What Is A Teaser Sports Betting

Posted on4/5/2022by admin

You’ve probably heard the typical items to bet on sports whether it’s the point spread, moneyline, or point totals. Those are the major three categories when it comes to sports betting, but there are plenty of opportunities worth exploring.

Football Teaser Bet
What Is A Teaser
What Is Teaser Bet

Teasers are more advanced and can be a little more complicated than the industry’s more basic terms and may need some explaining, but we’re here to help you understand it all and how it works.

Teaser betting explained

A teaser bet is similar to parlay bet in that it requires multiple outcomes to be correct for the bet to be a winner. It’s an all-or-nothing style of bet that can be a useful tool when analyzing the betting board. A teaser is different from a parlay in that the sports bettor is in control of the lines whether it’s a point spread or point total. Spreads and totals may be modified in whichever direction the gambler decides to make for a better winning opportunity.

While the ability to shift numbers in your direction makes for an easier chance at a winning bet, the payout in a teaser bet is typically smaller than the payout of a parlay bet, which is another difference between the two strategies.

DDC Video 8 What is a teaser bet and how does it work? What are the pros and cons of playing a teaser bet? How is a teaser similar to a parlay?

The basics of teasers

Sports betting is the activity of predicting sports results and placing a wager on the outcome. The frequency of sports bet upon varies by culture, with the vast majority of bets being placed on association football, American football, basketball, baseball, hockey, track cycling, auto racing, mixed martial arts, and boxing at both the amateur and professional levels.
A teaser bet is similar to parlay bet in that it requires multiple outcomes to be correct for the bet to be a winner. It’s an all-or-nothing style of bet that can be a useful tool when analyzing the betting board.

Teasers are most commonly used when betting on football and basketball, as both see a significant amount of points scored compared to the other major sports. With the point spread and point totals as large components of wagering both sports, it provides an opportunity for betting teasers.

Sportsbooks typically will give football bettors the chance to tease 6, 6.5, and 7 points. When you look at the point spread or point total for a particular game, you can choose to add your teaser points to the sides or totals you’d like for multiple outcomes.

One aspect to watch when analyzing NFL and college football teasers is key numbers. The most important numbers in football betting are three and seven, as those two numbers have the highest chance of winding up as the final deficit in games.

In basketball, sportsbooks typically will offer teaser numbers of 4, 4.5, and 5 points for sports bettors to choose from.

If all the combinations you select are winners, you win the bet. If just one of the outcomes falls short, the bet is a loser no matter how many winners you selected in the teaser.

Football teaser payout chart

The more points added to your preferred side or total, the less of a payout there will be if the bet eventually becomes a winner. For example, if you’re betting a football game and take seven points on the teaser, there would be less of a payout than there would be if you teased six points.

Sportsbooks may differ when it comes to payouts on teasers, but most have agreed on a standard of how they operate up to ten outcomes.

For six-point teasers:

Two-team teaser: -110
Three-team teaser: +180
Four-team teaser: +300
Five-team teaser: +450
Six-team teaser: +600
Seven-team teaser: +1,000
Eight-team teaser: +1,500
Nine-team teaser: +2,000
10-team teaser: +2,500

For 6.5-point teasers:

Two-team teaser: -120
Three-team teaser: +160
Four-team teaser: +250
Five-team teaser: +400
Six-team teaser: +550
Seven-team teaser: +900
Eight-team teaser: +1,200
Nine-team teaser: +1,500
10-team teaser: +2,000

For seven-point teasers:

Two-team teaser: -130
Three-team teaser: +140
Four-team teaser: +200
Five-team teaser: +350
Six-team teaser: +500
Seven-team teaser: +800
Eight-team teaser: +1,000
Nine-team teaser: +1,200
10-team teaser: +1,500

Football Teaser Bet

The payout increases quite a bit with the more teams you add, but the payout is less the higher the teaser number is.

