With the start of a new football season right around the corner, this is a great time of the year for avid sports bettors to put together a winning formula to create a solid return on investment wagering on the games. One exotic wager that most of the top online sportsbooks offer that can help you achieve this goal is the “If-Bet”.
The basic premise behind an if bet is a grouping of separate wagers that are dependent on the outcome of each preceding bet. Unlike a parlay where you have to win all of the combined games to cash in, an if bet allows you to make one bet contingent on the other to keep the action alive. If you win the first game, then the second game remains in play. If you lose your first game, then there is no more action with that particular if bet.
To help clarify things, here is an example of a possible if bet for a typical Sunday of action in the NFL. Let’s assume that you have found three games that you would like to string together in an if bet. First, you take the Giants minus four points against the Cowboys at 1 p.m. Next you have the Bears plus five points against the Packers at 4 p.m. and you complete your if bet with the Sunday night game between New England and Buffalo with a play on the Patriots minus seven points. You decide to wager $100 on each game.
If the Giants cover against Dallas you win $100 and the next two games remain in play. If the Giants lose or fail to cover in that first game, there is no more action with this if bet. If the Giants cover and the Bears go on to cover against Green Bay, then you are up $200 and the if bet continues to the Sunday night’s game. If the Bears fail to cover after the Giants have won, you are now down $10 and the if bet is considered over. If you happen to win all three games, then your net profit for the day is $300. A tie (PUSH) in any one game of an if bet still keeps it alive.
The big advantage to playing if bets is proper money management. They lower your risk when you lose and they keep the action alive when you win. This is a great way to create betting action all day long while preserving your overall betting bankroll at the same time. This is ideal for bettors who are on a limited budget and it also keeps you from digging yourself into a deeper hole when things just are not going your way.
Another advantage to an if bet is that the games involved can be played in any order you choose and they are not dictated by a starting time. This allows you to use your level of confidence in your picks to dictate the order of each game included in your if bet. Going back to the example above, if you love New England over the Bills then you might want to play that game first. The worst thing that can happen with an if bet is that you lose your first game and then go on to win your next two or three picks. You should always stack your bets from your most confident pick down to your least confident one. This will give you the best possible chance to create a positive return for the day.
