March Madness offers bettors plenty of chances to wager on college basketball at its most fervent time of the season. Whether you’ve followed CBB all season or are catching up and cramming with research while you fill out your NCAA Tournament bracket, you can bet on many parts of any basketball game or on futures.
A potentially productive way to score a big win during March Madness is to build a parlay. A sportsbook will allow you to combine two or more bets (depending on availability and other rules) to increase the possible return on a winning wager.
Sports betting sites offer a diverse mix of options to pair together on a parlay ticket, including which team will win a game, reach the Sweet 16, take down their region, and of course who will cut down the nets as NCAA National Champions.
When choosing to build an NCAA Tournament parlay ticket, keep these tips and strategies in mind.
Benefits of March Madness Parlay Betting Online
March Madness parlay betting is fun and super-convenient when you do it online. There are a ton of benefits betting on NCAA basketball via online gambling apps, including:
- It’s easy: There’s no easier way to bet than from the comfort of your own home. If the March weather is cold, you can heat up the action from your couch and win big.
- It’s safe: Each legal online sportsbook has a robust infrastructure to ensure your account info is safe, meaning you’re getting casino-level security from the privacy of your home.
- You’ll get the best odds: Unless you’re in Las Vegas, it is very hard to shop for the best odds in every market while gambling at a casino’s sportsbook. But by toggling through sportsbook apps you can craft an expert parlay and find the best odds in the process that will max out your winnings.
- You’ll get paid instantaneously: Your winnings will appear in your online account within minutes — or even within seconds on some apps — of your big win, meaning you can see your winnings and feel even more like a winner when your parlay bet hits.
Best March Madness Parlay Betting Sites
There is no shortage of gambling sites with which you can place your parlay online. Here are a few of the best:
DraftKings Online Sportsbook
DraftKings is one of the few apps that offers player props for college-basketball games (depending on what state you are betting in), especially marquee events like the NCAA Tournament. DraftKings has a great Same-Game Parlay section as well as a slew of game props, alternate lines and totals and makes them all easy to find.
Caesars Online Sportsbook
Caesars is a great option for college basketball parlay betting since it is backed by renowned U.K.-based online casino/sportsbook William Hill. Caesars gives users great odds, good customer service and a slew of odds boosts and promos that enables prospective bettors a fun and rewarding experience while betting on March Madness.
The Caesars app is foolproof and user-friendly and real betting is available in more than a dozen states. It’s one of the best online sportsbooks.
BetMGM Online Sportsbook
BetMGM is also an exceptional sportsbook, especially for college basketball betting. It features a section that offers advice and trends for each game each night and highlights a handful of marquee games each day and makes betting them — or combining them — a cinch.
The BetMGM app has odds boosts and promos and rewards users with free bets. Plus, with the BetMGM loyalty program, you can earn points that can be redeemed for hotel stays at MGM properties, dining credits and much more whether you win or lose.
BetRivers Online Sportsbook
BetRivers is a super sportsbook, especially for new and novice gamblers. The BetRivers online sportsbook has a great signup bonus that includes a deposit match but also explains how odds work and payouts are earned.
The BetRivers app also offers advice and data so bettors can have the most information at their fingertips to make that multi-leg parlay cash in.
FanDuel Online Sportsbook
FanDuel Sportsbook is the No. 1 sportsbook app in the United States, and it’s easy to see why. FanDuel offers an unparalleled selection of college-basketball markets to parlay, including player props, which are not widely available for college basketball games.
FanDuel also created the Same-Game Parlay and recently unveiled the Same-Game Parlay+, which allows bettors to create multiple Same-Game Parlays and combine them for a super-parlay with longer odds and larger payouts.
How To Pick the Best March Madness Parlay Betting Sites
Choosing the best parlay betting site is a matter of personal preference, but here is some criteria to consider when determining which one to go with.
- Odds: Getting the best odds for your NCAA basketball parlay means you’ll get the largest possible payout, and isn’t that what betting is for?
- Promos/Boosts: Winning a parlay bet is great. Winning extra on an odds- or profit-boosted parlay is better. Many apps will have special promotions for the NCAA tournament. Find the one that works best for you.
- Payment methods: You wouldn’t want to shop at a store that didn’t take the credit card in your pocket, would you? So why would you play at a sportsbook that doesn’t accept your preferred payment method? Shop around for the mode of pay that suits your needs.
March Madness Parlay Betting Promotions
Parlay promotions vary from site to site, but there is no shortage of them especially come March Madness time. In the past there’s been:
- Parlay insurance: Many sites will offer parlay insurance for your multi-leg, basketball parlay bet if each leg has a certain amount of odds (typically -200 or shorter) and your parlay falls short by just a single leg. Typically if that happens the site will offer you a credit for the amount you placed on the parlay.
