixie or Yankee. See PROLINE system bets.
Sources
- olg.ca /en/proline/proline-game-conditions.html · checked Oct 27, 2026
- prolinekb.powerappsportals.com /en-ca/article/KA-02650 · checked Oct 27, 2026
Questions
What does parlay mean?
A parlay is one bet that links two or more outcomes. The odds multiply, so the payout is larger, but every leg must win or the whole bet loses.
What is a same game parlay?
A parlay where all legs come from one game, for example a team to win and the game total. On PROLINE, an SGP inside a bigger parlay counts as one selection.
Do parlays cost more than single bets?
On average, yes, because the margin of every leg multiplies. At −110 per leg, the book's share is 8.9% for two legs and 20.8% for five.
Why do parlays lose so often?
Each leg is one more way to lose. At even prices a four-leg parlay has a fair chance of 1 in 16, and the price pays less than fair. The simulator above shows this over many tickets.
What happens to a parlay if one leg is void?
On PROLINE, a three-leg parlay at −110 with one void leg is settled as a two-leg parlay: if both other legs win it pays about $36.45 on $10.00 (unrounded); if either loses, it pays nothing. A stand-alone SGP is voided and refunded instead.