A sports bettor turns $15 into $140,000, but risky parlays keep sportsbooks winning.

A tiny risk rarely results in a large payout, but it is absolutely not impossible. Last week, a sports betting customer won more than $142,000 on a three-leg parlay in which three NFL tight ends scored the first touchdowns of their individual games, DraftKings reported on X. The initial wager was only $15.
The temptation of a parlay stems from the exponentially higher payout from a little wager. It’s a sort of betting in where, rather of requiring a single win to cash out on a bet, a series of winning scenarios—while unlikely to all occur—allows gains to snowball from a two-digit gamble to a six-figure payment. The supposedly low-risk, high-reward method of gambling has taken the sports betting industry by storm.

Joshua Grubbs, an associate professor who researches gambling addiction at the University of New Mexico, told Fortune that the true allure of them is their “insane payout rate.” People are drawn to the idea of “small number, big payoff” because it seems like such an incredible prospect.

The sportsbooks have profited from the expanding craze for sports betting, even if the winning bettors may appear to be the big winners. In 2024, the hobby brought in $13.71 billion, up 25.4% from 2023, according to data gathered by the American Gaming Association from state regulations.

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According to FanDuel parent firm Flutter Entertainment, parlays accounted for over 70% of NFL and NBA wagers on FanDuel in 2023, proving that they are frequently the rainmakers for sportsbooks. Earlier this year, The Wall Street Journal estimated that in 2021, 56% of sports betting revenue in Illinois, New Jersey, and Colorado came from parlays. In 2020, New Jersey bettors lost $1.41 for every dollar gained in parlays, according to the Centre for Gambling Studies at Rutgers University. In contrast, complete moneyline bets have a $1.05 to $1 loss ratio.

Furthermore, the odds of winning parlay bets are declining as they become more complex over time. According to Rutgers, the most common parlays in 2020 had five legs. Two-leg parlays were the most common the previous year.

The idea of a parlay is so statistically unlikely to occur that it is one of the most reliable methods for sportsbooks to profit from it, according to Grubbs.

The emergence of parlays
After a Supreme Court ruling in 2018 essentially overturned a sports gambling ban, opening the door for 38 states to allow the activity, the sports betting industry took off. Even the sports sector has been impacted by its popularity: The Division I Administrative Committee approved the change this week, marking a significant step forward for the NCAA in permitting players and department employees to place bets on professional sports.

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