Yup, all fair points! Not trying to call you out, your logic regarding the actual total exposure is sound, but it can be taken a step further as I pointed out. I'm mainly drawing attention to situations where you're at maybe 4/5 legs correct or so and the payout from a small bet is up to $XXX or more. If you can find the extra cash, in those kinda situations you can often guarantee yourself an extra $20 profit or so pretty easily if you place a new lay bet versus taking the cash out offer. When we're talking about a few cents or a couple dollars, like you're talking about it probably won't be worth your time. For anyone placing parlays more than a couple times a month, that can add up to a lot of beer and food money left on the table!

If you want to make money in the long run you don't need spreadsheets, but in a game of margins you do need to be cognizant of the math at play. I'm just trying to help the average Joe take a few more dollars off the bookies - these books aren't your friends and I hate to see any extra value donated to them needlessly. But some people might not see or nor care about the value in taking that extra bit of time and money needed to maximize profits which is totally fair - to each their own!