The Parlay betting system is a positive progressive betting system for blackjack — that's a mouthful, isn't it? In order to explain the Parlay system, it's easy to break it down into its elements: 1) positive 2) progressive 3) betting system.

First, the Parlay is a considered a "betting system" because it's all about betting; it has nothing to do with actually playing the game. In other words, the Parlay system doesn't help you with your blackjack strategy moves, like when to stand, hit, split, or double down; it tells you only how much money to bet on your blackjack game.

The system is called "progressive", because with each progressive win or loss, the bets are increased or decreased accordingly. In other words, the bet on each hand is determined by what happened on the hand before.

Finally, the Parlay is a "positive" because it call for your bet to be increased after a win and decreased after a loss. The Paroli and Oscar's Grind are similar positive systems. The opposite is a "negative" system, such as the Martingale and the d'Alembert, that advise decreasing your bet after a win and increasing after a loss.

So the Parlay is a positive progressive blackjack betting system. And now it all makes sense. And now you can Parlay when you play blackjack online.

In the case of the Parlay system, when a player wins he bets his winnings plus his original bet and continues to do so on each successive winning hand. When he loses he goes back to his original bet.

In non-gambling terms, to "parlay" is to use one's money to reach a desired goal, such as wealth or success. In gambling terms, to Parlay — to bet using the Parlay system — is to gamble an original amount and its winnings on a subsequent hand of blackjack. The Parlay is also called the "Let it Ride" system since you leave your winnings on the table and let them ride to the next hand along with an additional bet.

A variation of the blackjack Parlay system is also used in horse racing. It is similar to the method that banks use when they compound interest: they give interest on the principal for one quarter and then give interest on the interest (and the principal) the following quarter and so on. What's good at the racetrack or the bank can also work at the online casino.

When a player uses the Parlay system in an online blackjack game, he bets his profits from his wins plus his original bet, as long as he keeps winning at blackjack. If he loses, he goes back to his original bet. A blackjack winning streak can put a lot of money into his pocket; a cold streak isn't too big a disaster (because the bet stays the same). The problems start when the hot streak finally and inevitably ends and the player stands to lose that really big bet that's been building and building. To avoid this, a player should decide beforehand how high he's willing to let his bet grow — in other words, how much he's willing to lose. With a pre-determined limit, the player can enjoy a hot streak — to a point — and not watch it turn to dust. With good budgeting and planning the Parlay can be fun; without it, it can be real heartbreaker.