What Is a Reverse Bet – How To Use Them And Best Uses
When you are first diving into the more unique sports bets, you may notice a reverse bet. You may completely ignore it because, to be honest with you, a reverse bet is ridiculously difficult to understand. However, it is good to start learning how to wrap your head around them. When used properly, a reverse bet can deliver some pretty decent returns.
Luckily, you have us. We are gambling experts. We are going to tell you everything that you really need to know about reverse bets.
What Is a Reverse Bet?
A reverse bet is a slightly different form of an if bet.
As you may know, an if bet is a series of linked bets. Each subsequent part of the bet is only triggered when the previous condition is met. For example, you could have these on an if bet:
- Liverpool to beat Manchester United
- Arsenal to beat Manchester City
So, if Liverpool beat Manchester United, the second part of the bet would trigger.
If Liverpool fails to beat Manchester United, then it doesn't matter if Arsenal beat Manchester City. The bet is over. You don't win.
If the first selection wins, then your initial stake is rolled over into the second bet.
However, you get to keep the winnings from the winning first bet. It is similar to a parlay but, as long as you win the very first bet in the list, you are guaranteed to walk away with something.
A reverse bet is very much a variant of this. Rather than having one pre-set order that the bets can come through in, a reverse bet is essentially several different if bets rolled into one.
This means that the results can come in at any order. You don't select an order. This gives a greater chance for winning some cash but, as we are about to show you, placing these bets can end up getting pretty expensive.
Yes. We know that this may sound a little bit confusing. Don't worry. Everybody gets confused by reverse bets the first time that they place them.
This is the sort of thing that you will probably want to have a play about with on your selected sportsbook (check out our lists for a couple of suggestions), and this will give you a pretty decent overview of how a reverse bet actually works.
How Does a Reverse Bet Work?
When you place a reverse bet, you will choose multiple selections, as you would with an if bet. You can have as many selections as you want. However, there is a major difference between an if bet and a reverse bet.
With an if bet, you only have one stake. With a reverse bet, you have one stake for every potential if bets that can exist on that reverse. The more lines you have, the more you must stake.
For example, if you have 3 lines, there are 6 potential if bets there. If you have 4 lines, there are 12 combos.
Don't worry, you aren't going to need to work this out yourself.
The sportsbook will tell you exactly how much you need to stake when you place your reverse bet.
Remember, you will be placing more on a reverse bet than you would with an if bet, but this means that the chances of winning are going to be much higher. How much cash you can make from your bet will be dependent on the order that the reverse bet triggers in.
After that, the bet works very similar to an if bet.
Once one of the other lines has been won, the bet opens up for another betting line on the reverse to trigger.
However, the second line (just like the first) is not set in stone. Whatever line triggers first will become the second part of the stake. This will continue until you have won all the bets, or there is no way to win/lose any more of the betting lines.
What Is a Win Reverse Bet and An Action Reverse Bet?
You will notice that there are two types of reverse bet available; a win reverse and an action reverse. They both work in the way that we described before, but the risk is slightly different:
- With a win reverse bet, the betting line that you select must be a winner i.e. if you bet on a team to win the game, they must win.
- With an action reverse, you are betting on that team winning, drawing, or the game being canceled.
Basically, a win reverse will carry much more risk, but this is going to deliver much higher returns for gamblers. An action reverse is easier to win, but the odds are not going to be as great.
How Do You Place a Reverse Bet?
This will be dependent on the sportsbook that you are using. A good sportsbook will have an FAQ that will walk you through the process. In almost all cases, you will just need to add the bets that you want in the reverse bet to your betting slip. There will then be a small box that you can tap that will allow you to turn it into a reverse bet.
It is worth noting that not every sportsbook will offer reverse bets. We suppose that some sportsbooks really don't want to confuse their punters and will stick to the easier-to-understand bets. However, don't fret. If your selected sportsbook doesn't offer reverse bets, it shouldn't be too tricky to find a sportsbook that does.
What Is a Reserve Bet – Pros ; Cons
By now, you should have a pretty solid idea of what a reverse bet is. Although, this really is the type of bet that you need to try out yourself. It will show you how the potential winning combinations can work. It will show you how much you need to bet, etc. It will show you just how easy it can be to win one of these bets.
Still, we want to run you through the pros and cons of a reverse bet. This way, you will know whether this type of gambling is right for you.
Pros of a Reverse Bet
A reverse bet is going to be considerably easier to win than an if bet or a parlay. Sure, the odds are going to be much lower on a reverse bet, but you stand a much bigger chance of walking away with something.
A reverse bet will often be placed by those who don't really feel as if they want to take a risk on a full parlay, but they want slightly better odds than a moneyline.
Cons of a Reverse Bet
The major issue with a reverse bet is that you are going to be staking quite a bit of cash. Remember, with an if bet or a parlay, there is a single stake. With a reverse bet, the number of stakes will be based on the number of bets that you place. This means that you are putting more cash on the line, and if you lose a sizeable number of your bets, you could end up losing more cash with a reverse than with an if.
Summary
Reverse bets are difficult to understand when you read about them. We encourage you to try a couple out on your favorite sportsbook. It is a great way to get introduced to parlay bets without the huge risk that a parlay bet often has.