What Happens To My Parlay or SGP If One Leg Pushes?

What Happens To My Parlay or SGP If One Leg Pushes? article feature image
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Tim Nwachukwu/Getty Images. Pictured: Jalen Hurts #1 of the Philadelphia Eagles.

  • If a game in a parlay pushes -- meaning the score lands exactly on the spread or total -- that leg of the parlay is removed, and the rest of it will stand.
  • However, in a same game parlay, some sportsbooks will void the entire parlay instead of removing a single leg.

There are a few rules of thumb when trying to figure out what happens to your parlay if one or more legs end in a push.

  • For normal parlays across multiple games, the pushed leg will just drop out and the rest of the parlay will stand. So if you make a $10 parlay with the Texans +1.5 (W), Jets +3.5 (W) and Chiefs -3 (push) at +600, it just becomes a two-leg parlay at about +260 with the Chiefs leg dropping out. Your bet would win at that +260 price since the other two legs won, so the $10 parlay would pay $26.
  • For same game parlays, some sportsbooks will void the entire thing if a single leg is voided (like ESPN BET). Others will reprice it with the pushed leg dropping out.

You can use our parlay calculator to reprice normal parlays with certain legs removed.

Why Do SGPs Get Voided?

Same game parlay pricing is complex and dynamic. If one leg changes, every leg needs to change. That's why some sportsbooks will void your entire SGP if a player sits out, or if a leg pushes.

Sportsbooks are either not confident in how the math changes with one pushed leg dropping out, or want to use it as an excuse to not pay out these bets.

Take this example from ESPN BET, which caused a stink in the industry. A user hit four legs of this five-leg parlay with Eagles -3 as a push, and the entire thing was voided, instead of just the Eagles leg dropping out. This is how they handle it, per their house rules.

Because of the complicated correlation that's factored in — i.e. the Eagles are less likely to cover -3 if Josh Allen throws for over 1.5 TDs, but they're more likely to cover if D'Andre Swift runs for over 59.5 yards — they either can't reprice it on the spot or don't want to.

@ESPNBet@ESPNBetSupport can you please the portion of your bylaws that makes this entire push? Have never seen this on any other book I’ve been on. pic.twitter.com/YwjqBIs7w9

— Kelce Johnson, 2022 (@CalculatorGrant) November 27, 2023

A Few Unique Scenarios by Sport

There are unique scenarios where a sport's particular rules can apply, but that isn't going to impact a parlay wager in a different manner than a single-leg wager.

For example, in a rain-shortened MLB game, just like it would be with a straight wager, moneyline bets become action after the fifth inning is completed, whereas runline, over/under and team total bets would need the full game to be played for the bet to have action. Otherwise, it will be a push and standard parlay push rules would apply.

The same goes for situations such as a retirement in a tennis match, where it depends on how your sportsbook grades the individual scenario, but the application to the parlay will be the same.

Use our parlay calculator to figure out your new payout.

What About Teasers?

The same rules apply for teasers. If a bet pushes on your teased point spread and all the other legs win, it just drops that game out of the teaser.

So a $24 to win $20 bet on a 6-point, two-team NFL teaser becomes $24 to win $9 if one leg wins and one pushes.

What About Moneylines?

You don't have many moneyline pushes in American sports, because most sports have very few ties. But on two-way lines in soccer, some props, and the rare NFL tie, it can definitely happen.

Pushes on moneylines in parlays work the same way as spreads — that parlay leg is removed, and the rest stands — assuming that betting the tie wasn't an option. In soccer, it's common to bet three-way moneylines, meaning a tie is a loss.

The easiest way to know whether or not your moneyline will count as a push is whether or not there was an option to bet a tie. Again, it won't come up as often in American sports.

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