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What's a Round Robin in Betting

Round robin is a combination of parlays. A parlay bet is a single sports bet that includes multiple individual wagers that all must win for the wager to be graded as a winner. While parlays inextricably tie multiple bets together, and every bet involved is required to win, with a round robin, you can play multiple parlays from a set of selected games. Yet, while a parlay bet is a widely used sports betting option, round robin remains slightly less popular. Keep reading to explore this wager, how it works, and its pros and cons.

What is a round robin?

Say you want to bet on the Jets, Eagles, Seahawks, and Broncos in their NFL matchups. You have three options: you can bet each game individually, combine all four into a regular parlay, or go for a round robin. Within the latter, you bet multiple smaller combinations involving your selections instead of putting them into one must-win-all wager. Round robin wagers are usually two-team parlay bets with anywhere from 3 to 10 teams mixed in. When you combine multiple teams in a round robin parlay, you do it on one ticket, but each parlay comes as an individual bet. The name of this bet comes from round robin tournaments. Each team in such a tournament plays against each other at least once, an equal number of times.

How does round robin work?

So if you want to parlay Jets, Eagles, Seahawks, and Broncos bets but don't fancy the all-or-nothing nature of a four-team parlay, a round robin will be a great way to group smaller parlays from those four bets. In this case, it will generate the following six possibilities of two-leg parlays: Jets + Eagles, Jets + Seahawks, Jets + Broncos, Eagles + Seahawks, Eagles + Broncos, and Seahawks + Broncos. In a regular four-leg parlay, you get nothing unless all four bets win. With a round robin, you get some of your money back if at least two of the bets win. Besides a two-leg parlay option, you can also put your four bets into three-leg parlays. In our example, these would be Jets + Eagles + Seahawks, Jets + Seahawks + Broncos, and Eagles + Seahawks + Broncos, and at least three bets would have to win to get money from it. Round robin is like a group play in the World Cup or the preliminary round of basketball or hockey at the Olympics, every team in a group plays every other team in its group once.

There are two betting strategies in round robin: a number of ways, and each way. In the former, the most popular option, the bets are dispersed into different-sized events. For example, a two-event round robin that includes the Diamondbacks, Cubs, and Brewers comes in three parlays: Diamondbacks + Cubs, Diamondbacks + Brewers, and Cubs + Brewers. There are several ways to win based on the event size. Alternatively, punters can choose an each-way bet that comprises a bet to win and a bet to place. This strategy is commonly used in horse racing.

Pros and cons of a round robin

For starters, round robin betting involves less risk than a traditional parlay. Round robin bets are an excellent hedging strategy, allowing you to minimize risk with a high potential payout. The payouts associated with round robin bets may be smaller than if one big parlay hits, but with round robin, you don't have to stress about your parlay failing if you mispredict the outcome of one of the events. Many bettors choose round robin betting because, unlike many other betting options, it's pretty realistic you win many of your bets. So, this option may be an excellent idea if you want to spread your bets while also improving your odds.

While single bets and parlays are simple to understand, tackling round robins may be confusing. Moreover, even if each leg of your round robin is a winner, your payout will still be lower than it would have been if you had parlayed those events as one. All in all, round robin means less risk and less potential payout. It's the bettors' job to determine what's best for them.