10/09/25
October 09, 2025
For the Love of God Stop Betting Parlays: With sports betting now legal in 38 states and D.C., Americans are losing billions of dollars on parlays. "Wagering is entertainment, not income generation," says an executive at FanDuel, which generates two-thirds of its income on these high juice, multi-leg, low-odds wagers.
I unexpectedly got $100 in free bets on Fanatics when I bought some NFL merch, and every once in a while I'll throw $10 on the longest parlay I can find, just for the hell of it. If it wasn't free money, though, I doubt I would even know the site existed.
posted by The_Black_Hand at 11:32 AM on October 09, 2025
When I was in the casino biz, I would make one parlay every week. My brother and I would each put in $5, and we'd bet the winner of the Monday Night Football game and the over/under, just to keep us engaged. Even that simple 2-leg parlay was a consistent loser; I think we won maybe 20% of the time.
posted by tahoemoj at 12:46 PM on October 09, 2025
With my background in engineering and the associated mathematics, I once felt that I could correctly calculate my probability of winning and the amount of profit. Parlay betting is much more complicated. It's no longer a matter of simple choice, like the perfecta or trifecta at the race track. Parlays in team sports are too dependent upon the action of the other players on both teams. Even a single prop bet, such as Player A scores more or less than X points, is not a good idea. The line is set by those who have a lot more to gain or lose than we do, and they have a lot more expertise and data too.
While in between jobs a few years ago, my son interviewed with FanDuel for a user research position. He was a finalist, but he didn't get the job. Now he is a senior manager for user experience research at Trip Advisor. We were talking about it recently, and he says that he is awfully glad that he has no part in anything that tries to make money from the gullibility of people.
posted by Howard_T at 04:08 PM on October 09, 2025
I was told by an old timey gambler to bet only on an underdog and only then if you feel that they will actually win the game. Also, *never ever* bet on parlays. They are nothing but sucker bets and only chumps put money on them.
When "sports wagering" arrived in NC a year or two ago, I put $100 in an account and have been playing with that money ever since then. I think I'm back up to close to that. But then again, I follow that guy's advice and hardly ever gamble.