Basketball teaser payout chart

What Is A Teaser

Basketball payouts are similar to football. Here they are:

For four-point teasers:

Two-team teaser: -100
Three-team teaser: +180
Four-team teaser: +300
Five-team teaser: +500
Six-team teaser: +700
Seven-team teaser: +1,000
Eight-team teaser: +1,500
Nine-team teaser: +2,000
10-team teaser: +2,500

For 4.5-point teasers:

Two-team teaser: -110
Three-team teaser: +160
Four-team teaser: +250
Five-team teaser: +400
Six-team teaser: +600
Seven-team teaser: +900
Eight-team teaser: +1,200
Nine-team teaser: +1,500
10-team teaser: +2,000

For five-point teasers:

Two-team teaser: -120
Three-team teaser: +150
Four-team teaser: +200
Five-team teaser: +350
Six-team teaser: +500
Seven-team teaser: +800
Eight-team teaser: +1,000
Nine-team teaser: +1,200
10-team teaser: +1,500

Follow the lines

This is more for more experienced bettors but having a general sense of where a line will move before game time can provide an even greater chance at picking a winner. When the oddsmakers set their initial lines on the point spread or point total, it’s not uncommon for the number to change depending on where the majority of bets are coming in. If you have a good hunch on which side or total the largest amount of money will come in on, you might be able to snag a half-point or more to your side for an even larger advantage to your teaser.

Football has the most movement since lines are usually put out well in advance of the start of the game.

What about a push?

A push is the gambling term for a tie. If you put together a three-team teaser and one of the outcomes lands right on the number you’re betting on, that’s called a push. Sportsbooks handle pushes differently with teasers, but typically the outcome that resulted in a push is eliminated from the teaser bet. If it’s a three-team teaser, the bet that finished in a push is taken out as if it never happened and you’re now playing a two-team teaser.

Examples

Now that you’ve read the basics of betting teasers, let’s put what you’ve learned into examples to give you an even better understanding. Let’s dive in.

Betting teasers in NFL

After analyzing the betting board, let’s say you are interested in the home teams and want to add a little extra to their number with a teaser. In this scenario, you’re picking the Packers, Lions, and Eagles to cover in your teaser. Here’s what the board initially looks like before you add in your teaser points.

Packers -3
Lions +2
Eagles -6.5

Let’s say you decide on a seven-point teaser. After putting that into effect, here’s what your gambling card looks like now:

Packers +4 vs. Vikings
Lions +9 vs. Bears
Eagles +0.5 vs. Cowboys

The teaser added seven points to each outcome. Instead of needing the Packers to win by more than three points, now all the Packers need to do is win or lose by three points or less. The Lions need to win or lose by less than nine, and the Eagles turned from 6.5-point favorites to 0.5-point underdogs.

If all the outcomes wind up coming true, the bet is a winner. Since this is a three-team teaser at seven points each, the odds would be set at +140, which means a $100 bet would net a $140 profit.

If any of the outcomes fail, the entire bet is a loser.

Betting teasers in NBA

Let’s head to the NBA for our next example. For this one, say you think offenses are being undervalued in terms of how many points they will score on this day. While you’re confident the point total is going to go over, you protect yourself with a four-point teaser on the following slate of basketball games:

Bucks/Celtics: 215
Lakers/Cavs: 201.5
Warriors/Thunder: 208
Suns/Pistons: 203.5

Since you’re rooting for the over, we will subtract four points to make the point total mark easier to hit. After the teasers are placed, here’s what your betting card looks like now:

Bucks/Celtics: 211
Lakers/Cavs: 197.5
Warriors/Thunder: 204
Suns/Pistons: 199.5

Just like all teasers, you must succeed on each outcome for a winning bet. If you get a four-teamer teased at four points correctly, the odds are set at +300, so a $100 bet turns into a $300 profit with a winner.

Betting teasers in college football

For our third and final example of teaser betting, let’s look at a slate of college football games. In this scenario, we will take point spreads and point totals and combine them into a four-team teaser.

Ohio State -10 vs. Michigan
Clemson -7.5 vs. South Carolina
Michigan State/Rutgers: 49.5
Alabama/LSU: 55

For Ohio State, you think they will beat Michigan, but 10 points might be too much, so you tease that number down seven points, and you do the same with Clemson against South Carolina.

