A round robin bet is a set of smaller parlays created from a more extensive list of teams you pick. While following a similar concept to a parlay, this wager allows players to make a profit even if only some of their parlay bets cover, making this a unique and fun way to wager.
In this guide, we introduce you to the ins and outs of round robin betting, how these bets work, how to place them, their pros and cons, and several tips for placing these wagers.
What is a Round Robin Bet?
Round robin bets see bettors putting together a set of smaller two-team or player parlays from a list of athletes or teams. Bettors pick their teams or athletes, and the online sportsbook automatically sets up the parlays. This is handy because there can be hundreds of combinations depending on the number of teams you choose.
These wagers allow players to bet on every possible combination and, as a result, are often likened to a hedge bet, but they differ in that here, players only pick the teams they predict will win.
How Do Round Robin Bets Work?
Round robin bets require bettors to select at least three wagers on teams or athletes. These are then combined into a series of smaller two-team parlays. The concept here is much the same as a round robin tournament, where every team plays every other participating team. In this case, each team pairs up with every other team to create a small parlay.
Essentially a round robin functions as a parlay within a parlay, as you set up multiple two-team parlays in the hopes that at least one of these selections wins. While these wagers combine parlays, they differ from a parlay bet as each individual bet is regarded as a parlay, rather than the bet as a whole. In other words, you can still earn off a bet, even if one of your round robin teams doesn’t win; it will just be less of a profit. But keep in mind, you pay for each parlay in a round robin separately.
Now that we have the basics covered let’s look at an example.
Round Robin Bet Example
The simplest round robin bet a bettor can wager is three picks, so let’s look at this as our example.
- Team A
- Team B
- Team C
These three picks would be split into three two-team parlays, each with an independent chance to win:
- Parlay 1: Team A, Team B
- Parlay 2: Team A, Team C
- Parlay 3: Team B, Team C
Although there is a bet for each of these parlays, not all have to win for you to make a profit. For example, if each team had odds of -110, and we wagered $5 per parlay, the total amount wagered would be $15, and the maximum profit on these three bets (if they all won) would be $39.67.
Round robin betting is most lucrative when there is a large selection of games to bet on. As a result, the best time for new and recreational bettors to place one of these wagers is when there is a vast lineup, like on an NFL Sunday.
When more selections are available, you have greater variety and more chances for random pairings. Using a round robin wager, you don’t run the risk of your three-team parlay folding because one team loses. Instead, you can pick the majority of the winning teams correctly and still have a team lose and make a profit, unlike a straight parlay which would lose your entire stake if one team loses.
Types of Round Robin Bets
Now that we have answered the question, how do round robin bets work? It is important also to note that these bets can range from three team picks right up to 10 teams, and the more teams (or athletes) you choose, the more combinations you end up with.
Below, we look at some of the most common team picks bettors opt for when using round robins for sports betting.
Three-Team Round Robin Sports Betting
This is the simplest of the wagers a bettor can place when round robin betting. Here, a bettor chooses three teams. For instance, if you check out the example below, we chose three NBA teams, the Golden State Warriors, the New York Knicks, and the Phoenix Suns.
Once you have selected your three teams, head over to the betting slip, and select the Round Robin (RR) option. The calculator on the sportsbook then generates three parlays of two teams.
Since we set our bet amount to $10, it shows for all three individual parlays, we wager $10 each, making our total bet $30. The bet slip also shows our maximum payout should all three of our parlays win, which in this instance would be $78.
Four-Team Round Robin Betting
If we were to add another team to our selection of picks, that would leave us with six two-team parlays:
- Team A and Team B
- Team A and Team C
- Team A and Team D
- Team B and Team C
- Team B and Team D
- Team C and Team D
We added the Denver Nuggets to our selection shown in the example below, which increased our wager to six individual bets, and because we wagered $10 per bet, our total wager came to $60, with our potential payout sitting at $156.
Five-Team Round Robin Bet
If we were to add another team to our picks to create a five-team round robin wager, the sportsbook would generate 10 bets of two-teams each.
- Team A and Team B
- Team A and Team C
- Team A and Team D
- Team A and Team E
- Team B and Team C
- Team B and Team D
- Team B and Team E
- Team C and Team D
- Team C and Team E
- Team D and Team E
In our example below, we added the Boston Celtics to our picks to create a five-team round robin. As you can see on the bet slip, we kept our wager of $10, which means we ultimately put down $100. Our potential payout was then increased to $260.
