European Sports Betting
odds  |  multiple bets
pools and totes  |  Asian handicaps

North American Sports Betting
point spread wagers  |  money line wagers (odds)
total score (over-under)  |  parlays (multiples)
teasers  |  if bets

If Bets - Sports Betting

This section of the Sports Gambling Tutorial on Sports Betting provides an explanation of if bets in sports betting.  If bets are used by many sports bettors as a method of money management.  Like a parlay bet, an if bet links together 2 or more individual sports bets.  Unlike a parlay bet, an if bet is not an all-or-nothing wager - the individual sports bets remain individual bets and pay at the listed money line if they win.

For example, let's concentrate on an if bet that contains just two sports wagers.  You bet on a team or total score.  If that sports bet wins, then the second bet that you chose will automatically be placed.  You should therefore always list the sports bet you are most confident about first.  If your initial bet loses, then the second sports wager is not placed.

The status of the linked sports bets has nothing to do with the games' starting times or what order they are played; it is strictly a logical relation.  Even if the first game in your 'if bet' is played hours after the second one, the status of the second sports bet must wait for the first game's results. The amount of the total sports wager is collected at the time you place the entire bet sequence.  All individual sports bets that comprise the 'if bet' must be for the same amount.  You can only bet the same or less on the following sports wager.

The advantage of playing an 'if bet' is that it reduces your exposure to losses.  Since the second sports wager is placed only if you win, the maximum amount that you can lose is the amount of the first wager.  If the first sports wager wins, then the original stake is used to place the second wager and so on.  'If bets' can generally contain up to 6 individual sports bets, and the process just described continues for each one.  If at any time an individual bet loses, then the remaining sports wagers will not be placed.

Sports bettors have an option for choosing the conditions of an if bet - "single action" or "double action."  Single action specifies that the remaining sports bets in the sequence will only be placed if the preceding bet wins.  If the preceding bet is a "push" or is cancelled for any other reason, then the remaining sports bets will not be placed.  Double action specifies that the remaining bets in the sequence will be placed if the preceding sports bet wins, results in a "push" or is cancelled for any other reason.  In other words, "double action" means that the remaining sports bets in the sequence will not be placed only if the preceding bet loses.

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