What is a teaser bet? And why should you care
What is a teaser bet?
Teasers give sports bettors the ability to move the line on a side, but at the cost of smaller payouts and with the agreement that their bet must include multiple legs. It is essentially an exchange of points for volume. Since teasers must include multiple bets (two or more legs), all teaser bets are parlays, meaning that each individual leg must be graded as a win in order for your teaser parlay to be graded as a winner.
In a teaser, since you are buying points and moving the point spread in one direction, your payout for a single selection is much lower than it would be if you were just betting the regular point spread on a side – which is often offered around -110. However, since teaser bets also must be parlayed (and involve two or more teams) you can create tickets with larger payouts by simply adding more teaser selections (or sides) onto your ticket.
Football teasers are popular as the ability to add points to the spread (and potentially land on important numbers) makes them attractive to both new and experienced sports bettors alike. Basketball teasers are fairly common wagers too. Like football teasers, basketball teasers must be made with two or more teams involved, with some sportsbooks offering the ability to make teaser bets with 10 teams or more attached to a single ticket.
Are teasers good or bad bets?
Teasers can be good bets if implemented correctly. Since there are only so many ways to score in professional football games – with the most common, by far, being TDs and FGs – matches tend to end with specific margins of victory on a regular basis. A three-point margin of victory tends to be the highest margin of victory we see in the NFL, with seven, 10, and six also being key numbers. It should be noted, as well, that while seven and three tend to be the numbers bettors key in on most, six-point margins have shot up in regularity since the extra-point was lengthened back in 2013.
Teasers, then, are often thought to be “good bets” in NFL betting circles when you can push past key numbers. For example, teasing a -7.5 point spread down to -1.5, or taking a +1.5 spread up to +7.5 moves the spread past important milestone numbers like 7.0, which is the second most common margin of victory in the NFL. This concept of moving the spread in your teaser past important numbers was elaborated on by Standford Wong in his book, Sharp Sports Betting which is considered one of the early go-to sources on key numbers for teaser betting.
It is important to note, though, that teasers require a high win rate in order to be profitable. Since teasers force us to take both shorter odds and create a parlay, our win rates must also be higher (than if you were simply betting against the spread on single games) in order to profit.
Are Teasers worth it?
Most sportsbooks offer two-game teasers at lines between +100 and -120. If we assume a -120 line on a two-leg teaser then our win rate must approach, or be better, than 74% to profit. It has been shown that teasing football games through key numbers like seven and three, can produce win rates high enough to beat those kinds of odds on offer.
However, it’s important to remember that sportsbooks offer these kinds of bets for a reason. Most bettors don’t have the discipline to only implement teasers around key numbers or take a long-term approach. The fact that we have to rely on parlays (winning two or more bets to get paid out) while sustaining such a high win rate to be successful, also makes teasers susceptible to bigger downswings. For most bettors, there will simply be better options, than betting teasers, available to them on a weekly basis.
Ultimately, if you are betting teasers, a couple of hard and fast rules should be followed.
- Only bet teasers through key numbers: Looking most often to get lines down through key numbers for favorites (e.g -8.5 to -2.5, -12.5 to -6.5 or -7.5 to -1.5) and up through key numbers for underdogs (e.g. +1.5 to +7.5 or +4.5 to +10.5)
- Go line shopping: Getting a two-team teaser (for example) at +100 vs. -120 is a huge edge that can help make teasers far more profitable in the long run and will mean you will need a lower-win rate, overall, to profit.
Oct 17, 2021; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; Dallas Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb (88) makes the catch and runs the ball for the game winning touchdown in overtime at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports
What is a 6-point teaser?
A six-point teaser is a teaser bet that moves a line 6.0 points. In a six-point teaser, you are adding or subtracting 6.0 points from the given line.
Example:
- The Raiders are set as +1.5 underdogs this week on the regular point spread. We add them to a six-point teaser bet
- The Raiders would then become +7.5 in our teaser bet and only have to lose by 7.0 points or less to pay off for us
Example two:
- The Bills are set as -7.5 favorites this week on the regular point spread. We then add them to a six-point teaser bet
- The Bills would then become -1.5 in our teaser bet and only have to win by 2.0 points or more to pay off for us
What is a 7-point teaser?
A seven-point teaser follows the exact same parameters as a six-point teaser except for the fact we are adding seven points to the line (in our favor) instead of six. In our above examples, the Raiders would bump up to +8.5 and the Bills down to -0.5.
