What Is a Round Robin Bet? Full Guide to How Round Robin Betting Works

How Does Round Robin Betting Work?

When round robin betting, you are breaking one big parlay into a set of smaller parlays. Thereby reducing the risk - you can still get a payout if one or more of your selections misses - but also reducing the odds offered (in comparison to a straight parlay) if they all come in.

For example, if you pick the Ravens, Texans, and Eagles and select “By 2’s”, the round robin works its magic and produces the three possible 2-leg parlay combinations from your selection: 

1. Ravens + Texans

2. Texans + Eagles

3. Eagles + Ravens

Each of these three combinations has its own bet.

Your stake will be multiplied by the number of combinations. So, if you were to bet $2 on each combination and had three of them, your stake would be $6. As the bet has been broken into three separate ‘legs’ you can get paid on each of them.

So if the Ravens lose – striking out legs one and three in our example – you still have a chance to get paid on the middle ‘Texans + Eagles’ leg if those teams win. 

In a straight ‘Ravens + Texans + Eagles’ parlay, a loss by the Ravens would wipe out the whole bet.

You can mix up the bets in your round robins. One way to do this is to include different types of bets, such as moneylines and props in your round robin. Another way is to include different sizes. Back to our example, you could add:

Ravens + Texans + Eagles

Adding this full “By 3” parlay will increase your stake to $8, and you’ll get paid on all four bets for a massive payout, but we’re back in the territory of one loss knocking out the whole bet which kind of negates the point of a round robin! 

One restriction to be aware of when placing your round robin bets: you can’t use picks from the same game in a round robin, so you can’t bet on sides, totals, or props on teams that are facing each other.

There is always a cap to the number of picks a round robin can have, some sportsbooks set this at 8 or 10,  and the highest I’ve seen is 16. Bear in mind that if you bet $5 by 5’s on a 16 pick round robin, you would generate 4,368 individual parlays and your total stake will be $21,840!

Round Robin Betting in Football

Round robins are a great way to get the most out of betting on the greatest sport in the world. It is a way to cover risky bets and try to maximize payouts.

You can use a round robin to bet on the following:

• Moneylines: Betting on the winning team

• Point spreads: Picking the correct score margins between teams

• Totals (Over/Under): Wagering on the combined score

• Player props: Betting on an individual's stats (yards/touchdowns for a specific player, etc)

• Team props: Placing bets on a team’s stats (total touchdowns/tackles for the team, etc)

Here is an example scenario parlay and why it might be better to use a round robin instead:

Parlay

1. Eagles to cover -3 vs. Giants

2. Chiefs to win (moneyline) vs. Raiders

3. 49ers to cover -6 vs. Seahawks

As we’ve seen, if you combine all these bets into one 3-leg parlay and one of your picks lost, the whole bet would become worthless. This is why a round robin would be useful. Let’s see how a round robin could turn things around:

1. Eagles -3 + Chiefs ML

2. Eagles -3 + 49ers - 6

3. Chiefs ML + 49ers -6

Using a “by 2’s” round robin automatically creates 2-leg parlays from your picks. If the Eagles and Chiefs win, but the 49ers lose, your ‘Eagles -3 + Chiefs ML’ has still come to fruition. Congratulations! You’ve still won one parlay on your round robin (hopefully covering your whole stake, and generating a small profit) instead of losing everything as in our Parlay example above. 

Fancy placing a few picks into a round robin bet this season? Why not check out our review of the best NFL sportsbooks, which will help you decide which NFL sports betting site is right for you.

How to Place a Round Robin Bet at Sportsbooks

Most sportsbooks will allow you to mix your bets into a round robin, but they will have different ways to do so. Let’s take a look at how two of the biggest sports betting sites, FanDuel and BetMGM, let you place round robin bets.

Round Robin Betting at FanDuel

At FanDuel, you can place a round robin by adding three or more picks on your betslip and then heading to the ‘Round Robin’ tab. This will prompt a pop-up menu with your round robin options. Different options will appear depending on how many teams you have added.

• “By 2” relates to the betting parlays with that many teams.

• “x6 wagers” are six different combinations, meaning you will be betting on six parlays.

• Your wager will be multiplied by how many parlays you have, so if you bet $5 in the 2’s x 6 section, you’ll be staking on six parlays for $30.

• The winnings shown are what would happen if all the bets won. In a scenario where some win and some will lose, you won’t get the total amount (but you’ll still get something).

• Odds are an aggregate of all potential winning combos, meaning that different combinations equate to different outcomes.

Round Robin Betting at BetMGM

Using a round robin at BetMGM follows a similar process to the one at FanDuel.

Add each of your selections to your betting slip by clicking the odds on each pick. Then, you need to open your betting slip and select the ‘Round Robin’ option, which will appear after you’ve selected three or more picks.

Next, you will have to choose the size of your round robin, enter your stake, and confirm your bet. That’s it! BetMGM has made putting down a round robin a cakewalk, so why not try it out for yourself?

Head to the BetMGM sportsbook review to find out more about betting at BetMGM.

Should I Bet on Round Robins?

Yes. Round robins are a great way to make some money from parlays and add some protection to your bets.

A standard parlay will have higher potential payouts, but the upside to round robin betting is a kind of insurance against an upset that would knock out a standard parlay. 

With a round robin, if one of your picks loses, you can still win on other picks you have made. Round robins are a great way to bet on multiple games at once, and eliminate one of the worst things that comes with parlay betting: when you get everything right, but one, which can be blood-boiling!

Best Round Robin Betting Strategy

The best approach when using a round robin is to utilize it strategically, which increases the likelihood of larger payouts. Here are some of my top tips when it comes to round robin betting:

1. Minimize risk by spreading out your bets. Try four or five as round robins will even payout if multiple picks are lost.

2. Group all of the strongest picks together in smaller combinations; this will mean they will be more likely to hit.

3. Mix your safe and risky picks together. Use your favorites for the ones you’re more sure of and throw in a few underdogs to try and get the biggest payout possible.

4. If you’ve got the feeling that multiple picks will go the right way, round robins can multiply your chances of hitting several at once, while insuring against that one loss that kills a big parlay.