As well as straight bets on totals and spreads, parlays and teasers there are other types of bets that online sports bettors enjoy making, and one of these are ‘if’ bets and here we’ll take a look they work, how they are placed, and give examples, however don’t be too concerned if you don’t quite get them at first as many players find that they’re easier to understand when actually placing the wager and then looking at the results of the wager. All good sportsbooks such as 5 Dimes will offer these types of wagers, however having a basic understanding of how ‘if’ bets work before you dive in is never a bad idea.
‘If’ Bets Explained
If bets may be a tad confusing at first and you’ll find a few different explanations of them, however the best way is to try to think of them as having a bet that means in order to have action on your next selection then your previous selection must have won. If bets are a list of straight bets and only when the first team wins do you have action on the second, and should your first bet lose, the whole bet is lost. In some ways ‘If’ bets are similar to parlays, however there is no accumulation of odds and winnings, and here is an example.
Keeping things simple we’ll use a 2 team ‘if’ bet as an example. Let’s imagine 2 games that you like the look of, for arguments sake let’s the Dolphins at Seahawks and Giants at the Titans, meaning that you are placing a $10 ‘if’ bet on the Dolphins and the Giants. In this example you have placed the Dolphins first on the list and therefore they must win for you to have any action on the second bet which is the Giants. Should the Dolphins lose or tie, you lose the whole bet, should they win then you have action on the Giants. As you can see everything depends on which team you place first on your list and if your first pick does not win then the all action is over. If both the Dolphins and the Giants win, then you have won your ‘if’ bet. One thing not to be confused by is that kick off times do not matter, what matters is the order in which you place your picks on the ‘if’ bet list and this is extremely important.
Another point to note is that the ‘if’ bet will only cost you $10 (in the above example) and you will win nothing unless all teams on your ‘if’ bet win. As you can see, ‘if’ bets are similar to parlays with the big difference being that the odds are not accumulated, and they are great for bettors who want a whole day of wagering action for a small layout. You may also buy points on ‘if’ bets making them even more of an attractive option, and as mentioned earlier, the best way to fully understand ‘if’ bets is to go ahead and place a few.
