Round Robin Betting Strategy

Round Robin

❓What is a round robin bet?
🔍How to calculate round robin odds?
📊Benefits of round robin bets
💡Round robin strategies

Round robin betting isn’t the most discussed type of sports gambling, nor is it the most popular. Complex and perhaps daunting for some bettors, it’s vital you fully understand the ins and outs of round robin betting before exploring your options.

Like with any bet type, there are pros and cons aplenty with round robins. It’s not going to be for everyone, and it’s not always the best way to go, but there are sizeable returns to be made if you successfully nail your round robin betting strategy.

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What is a round robin bet?

A round robin is simply several smaller parlays combined in a longer list of bets. Unsurprisingly, the name comes from a round robin tournament, where every competitor faces each other.

When you’re browsing on your favorite online sportsbook, how a round robin is presented will vary a little. Once you have selected multiple bets, the sportsbook will show you the different parlay options available.

For instance, if you have made 11 picks, there will be 2,036 combinations. There are simpler ways to do this, of course. If you pick four teams, there will be much fewer combinations available. From here, you can choose to place a small wager on each double, each treble, and the overall four-team parlay.

Creating a round robin means you can still win a parlay (or parlays) even if one of your picks falls short. Additional stakes are required for this, but there is major upside if you nail a high proportion of your selections.

Some people might find it easiest to understand by viewing a round robin as parlay insurance.

If you’ve got three picks you want to put in a treble, you choose to split that into three doubles instead. This would see wagers with picks A and B, B and C, and A and C. Obviously, the combined winnings from these bets would be lower than the treble, but it would ensure you cashed a bet if you fell short by one leg.

The terminology used for round robins will vary between sportsbooks and betting sites. Trixies, for instance, is a round robin with three selections. A patent also has three selections but includes the singles to take you to four total bets.

Additionally, you might see these terms used on sites like DraftKings and FanDuel:

Yankee (11 bets)
Lucky 15
Canadian (26 bets)
Lucky 31
Heinz (57 bets)
Lucky 63
Super Heinz (120 bets)
Lucky 127

A Canadian becomes a Lucky 31 and a Heinz becomes a Lucky 63 when the singles are included in the round robin.

How to calculate the odds for a round robin?

It’s easy enough to work out the potential returns for a round robin bet depending on the winning selections. This can help you to understand if you are really getting value by doing a round robin, while making it clear which combinations are most important to keep an eye out for.

Alternatively (and this is what we’d recommend), you can use a round robin betting calculator. This saves you a lot of time, particularly if you’re looking at going beyond three or four picks.

What are the benefits of a round robin bet?

Lower risk is the biggest benefit to a round robin bet. Bettors need to stump up larger stakes to have a chance at the same return, but a round robin bet is not an all-or-nothing scenario.

The more selections involved; the more investment is required due to the rapid increase in the number of combinations. Like any form of gambling, round robins are not a sure-fire method for success. It might mitigate some of the risks with normal parlays, but these are still parlay wagers, which are generally not the most efficient way to wager on sports.

The downside to round robin betting is how quickly the cost can escalate. A six-team round robin carries 35 total parlays even if you only use the two-team and three-team parlays. This jumps to over 56 total parlays if you opt to include the four-team and five-team alternatives. The total stakes can get out of hand if you aren’t careful – bettors need to be ruthless with the selections they include when crafting a round robin.

Round robin betting strategies

First and foremost, you need to decide whether to go with full or limited coverage. Full means backing every possible parlay for your selections. The costs are high with this option. Limited coverage means picking and choosing which parlays to back. This manages your total stakes for the round robin, but it leaves you vulnerable to frustratingly missing out on a parlay you could have backed.

it is vital you thoroughly research your bets before committing to them

How you approach a round robin will be defined by whether you go for full or limited coverage. In general, we would recommend going with full coverage, given that it provides all the benefits of round robin betting. If you’re considering limited coverage, it might be best to go with a different bet type.

As ever, it is vital you thoroughly research your bets before committing to them. While there are multiple selections involved with a round robin, this should not mean you slack on your research. Be cutthroat with the selections you include, as one ill-informed pick could elevate the stakes required significantly.
Given the way round robin bets control the overall risk with parlays, we would use this as an opportunity to include a few underdog wagers or longshot bets. If you’ve got a couple of favorites in there, taking an underdog that you fancy as a value bet could prove to be extremely lucrative. If the underdog doesn’t pay off, you should still have winnings from parlays they were not included in.
Be open-minded with your round robin wagers, too. The beauty of a round robin is how it allows you to combine pretty much whatever you want. Don’t be afraid to mix up different markets, leagues, and sports. Chuck an NBA Finals game in with an MLB player prop. Pair an NHL underdog moneyline with a couple of NFL predictions.

The general principles of round robin betting are similar to standards parlays. There is, of course, that bit more to think about, so take some time to decide if this bet type is the right thing for you.