Seven-point teasers also pay out less than six-point teasers, on a whole. Since we are getting an extra point we are also paying more juice for each bet. Average odds for a seven-point teaser can range between -130 and -160.
What are the key numbers with teasers?
Key numbers in teasers center around the most popular winning margins in football. Since there are limited ways to score in the NFL, games tend to end with specific winning margins more often than not. Seven and three tend to be the most common winning margins in football games with over 30% of NFL games ending in one of those two winning margins, over a long-term sample. Six and 10-point winning spreads are also popular with six-point winning margins rising after the extra point was lengthened in 2015.
In teasers, the most important numbers tend to be seven and three. In general, the best way to bet teasers is to look for lines where favorites are around -8.5 to -7.5 in the opening point spreads and then bet them down to -1.5/-2.5. This gets them past the popular winning margin of 3.0, to where a three-point win would be graded as a win on our betting ticket.
On the flip side, you also want to look for underdogs who are sitting around +1.5 to +2.5 in the opening point spread and bet them up to +7.5/+8.5. This gets our underdogs past the 7.0 margin where a seven-point loss would also be graded as a winner.
Attempting to hit on these key numbers in bets are also often referred to as “Wong teasers”. This is based on the work of Stanford Wong, who introduced the principle of key numbers back in 2011.
How many points do you need to make a teaser bet?
With sportsbooks now offering a variety of alternate line options on every game, you can tease lines to almost any point margin imaginable. However, the standard NFL teaser play involves six or seven points. These numbers also tend to be where the best value comes from for bettors as they allow us to move lines past key numbers without having to lay too much juice (which we would have to do if we were buying more points).
What are the different types of teaser bets?
A traditional teaser bet involves buying points and moving the line for a specific side in our favor. A teaser makes it easier for an underdog or favorite to cover. There are other types of teaser plays available though with one of the more common being the reverse teaser or “pleaser” bet.
Pleasers act similar to teasers in that they ask us to make a parlay bet involving two or more sides. However, instead of paying more juice to get better lines, in a pleaser we are doing the exact opposite and choosing to move the line against our selection (e.g. taking a worse line). The catch is that instead of the odds moving against us (e.g. getting worse), the odds on a pleaser selection actually move in our favor (and offer us bigger payouts).
Example
- A seven-point pleaser bet involving the Packers, who are set as -6.5 favorites, would see the Packers move to -13.5 favorites. Instead of needing to win by 7.0 points to cover they would need to win by 14 or more.
- The odds though, would dramatically shift in our favor. A two-team six-point pleaser bet tends to be offered around +600 to +700 depending on the sportsbook. A stark contrast to a two-team six-point teaser which is offered at around -110.
While they are enticing due to the bigger payouts, pleasers are generally extremely hard to win. Not only are they parlay bets, where we need to win on more than one outcome in order to succeed, but they are also upping the difficulty based on the fact the line is being moved against our sides.
Pleasers are generally best implemented when you think a team, who is already a favorite on the regular point spread, has a good chance at a blowout win. Using pleasers with underdogs can be useful if you think said underdog has a shot of winning outright. However, simply betting the underdog on the money line is almost always going to be a better option, long term, in that scenario – especially given the fact that straight money line bets don’t need to be parlayed.
One other method of betting teasers involves betting on the totals of football games or basketball games. Totals tend to be an unprofitable way of implementing teaser bets but work in the same fashion as teasing point spreads. If a game total is on offer for 47.0 points, including the total in a six-point teaser bet means you would move the line to 41.0 or 53.0 depending on your preference.
How do NFL teasers work?
NFL teasers work by selecting two or more point spreads and adjusting the line in those spreads to your favor – usually by six or seven points. Most football teaser bets use six to seven points but some sportsbooks will offer the ability to adjust the number of points you can use to your liking – with better or worse payouts depending on the number of points you choose.
NFL teaser bets cannot include a single selection and must be parlayed to include two or more selections. As you add more selections to your NFL teaser, the payouts will also rise.
How do NBA teasers work?
Basketball teasers work in much the same fashion that NFL teasers do. In an NBA teaser bet we are simply adjusting the point spread on multiple games and parlaying that into a multiple-leg bet (aka a parlay).
The main difference between NFL teasers and NBA teasers is the number of points that people buy. In NBA betting, 4.5 point to 6.5 point teasers tend to be the most popular, with 5.0 to 5.5 points being the most commonly offered and bet teasers. Key winning margins exist in the NBA as well with over 40% of NBA games ending with a winning margin between two to eight points. This means that pushing underdogs and favorites past these numbers will be key for maximizing NBA teasers, as well.
