Round robin calculator
Every combination, what it costs, and what each outcome really pays.
Your picks, in American odds
Parlays created
6
Total staked
$60.00
If all hit
$218.68
Break even at
3 of 4
| Picks won | Parlays that cash | Profit |
|---|---|---|
| 4 of 4 | 6 | $158.68 |
| 3 of 4 | 3 | $49.34 |
| 2 of 4 | 1 | −$23.55 |
| 1 of 4 | 0 | −$60.00 |
| 0 of 4 | 0 | −$60.00 |
The same $60.00 on a single 4-leg parlay would return $797.00 if everything won, against $218.68 here. That gap is what you are paying for the softer landing. Each mini-parlay still carries its own compounded margin, so a round robin is a convenience wrapper, not an edge.
What a round robin actually is
A round robin takes a set of picks and builds every possible parlay of a chosen size from them, betting each one separately. Four picks “by 2s” means all six two-leg combinations — and six separate stakes. That is the first thing people get wrong: a $10 round robin on four picks by 2s costs $60, not $10.
The appeal is real. One losing pick kills a four-leg parlay outright, but only takes down half the tickets in a 4-by-2 round robin. You survive being wrong once. The cost of that survival is the entire question.
Winning half your picks can still lose money
Take four picks at −110, by 2s, $10 a parlay. Go 2-for-4 — an even split, half your opinions correct — and exactly one of the six parlays survives. It returns about $36 on the $60 you staked: a $23.55 loss on a night you were right as often as you were wrong.
The reason is combinatorial rather than mysterious. A parlay only cashes when every one of its legs is among your winners, so the surviving tickets fall away much faster than the picks do. Going from 3 hits to 2 does not cut your winners by a third — it cuts them from three tickets to one.
What you give up for the softer landing
That same $60 on a single four-leg parlay returns roughly $797 if everything lands. The round robin returns about $219. You are paying nearly three-quarters of the upside for the insurance of still collecting something at 3-of-4.
Whether that is a good trade depends on what you think your hit rate is — which is exactly what the scenario table above is for. It is worth noting the thing round robins do not do: each mini-parlay carries its own compounded margin, so spreading picks across combinations changes the shape of your outcomes without improving the price of any of them.
Common questions
- What is a round robin bet?
- A round robin automatically creates every smaller parlay combination from a set of picks and bets each one separately. Four picks 'by 2s' becomes six two-leg parlays — six separate stakes, so a $10 round robin on four picks by 2s costs $60, not $10.
- How many parlays does a round robin create?
- It's the number of combinations, written C(n,k): four picks by 2s gives 6 parlays, five by 3s gives 10, and six by 3s gives 20. The calculator shows the count for whatever you enter, and your total stake is that number multiplied by the stake per parlay.
- Do you make money if you win most of your picks?
- Not necessarily, and this is the part people find surprising. On four picks by 2s at −110 with $10 a parlay, winning 2 of 4 leaves just one surviving parlay — about $36 back on $60 staked, a $23.55 loss. You need 3 of 4 before the ticket profits.
- Is a round robin better than a single parlay?
- It is more forgiving and pays much less. The same $60 on one four-leg parlay returns about $797 if everything wins, against roughly $219 from the round robin. You are buying a softer failure by giving up most of the upside.
- Does a round robin reduce the sportsbook's edge?
- No. Every mini-parlay carries its own compounded margin, exactly as a standalone parlay would. Spreading picks across combinations changes the shape of your outcomes — fewer total losses, far smaller wins — without changing the maths underneath. It's a convenience wrapper, not an edge.
Related: parlay calculator · teaser calculator · bet calculator. Glossary: round robin · parlay · vig
If betting stops being fun or feels hard to control, help is available: ConnexOntario 1-866-531-2600 · ncpgambling.org.
More free tools
Track every bet automatically
Stop doing the math by hand. Bankroll Guardian logs your bets and shows P&L, ROI, CLV and more — free to start, no card required.