Reverse Betting: What It Is and How It Works

A reverse bet is a pair of "if" bets on the same two picks, placed in both orders. The name comes from US sportsbooks, and few sportsbooks that serve the Philippines give it a button of that name. The idea is still useful, and you can copy it with singles when the games don't overlap, like an NBA game in the morning and a PBA game after work.

Below: what an if bet is, how a reverse is built from two of them, a worked example in pesos, and how it compares with a parlay and with two singles. Betting is for adults 21 and over.

Start with the if bet. You pick two games and say: if my first bet wins, place my second bet. If the first one loses, the second never goes ahead, so you can only lose one stake.

A reverse bet is two if bets at once, in opposite orders. With picks A and B, you get "if A wins, bet B" and "if B wins, bet A". That covers you whichever game finishes first, and it costs two stakes.

Some books also offer an "action" version, where the second bet goes ahead if the first wins, pushes or is cancelled, not only if it wins.

What a reverse does not do is give you better odds. Each leg is still a normal single at the normal price. It only changes how much you risk and win in each outcome, which the example below shows.

Some people searching "reverse" or "inverse" betting mean something else: betting against a result. On a normal sportsbook you do that by taking the other side (the opposing team, a handicap, or double chance). Be careful with "reverse score" or "anti-score" schemes sold in chat groups as steady income. No bet pays a guaranteed return, and a site that says otherwise is not a sportsbook.

With two picks, a reverse is two if bets. With more picks, a full reverse links every pair of picks in both orders, so the number of if bets climbs fast. If the top betting sites in the Philippines you use cannot build that in one click, the table shows what you would be placing by hand.

Each extra pick adds more pairs, not just one more bet. At ₱100 per if bet, three picks already cost up to ₱600 and four picks up to ₱1,200. Decide your total stake first, then divide it, not the other way round.

Say you have two picks, with example odds:

• A: Rain or Shine to beat Ginebra (PBA), at 1.80
• B: the Knicks to win (NBA), at 1.90

You place a reverse with ₱500 per if bet: "if A wins, bet B" and "if B wins, bet A". The most you can lose is ₱1,000. A win at 1.80 makes ₱400 profit on ₱500; a win at 1.90 makes ₱450.

• Both win: each if bet makes ₱400 + ₱450 = ₱850. Total: +₱1,700.
• A wins, B loses: the first if bet makes ₱400, then loses ₱500 on B, so −₱100. The second loses ₱500 on B and stops. Total: −₱600.
• A loses, B wins: the first loses ₱500 and stops. The second makes ₱450 on B, then loses ₱500 on A, so −₱50. Total: −₱550.
• Both lose: each if bet loses its first ₱500. Total: −₱1,000.

Compare that with two ₱1,000 singles, one on A and one on B. Both win: +₱1,700, the same. Both lose: −₱2,000, twice as much. One wins: −₱100 or −₱200. So the reverse halves your worst case, but costs you more when your picks split.

And a ₱1,000 parlay at 1.80 × 1.90 = 3.42 pays +₱2,420 if both win and loses the full ₱1,000 on anything else.

None of the three is better on paper. Pick the one whose worst case you can live with.

Most online betting sites in our list work on a phone, and the bet slip on an app is where you would find an if or conditional option. Skip APK files passed around in chats; use the brand's own download page or an app store.

1xBet

1xBet links its Android and iOS apps from the site footer. The app has the same bet types as the website.

22Bet

22Bet's iOS app is in the App Store; Android users download an APK from the 22Bet site.

GG.Bet

GG.Bet links its apps from the website. If you can't find a conditional option in the app, the website slip may have more choices.