May 15, 2022; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic (77) reacts against the Phoenix Suns in game seven of the second round for the 2022 NBA playoffs at Footprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
For example, if the Bulls are sitting as +3.5 underdogs in an opening line, teasing them by five points will get them to +8.5 and through the most common winning margins. Teasing a favorite in the NBA works in much the same fashion. If the Warriors open with a starting line of -6.5, teasing them down by five points will take us to -1.5 and past the important number of two, which is one of the top 10 most common winning margins in basketball.
In much the same fashion as NFL teasers, NBA teasers require a level of success to be profitable. Most two-game 5.0-point teasers will be offered around -120 to +100 and require a win rate greater than 74% to profit.
How do teasers work in other sports?
Teasers in other major sports like Hockey and Baseball, for the most part, do not exist. Lines in those sports tend to be much smaller than in the NFL and NBA, with most NHL games never pushing past a -2.5 puck line.
College basketball and college football are two other sports where teasers can be made. The same principles that we applied to NFL and NBA teasers apply to the college versions of these sports. Since college performance, as a whole, tends to be more volatile than professional leagues it can make betting teasers an even tougher proposition.
How do teasers payout?
As mentioned above, odds on teaser bets vary depending on how many points we include in our teaser plays and how many selections are on our teaser tickets. Payouts also tend to vary across different sportsbooks as well.
A general guide on teaser payouts is below:
As you can see from the above, the more points we take in a teaser the less our payouts become. Thus, when possible, we want to limit our teasers in the NFL to six points to maximize our payouts. Also mentioned above, if we are betting two-team teasers at a price of -120, our win rate would have to exceed 74% to be profitable. That number would come down slightly if we were to get a better payout on our teasers, like -110 or +100, but we’d still need a high win rate of well over 70% to ensure profitability.
As we can see by the table, if we are betting three or four-game teasers, our payouts would increase and hence our win rate to reach profitability would also be lower. However, it’s important to remember that as we increase the number of bets on our tickets, winning also becomes far more difficult.
How do pushes or ties work in a teaser bet?
Since our teaser bet is also a parlay (involves two or more legs), then a push or tie doesn’t necessarily mean our ticket will become a loser. Most sportsbooks will grade any leg of your teaser bet that pushes (or ties) as a non-bet.
For example, if we have teased the New York Giants from +2 to +8 in a two-leg teaser and the Giants end up losing by 8.0 points, that bet would be a push as it finished directly on the number we were hoping the Giants would cover. If the other leg of your teaser bet won, then your ticket would still be graded as a winner but have its odds reduced to only pay out the winning portion of your ticket.
Example:
Two leg teaser:
Leg 1 - Giants +8.0 (Giants lose by 8.0 points and push)
Leg 2 - Bills -6.5 (Bills win by 7.0 points and cover)
- Since the Giants pushed but the Bills covered, the ticket would still be valid but only pay out the Bills side, generally, at half the odds you were offered on your initial two-team teaser.
- Each sportsbook has its own unique rules and regulations when it comes to teaser betting, though, so be sure to check them before implementing.
- While most sportsbooks will still payout something if one of your sides pushes (and the rest win) it's important to research and avoid those with less generous rules.
How to bet a teaser?
As we related above, teaser bets are made by buying points in exchange for volume. Teasers involve a couple of different/extra decisions that we don’t have to make when just betting point spreads or money lines–and therefore make them more complex bets. Which point spreads we want to move, how many points we want to buy, and how many legs our teaser bet will be, are all decisions we must make when implementing teasers.
Below is a quick step-by-step explanation of how to go about creating an NFL teaser bet.
- Select which games you are interested in including in your teaser
- Some sportsbooks require a three-game minimum but others allow two
- Decide on the number of points you want to buy
- Most sportsbooks offer six or seven-point teasers. You should be able to adjust the number of points on your betting slip on many sportsbooks
- Attempt to hit on key numbers by moving favorites down to lines like -1.5/-2.5 or -5.5/-6.5 and by moving underdogs up to key numbers like +3.5 or +7.5
- Shop around and find the best payouts available.
- Not all sportsbooks offer the same kinds of payouts for teasers and your long-term profitability is much more likely to be positive with more friendly payouts (e.g. look for +100 for a two teaser vs. -120)
