An “if-bet” is a multi-bet wager where you do not have to win every bet to get some payout back.   The if-bet works like this:

You place one bet down on multiple teams, in preferential order.  Let’s say you like the Patriots go over 47½, and you like the Bears to cover.  You bet $110 to win $100 in your if-bet.  “If” (hence the phrase, the “if-bet”) the Patriots win 52-7, they’ve gone over the total, and you win the first wager.  You get your $100 win back, and the original $110 goes into your bet on the Bears.  You can do an if-bet with up-to-7 games.  If at any time, your chain of bets breaks, everything else is a loss.  The table below, showing four possible wagers from a week in the NFL, demonstrates some of the possible outcomes of your if-bet (each wager is for $110 to win $100):

An if-bet is a reasonable way to play multiple games in a week and still have some semblance of safety in your gambling bankroll.  You can never lose more than your initial $100+10 (whereas if you put $100+10 on each of the four games, you could lose all four wagers and be down up to $440).  On the other hand, you are missing the opportunity to win on the wagers that are “No Bets” if the if-bet chain gets broken.  Look at Scenario #5…if you would have won your bets on the Bears, Rams and Giants, you’d be up $190.  But because the Patriots game was the first in your if-bet chain, you never had that opportunity.

There are two types of if-bets: “if-win” and “if-action”.  In an “if-win” bet, you have to win the bet to continue the chain to the next bet.  In an “if-action” bet, the chain continues if your wager is a push, as well as a win.