Sportsbooks Made Bank On Parlay Bets In March: What You Should Know About The Enticing Wager

Written By Joe Boozell on May 19, 2021
parlay betting in illinois

Illinois sportsbooks profited nearly $50 million in March, an all-time monthly high. A big reason for their success? Parlay betting.

Sportsbook operators cleaned up on parlays in March, as they do most months. Illinoisans wagered $122 million on parlays then, and operators profited $21.2 million on those bets.

That was good for a hold percentage of 17.3%, which is extremely high. In total, Illinois sportsbooks held 7.9% of handle for the month, including parlays.

The publications held just 5.6 % of the total control, excluding bets. That & rsquo is a reasonable standard for individual wagers.

The main reason why Illinois also set an all-time handle record ($633.6 million) in March was due to March Madness betting. Illinoisans wagered $365.7 million on basketball that month, about triple what they bet on parlays.

However, sportsbooks made a lot more money on parlays than they did on regular sports wagers( this also applies to the NBA ).

Operators made$ 16.2 million from standard basketball wagers, which is about$ 5 million less than parlays made from three times the handle.

Was March just an exception, you may wonder?

The answer is no, as it was consistent with Illinois trends. In February, basketball was the most popular sport to bet on by handle, but parlays generated the most revenue for sportsbooks. The same was true in January.

What you need to understand about win gambling

Wagers are undoubtedly a very common form of wagering.

And it’s simple to understand why & mdash, the opportunity to win big with little financial risk. If you follow sufficient sports betting accounts on social media, you’ll probably see daily cases of sizable parlays.

Even though that is undoubtedly the best-case circumstance for the customer, keep in mind that it is not typical.

Wagers typically lose, as evidenced by the numbers below. If you’re a sports bettor, bets are the most dependable way to lose money because they are constantly Illinois sportsbooks’ most reliable source of revenue.

As long as you’re not betting more than you can afford to lose, there’s nothing inherently wrong with placing a parlay bet. It’s just good to be aware that, generally speaking, these bets are more advantageous for the operator than they are for the user.

Did bets play a role in Barstool andrsquo’s successful March in Illinois?

Barstool celebrities often encourage their social media followers to place parlay bets. If you & rsquo are betting in Illinois, you’ll frequently see & ldquo, boosts, and the likes of these:

Barstool launched in Illinois on March 11. And despite finishing second-to-last among all Illinois sportsbooks in handle, it finished fourth in revenue. Barstool registered a 12.8% hold, easily the highest clip among all books.

The reasoning is purely subjective because we don’t have the data to determine whether Barstool consumers wager more on parlays than they do at various books. The empirical data, however, is even compelling. if you keep up with their characters on social media.

Penn National Gaming also hinted at certain reasons for high Barstool hold percentages in its Q1 earnings call, citing:

  • great popularity among casual gamblers.
  • Custom parlays include the Dave Day Night Parlay and the & ldquo. & rdquo,
  • Exclusive and boosted & rdquo, as well as bets.
  • in younger bookmakers, overindexing.

As always, bet responsibly.

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Boozell, Joe

Boozell, Joe has also been a college sports writer for NCAA.com since 2015. His work has also appeared in Bleacher Report, FoxSports.com and NBA.com. Growing up, Boozell squared off against both Anthony Davis and Frank Kaminsky in the Chicagoland basketball scene … you can imagine how that went.

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