Handy Tip:
It is important to note here that while adding more picks increases your potential payout, it also becomes costly, and if not all your teams win, you may end up working at a loss. As a result, we recommend keeping your first bets small (three or four picks) until you get the hang of things.
Trixies and Patents
Sometimes a sportsbook will use a nickname for a particular round robin bet. Generally, these names are borrowed from horse racing. The first one is a Trixie. A Trixie is four total wagers:
- 3 x two-team parlays
- 1 x three-team parlay
A Patent is similar to a Trixie in that it also has these bets, but it also includes three single wagers, making up seven bets in total:
- 3 x two-team parlays
- 1 x three-team parlay
- 3 x single wagers
Additional Round Robin Bets
Besides Trixies and Patents, there are several other combinations of round robins bets bettors can make. Some of these include:
- Yankee (11 bets)
- Lucky 15 (15 bets)
- Canadian (26 bets)
- Lucky 31 (31 bets)
- Heinz (57 bets)
- Lucky 63 (63 bets)
- Super Heinz (120 bets)
- Lucky 127 (127 bets)
When bettors choose five games for a round robin wager, they can create 26 different parlays, which make up a Canadian:
- 10 x two-team parlays
- 10 x three-team parlays
- five x four-team parlays
- one x five-team parlays.
In contrast, when a bettor picks six teams, 57 parlay options become available, and this is referred to as a Heinz.
Handy Tip:
Bettors can add single bets to these parlays (like how you would convert a Trixie to a Patent), and doing this can transform a Canadian into a Lucky 31 or a Heinz into a Lucky 63.
How to Round Robin Bet
Before bettors can place a round robin bet, they must first sign up with a sportsbook, claim a bonus, and deposit funds into their accounts. Luckily, this process is quick and easy when using the best offshore sportsbooks, and we take you through it in a few short steps so you can get to placing your wagers. Here, we use Bookmaker.eu as an example, but the steps are relatively the same for most sportsbooks.
Step One – Register with BetOnline
Search for and then open the Bookmaker website and click the green “Join” button. Next, add your details on the registration form that opens, and choose a username and password. Then, click “Create Account.”
Step Two – Get Verified
Once you’ve registered your account, Bookmaker will email a verification link to you, which you must click to activate your new profile. Once you’ve done this, use your new credentials to sign back into Bookmaker and access your account.
Step Three – Make Your First Deposit
Next, it’s time to fund your account. So, click the blue “Banking” button on the homepage. Then, choose your payment method from the dropdown menu, and add the amount you wish to deposit. Next, type your Bookmaker promo code in the box provided to claim your welcome bonus (this is one step you don’t want to miss). Finally, click “Deposit Now” and follow the prompts to complete your payment.
Step Four – Choose Your Sport
Click on the “Sports” tab on the Bookmaker homepage. Then, select the sport you want to place your round robin bets on, for example, basketball. Next, from the options available for this sport, select the league and matchs you want to put your money on. Now is also when you will decide how many picks you want to make, but remember it must be three or more.
Step Five – Place Your Wager
Once you have selected the games, click on the round robin button on your betslip to populate it with the relevant combinations. Next, type in the amount you wish to put down on your bet slip. Then, click “place bet,” and you’re done!
Round Robin Betting Strategy
While round robin betting takes some getting used to, there are several tips and strategies bettors can put in place to help them along the way. Below, we discuss our top tips for placing round robin wagers that we thought you might find helpful.
Tip One: Start Small
If you are new to round robin sports betting, we recommend starting off small. Since the more teams you pick, the more you have to stake, the trickier it becomes to follow what is going on. As a result, we suggest starting off slowly by picking the lowest number of teams possible (three) and focusing on those games you know you have a good chance of accurately predicting the outcome. Once you have the hang of things, you can move on to more diverse parlays.
Tip Two: Find Value in the Unerdogs
One way to place a lucrative round robin bet is to look for one or two underdog teams that stand a good chance of winning their games and placing a moneyline wager for those teams. These moneylines are added to the round robin parlay and, if they win, will provide a much greater payout. If both these teams win and you have them in a two-game parlay, you will earn the most significant payout possible.
