What Are If Bets and How Do They Work?

An IF Bet allows sports betters to bet on more than one match up in any given event that each wager is won. This allows the bettors to see the action on their subsequent sports bets. There is a catch to IF bets—a bettor is only permitted to bet as much as the total payout from their last wager on their following bet. The exception to this is the first IF bet that is placed, as this can be any amount. If a bettor loses their bet at any point in the process, their entire wager will be taken off and the player can keep the money that they already have accumulated from their previous bets up until the losing bet, at which point the bet that they lost is taken out of their total payout. This can seem complicated, and so it’s best to look at an example of an IF bet in action.

 

Example of a Winning IF Bet

The better places their first bet on the New England Patriots who are favored to win at -110. That means that the amount is $110 to win $100. If the Patriots win the game, the bettor will collect $110 of their initial wager plus a $100 payout for a grand total of $210. Due to the fact that the bettor won the bet, they can keep going on to the next round of bets, but they can only wage as high as $210, which is the total sum of payout from the initial bet. After this, if the bettor decides to bet on the Seattle Seahawks, who are favored to win by -110 for the amount of $200 in order to win $180, and the Seahawks are victorious then the bettor will collect his initial $200 wager plus a $180 payout for the bet for a grand total of $380.

 

Example of a Losing IF Bet

The player put an initial bet on the Patriots, which are favored to win at a -110 for the amount of $110 in order to win $100. However, if the Patriots lose the game then the bettor will lose their initial $110 just like any straight single wager. As a result, any capabilities of furthering an IF bet are completely off the table. This means that the bettor is not able to continue to bet on any other games due to the fact that they lost the first wager.

 

The IF Bet Process

IF bets are a very intriguing wagering process that goes in a step-by-step format, and so they are extremely exciting if you feel as though you can pick out a few winning teams. As far as winning money, they are a safer way to bet than parlays due to the fact that parlays require that you put all in or nothing. On the other hand, IF bets are a way to keep minimum winnings accrued before the point that you lost the bet.

Advice

In order to make a substantial amount of money from IF betting you must place your bets in a savvy manner. For instance, you shouldn’t just bet the maximum possible amount on every successive bet, as it’s a smarter move to keep a portion of each one of your winnings and then bet a small amount on the next game. In this way you will at least have some money left over even if you lose a bet. The majority of online sports books offer IF bets as part of their betting selection and so it is recommended that you take advantage of this type of exciting and fun way to bet on sports teams through choosing a winner from multiple games. Just make sure to keep in mind the fact that you may only keep the minimum portion of your winning bet as long as you don’t wager the maximum possible amount on the subsequent game.