What Are Prediction Markets?
Prediction markets are seen as the best way to make the most of guessing what may happen in the future across a wide array of topics. These markets offer hypothetical results on various real events, and always offer Yes or No options to begin with. The idea here is that you will be choosing whether the proposed prediction will take place or not. Then you will choose either yes or no, trade the event contracts, and wait for the event to pass.
Attempting to Predict the Outcome of an Event
The Yes and No options always appear in percentages. For example, let’s consider a simple football match between two national teams that features Italy going against France. The prediction market might state: “Will France beat Italy?” and state the time and date for clarity, so there is no confusion.
If 68% of people think France will beat Italy, you would see an event contract for Yes priced at $0.68. The No market would be priced at 32% to balance things out. If you think France will win, you will buy the Yes event contract for $0.68. If you bought 100 of those, you’d pay $68.
If you backed Italy to win, you would pay $0.32 for the No event contract. If you bought 100 of those, you’d pay $32.
This is similar to what sportsbooks offer, but prediction markets play it safe and even come with plenty of various markets other than sports for you to choose from.
What Happens Once the Market Resolves?
This happens when the outcome of the event is clear. If you lose, you’d simply lose the amount you paid for your chosen event contract. If you are proven to be correct, however, you would receive $1 per event contract purchased. This means you would get $100.
This applies all the time, whether you decide to go for the Yes or No option.
Can You Parlay on Polymarket?
Yes, you can. Better yet, you can do so across a range of categories, including science, the weather, and politics. You might even see parlay predictions in the Polymarket election predictions sector, depending on whether there are any markets that could involve multiple conditions.
Here, though, I’ll focus on sports, giving you an idea of what parlay predictions might look like. Basically, a parlay prediction involves multiple conditions rather than just one. I’ve put together a comparison table below to show you how parlay predictions compare to a standard prediction market.
| Standard Prediction Market | Parlay Predictions |
| Focuses on a single condition | Includes multiple conditions |
| Example - will France win the FIFA World Cup? | Example - Will Italy, DR Congo, and Bolivia all qualify for the FIFA World Cup? |
| Requires a Yes or No answer to resolve the market for that single prediction | All three teams must qualify for the market to resolve to a Yes.If one or more teams do not qualify, the market resolves to a No. |
One thing that standard and parlay prediction markets have in common is the fact that you’ll always be able to choose between a Yes and a No outcome. The big difference is that you’ve got more conditions in place for parlays, as opposed to just one for a standard prediction market.
Bear in mind that parlay availability is likely to vary throughout the year. At the time of writing, the FIFA World Cup was approaching, so I could easily find the above parlay to consider. The same applies in other sports that tend to follow a season of one kind or another.
How to Parlay on Polymarket
If you’re a fan of sports, you can find some sports-related parlays on the Polymarket app, along with parlays in many of their other topic areas. Here’s how to get started:
- Use one of my links to visit Polymarket
- Sign up for an account if you don’t already have one
- Enter the word ‘parlay’ in the search box at the top of the page
- Scroll through the results to find available parlays
- Read through the conditions for a specific parlay
- Choose the Yes or No market
- Buy event contracts in that market and wait to see what happens
Important Points to Remember for Polymarket Parlay Predictions
If you enjoy participating in sports and trying to predict what might happen - whether it relates to goals scored, match winners, or any other data - you can look up the latest sports parlays at Polymarket as well. You can use these tips to help you understand how the parlay predictions work.
Always Read the Rules
When you access a page on the Polymarket website dealing with a specific parlay, you’ll need to scroll past the graph to reach the rules section. Select ‘read more’ and you will see the full set of rules and conditions relating to that parlay.
Sometimes, you’ll see the conditions in bullet points, but I’ve found sports predictions that list them instead. That was the case when I found the FIFA World Cup parlay on whether three teams would all qualify or not.
Remember That You Can Exit the Parlay Early If You Wish
That’s right - if you look at the trading form at Polymarket, you’ll see Buy and Sell prices for the Yes and No markets. If you’ve previously bought event contracts of any kind, you can sell them early if the price has changed enough to make it worthwhile. Make sure you check for any Polymarket fees before you buy or sell, just to be clear where you stand.
Look at the Graph for the Prediction Market Parlay Before Participating
Each market has a page explaining the specific parlay, the conditions involved, and what must happen to reach a Yes or No outcome. You will also see a graph which shows the progress of the market over time. This might be over days, weeks, or even months. This shows how many participants have selected Yes or No as time went by.
It’s worth looking at this before you choose any Polymarket sports prediction parlays to trade event contracts in. You will get a better sense of how things have changed. This does not mean things won’t change further in the future, but it’s worth checking. It provides you with more data to consider before you trade in parlay conditions.
Pros and Cons for Polymarket Parlay Predictions
It’s good to see parlays among the many prediction markets available at Polymarket. They always provide clear instructions and conditions for each of them, too - and they’re not restricted to sports either.
Pros
- Find 2+ conditions per parlay
- Clear rules provided
- Some parlays include unrelated conditions
- Can sell event contracts before market concludes
Cons
- Limited sports parlays available
Browse the Latest Polymarket Parlay Predictions
If you’re familiar with sports, perhaps following a particular team or player, you’ll likely be familiar with the term parlay already. However, you can see there are differences when you’re looking at prediction markets - namely, that you’ll get parlay conditions that you must meet to successfully trade your chosen event contract.
Bear in mind that parlay predictions will vary depending on what’s happening in the sporting world. They can differ in terms of how long they take to resolve, too, whether that means they’ll end with a Yes or No outcome. It’s good to see you can find some sporting (and other) parlays to consider there, though.
If you’re new to Polymarket, you can head across there by using one of the links I’ve provided for you on this page.