Tip Three: Stick to Minimal Wager Values
Remember, when you wager a round robin, the amount you place as a bet is the base number, which the sportsbook then applies to the number of the combinations chosen. So, if you opt for a $35 wager and then pick five teams that create 10 two-team parlays, that means your total stake will end up being $350.
Tip Four: Do Your Research
Possibly the best round robin betting strategy you could have is to research the teams and their stats before picking your bets. Doing this makes it easier to make more accurate wagers that result in more profitable round robin wagers.
Tip Five: Practice
Another top tip for round robin betting is to practice. The more you place these kinds of wagers, the quicker you will understand them and know what to look for when placing future bets. In turn, this will help you to see excellent opportunities and place those high-payout wagers more quickly.
Round Robin Sports Betting
Round robin betting applies to most sports and can be used with several betting lines like moneylines, spreads, and totals. So, whether you are a UFC fan, a hockey lover, or you’re into football, you can make this style of wagering work for you.
When visiting the best basketball betting sites to place a spread bet on the NBA, players can incorporate this into their round robin bets. The spread continues to work the same way, whereby the bettor minimizes the margin of error by picking the team within the spread; they predict they will stay within the given handicap.
Bettors heading to the best NHL betting sites to wager on hockey may want to place a straight-up moneyline, where the team they bet on must win the match outright for the bettor’s selection to be classified as a win.
In contrast, soccer betting sites offer a three-way money line for these events, which doesn’t work as well when round robin betting. However, Asian handicaps offer a far better option for those looking to place round robin bets on soccer matches.
How Do You Win a Round Robin Bet?
To win their round robin bets, bettors much select at least two accurate outcomes or win all of their bets. Additionally, say a bettor picks three teams, if all of these teams win their games, the payouts for a round robin would be far more substantial than that for a singe three-team parlay.
Understanding how round robin sports betting payouts work can be challenging. So, let’s go back to our original example of three teams and break down each individual bet to see how these payouts work. Let’s say for these three teams, the odds are set at -110, and we place a $5 wager on each combination. By looking at the table below, we can see how the payouts are calculated in an instance where a bettor wins all three picks.
| Parlay Wager | Result | Risk | Parlay Odds | Potential Payout |
| Team A + Team B | Win | $5.00 | 264 | $13.22 |
| Team A + Team C | Win | $5.00 | 264 | $13.22 |
| Team B + Team C | Win | $5.00 | 264 | $13.22 |
| Total Payout: | $39.66 |
But what happens in an instance where a bettor only wins one of their picks? Let’s take a look below:
| Parlay Wager | Result | Risk | Parlay Odds | Potential Payout |
| Team A + Team B | Loss | $5.00 | 264 | $0.00 |
| Team A + Team C | Loss | $5.00 | 264 | $0.00 |
| Team B + Team C | Win | $5.00 | 264 | $13.22 |
| Total Payout: | $13.22 |
Round Robin Betting – Will it Work for Me?
While round robin sports betting can be useful for some, it may not work for others. For bettors who wager recreationally, the round robin offers a much more lucrative alternative to a long-shot parlay or a teaser.
In contrast, pro bettors may not find round robin betting as useful as parlays, and similar bets like these come with a negative expected value. In other words, bettors are likely to lose more than they win, which, if you are using betting to gain an income, is not ideal.
Round Robin Betting – The Pros and Cons
Although round robin betting has its positives, there are some negatives to this style of wagering too. Below, we look at the pros and cons of round robin bets.
Pros:
- It can be used with ATS or AH selections to minimize the margin of error.
- Chances of losing are less
- Bettors can use these bets with hedge bets to secure a profit
- Offers more significant payouts
Cons:
- Requires bettors to have a large bankroll
- These wagers are often challenging to track and manage
- Round robin options are often limited by sportsbooks
Which Site Offers the Best Round Robin Bets?
Placing a round robin bet correctly can be lucrative and exciting for bettors, particularly for those who wager recreationally. Unlike a straight-up parlay, these bets offer bettors the chance to make a profit, even if all legs of their wager don’t cover, and in instances where all bets to win, the payout is often greater than that of a regular parlay bet.
While sports bettors in the US and globally have several sportsbooks to visit that offer round robin betting, our top recommendation is BetOnline. In addition to offering some of the most competitive odds, the sportsbook offers over 35 sports markets and a range of betting lines, making round robin wagering even more exciting.