- Parlay profit boosts: Apps will give you the opportunity to boost your multi-leg or same-game parlay to enhance profits when it hits. For instance, if your three-leg parlay has +300 odds, and there’s a 20-percent profit boost, you’ll get paid out as though it’s a +360 bet.
- Regional parlay boosts: Some apps, like Caesars and BetMGM, have been known to specially curate parlays that center around teams of a certain region then boost the odds of those. For instance, if Memphis, Tennessee and Vanderbilt are all in the tournament and playing on the same day, the site may combine those three teams to win and boost the odds.
How March Madness Parlay Betting Works
Parlay betting is combining two-or-more outcomes that you believe will happen in order to enhance your odds. Parlay betting on March Madness is similar to parlay betting on any sport. You choose multiple outcomes and combine, or parlay them, and win big when every leg hits.
There are a variety of ways to parlay bet, including combining multiple likely outcomes in order to get plus-money odds. But if you’re interested in a big payout, combining a lot of 50-50 outcomes is the way to go. For instance, a three-leg totals parlay, with each over or under having -110 odds, pays out at +596 — meaning a $100 bet would yield $596 in profit plus the original $100 stake.
But if you’re not interested in trying to get rich quick through parlay betting, and want to take a more cautious approach, you can put together more conservative combos that are more likely to win.
March Madness Parlay Betting Strategy
There are a variety of betting strategies for gambling on the NCAA basketball tournament. For instance, you may be interested in loading up an eight-leg parlay that features all the Nos. 1 and 2 seeds. Maybe you love multiple underdogs that are playing at the same venue — or around the same time — and want to combine those picks too.
Maybe you’re not sure if your potential Cinderellas have the juice to pull off an upset against a better-seeded team but think they can give each a scare. Teased against-the-spread parlays, or even parlaying the first-half moneylines, in multiple games are a good way to cash in even if your upset pick falls short.
Best March Madness Parlay Bets
The best parlay bets are the ones we believe in, but there are ways to better our chances of winning. If you’re doing a three- or four-leg parlay, choose each favorite to win by moneyline but pick underdogs to cover a spread — or even tease the spread up to get extra points.
For instance if believe Texas can keep it close against UCLA but don’t trust the Longhorns to cover the five-point spread, you can tease down the spread up to 10.5 as part of a parlay — many sites will let you tease the spread as far up or down as you’d generally go and display the odds that go with a teased spread.
You can tease totals and even sometimes player point totals and other props. If you’re planning on doing a parlay, whether it’s multi-game or same-game, teasing down or up points is essential. Winning on parlays, with or without teasers, is really hard, and we as bettors need every advantage we can get.
March Madness Same Game Parlays
Same-Game Parlays are when a bettor combines multiple outcomes from the same game. For instance, if you like Kansas to knock off Illinois in the Sweet 16 but also believe that Illinois will keep the game low-scoring, you can choose Kansas ML and the under in a same-game parlay.
Same-Game Parlays have been ubiquitous at brick-and-mortar sportsbooks for a long time, but only recently have they become popular online — largely thanks to FanDuel’s unveiling of the Same-Game Parlay. Now users can combine moneyline or spread picks with totals, player props and/or game props to create a custom parlay for one game.
Same-Game Parlays are typically useful for marquee events, like the national championship game or regional final, where there is typically only one game on at a time. But they can be placed on any game at any time throughout the college basketball season and postseason.
How to Place a March Madness Parlay Bet Online
Placing a March Madness parlay bet online is as simple as few taps of your phone. Here are the steps.
- Open your preferred sportsbook app on your phone and log in.
- If you don’t have a sportsbook account, visit their website to create an account. Be sure to use our unique promo code to cash in on any new-signup or first-time deposit bonus
- Click on the NCAAB section and find the games or markets you’re interested in betting
- Add each selection to your betslip, enter the amount you want to to wager in the “parlay” option at the top
- Watch and root for your parlay to hit!
Where Can I Legally Bet Parlays Online?
It’s not legal to parlay bet on March Madness online in every state, but the number grows every day. Here’s a list of places where you can legally wager on NCAA basketball online, keeping in mind that betting on in-state teams is prohibited by law in New York and New Jersey.
- Arizona
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Louisiana
- Michigan
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New York
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- Tennessee
- Virginia
- West Virginia
- Wyoming
Choose More Than One March Madness Parlay Betting Site
It is integral to have funds available in multiple apps. Odds shopping is an essential part of putting together a parlay since getting the best odds means getting the best payout and odds and over/under totals can vary from app to app.
Having funds in multiple accounts means you also won’t miss out on boosted parlays or profit boosts, which are staple promos of March Madness each year. Plus when the Final Four arrives, you’ll be able to shop for the best odds in those Same-Game Parlays.
