Reverse bets: if-bets run in both directions

A reverse is a set of if-bets covering every order of the same selections. Two selections produce two if-bets — A then B, and B then A. Three selections produce six, because there are six ordered pairs. The stake you enter is the base for each if-bet, so a 110 two-team reverse commits up to 220.

It removes the ordering problem from an if-bet. A plain if-bet only pays the second leg when the first one wins, which means the bettor has to guess which selection is more likely to land first. Running both orders makes the structure symmetric, at exactly double the exposure.

Set against those equivalent straights, the reverse improves the both-lose branch by 220 and worsens each split branch by 100. At two independent even-money legs that is 0.25 × 220 = 55 gained against 0.50 × 100 = 50 given up, and the small residual is simply the effect of putting less total money through priced bets.

The problem arrives next. 'Three-team reverse' sounds like three bets. It is six if-bets, and at a 110 base that is up to 660 at risk. The word describes the selections, never the slips, and the slip count is the number that determines what you can lose.

What to do with it. Work out the number of ordered pairs, multiply by the base stake, and treat that product as the real size of the bet.