Although If and Reverse wagers are considered to be advanced stakes, they are not too difficult for beginners to work with and their notable advantages are a great incentive to learning them properly!

These bets are very similar to Parlays because they involve you making a series of selections. But they are not as risky and you will still get something back, even if you don’t nail every one of your targets. They are a great choice if you want to wager on the outcome of more than just one game but don’t want to risk your entire bankroll doing so.

How If Stakes Work

An If bet combines at least two wagers where the result of each determines whether or not the following stakes are actually placed. This sounds more complicated than it is.

Basically, you pick multiple selections at whatever bet you opt for. Your wager is then placed on the first. If this loses, you will forfeit that money and the remaining stake gets cancelled. If it wins, you will get paid out, but with an amount equal to your initial bet deducted. This money gets placed on your second selection and the same process occurs once more.

How many selections you can include in your If bet will be different from one sportsbook to another, but it is generally between two and six and the basic principle stays the same no matter what.

Using an If Wager

We will create an example using two selections based on Point Spread staking in Football.

13:00

Juventus -6

110

FC Bayern Munich +6

-110

16:05

Liverpool +7

-110

Arsenal -7

-110

You have decided to bet on the two favourites, Juventus and Arsenal to Cover the Spread, and you’ve wagered AU$110 accessing this site. You make Juventus your first selection and Arsenal your second and your stake is deducted from your account.

There are four possible result combinations:

1. Juventus Cover but Arsenal doesn’t.
2. Both teams Cover.
3. Neither one does.
4. Juventus doesn’t Cover but Arsenal does.

Here’s what would happen to your bet for each outcome:

1. If Juventus Covers, you’re due AU$100 back. You won’t get your original wager back because it will roll over onto the match featuring Arsenal. Because Arsenal doesn’t Cover, you’ll lose that AU$100 but you’ll get a return from your first selection so you’ll only have lost AU$10.
2. You’ll get AU$100 back for Juventus winning and your initial stake will roll over to Arsenal. This will see you gaining another AU$100 in winnings along with your original bet amount back as there are no other selections. You’ve won AU$200.
3. Because Juventus hasn’t Covered, the rest of your wager is cancelled and your AU$110 stake is forfeit.
4. Same situation here. The remainder of your If bet got cancelled when Juventus failed to Cover. So, once again, what happens thanks to Arsenal FC is irrelevant. Even though they managed to Cover, you had no cash riding on that game, so you’re still out original wager.