Same game parlays have become the bedrock of the American sports gambling scene because they are easy to bet and hard to win. Charles Barkley has proven that week after week on Inside the NBA.
Parlays are an incredible chunk of the revenue made by sports betting companies, and the dynamic odds offered through same-game parlays are often irresistible to fans. But the hope of bigger payouts often leads to losing streaks where the books cash in.
Case in point: Charles Barkley’s insane losing streak on Inside the NBA.
As is often the case with gambling sponsorships, sportsbooks will have segments with star analysts who give their best bets on games. That includes a nightly Charles Barkley same game parlay sponsored by FanDuel.
Heading into Thursday night’s final regular season broadcast with the NBA on TNT, Barkley was 0-21 with his SGP picks. Then, in the Timberwolves-Grizzlies game, he finally connected on a +560 same game parlay and celebrated with a dance in the studio.
For those scoring at home, if you had bet $10 on all 22 of these parlays with Charles Barkley throughout the season, you would be down $164 on the season. If you bet $100 on them, you’d be out well over $1500. At the very least, perhaps this moment provides some closure as TNT is saying goodbye to the NBA and Inside the NBA prepares to transition to ESPN next season.
Charles Barkley has been very open about his gambling losses over the years. So if you followed his betting advice, that’s your first problem. But if there was ever an advertisement for sports fans to be careful and stay within their limits, Barkley’s losing streak was inadvertently a tremendous public service announcement for the perils of parlays.