With Michigan State and Rutgers, you think the over will hit, so you subtract seven points. Finally, for Alabama and LSU, you are confident fewer points will be scored, taking the under and adding seven points.

After all the teasers are placed, the board now looks like this with your four-team teaser:

Ohio State -3 vs. Michigan
Clemson -0.5 vs. South Carolina
Michigan State/Rutgers: 42.5
Alabama/LSU: 62

In the example, let’s say Ohio State winds up beating Michigan by exactly three points with a final score of 23-20. That’s a push, so that bet is eliminated. Your four-team teaser is now a three-team teaser.

If you get the rest of them correct, three teams teased at seven points will be at +140 odds. A $100 bet nets you $140.

How to Bet Guides

Key takeaways on teaser betting

Sports bettors have the opportunity to modify the lines. All outcomes need to be correct for a winning bet. The more outcomes added, the higher the potential payout will be. The more points added to the teaser, the less the potential payout will be.

Seasoned bettors are likely familiar with the teaser bet. But some beginning bettors might not know what these unique and exotic sports wagers entail. We are here to explain everything about a teaser bet; what it is, how it works, and the best way to use this option in your overall sports betting strategy.

Like a parlay, a teaser is a wager that involves multiple games -- two or more -- and you must be correct in all of the games in order to cash your ticket and win the bet. Teaser bets are most common in football and basketball -- the against the spread sports . What makes teasers unique, however, is that you get to adjust the odds in your favor. A typical NFL or college football teaser, for example, is six points. That means that you get to subtract six points the spread of a favorite and add six points to the spread of an underdog. For example, a -13 favorite would become -7 in a six-point teaser, while a +8 underdog would become +14.

Doc's Sports offers free NFL teaser picks and predictions every week of the pro football season. Check our homepage weekly during the season!

Teaser Sports Betting: Teaser Bet Explained

Online sportsbooks allow for up to 10-team teasers, or sometimes more, with odds greatly increasing, and some sportsbooks allow for up to 10-point to 13-point sweetheart teasers where a bettor drastically changes the line in exchange for drastically lower odds.

While football and basketball are the two main sports with which sportsbooks offer teaser bets, not all teasers are created equal. Just think about the numbers for a moment. The average NBA total is above 200 combined points for both teams. And the average NFL total is in the 40s. But the standard football teaser (at anywhere from -110 to -120 juice, depending on the sportsbook) allows you to move the spread six points for each matchup on the ticket, while a basketball teaser offers only 4.5 points at the same odds. There is obviously a lot more scoring in a basketball game, but you have to pay more for the extra points. That's why most sharp bettors stay away from basketball teasers and stick with six-point football teasers, which we will discuss in more detail later in this article.

How Does a Teaser Bet Work?

The payout in a teaser doesn't change because of the teams involved - the payout is at a fixed number depending on the number of teams and the number of points for each segment. Each sportsbook sets their own teaser odds, though, and they can vary widely from book to book. When you are placing a teaser bet, it's imperative to shop around to find the best payout odds for the number of teams you are betting. Some sportsbooks generally have better teaser payouts than others. Over the long run, a difference in payout can obviously make a big difference to the bottom line, so looking for the best deal is crucial. The odds you want for football teasers are -110 for a two-team, six-point teaser. However, many sportsbooks found that offering this juice opened them up to risk from sharp bettors, so many books raised their price to -115 or even -120 for this teaser bet variation.

Teaser Bet Tie or Push

This is the single biggest rule that you need to be aware of -- how the book handles ties or a push. There are four different ways that a book can handle it if one of your games ends exactly on the number. Some books treat a tie as a win. Others reduce the number of teams in the teaser by one -- if you bet a four-team teaser and have a tie and three wins, then it will pay off like a three-game teaser. Others will treat a teaser with a tie as no action -- they'll return your bet -- as long as you win your other bets. Finally, some books will treat a tie as a loss. Each of those is a very different situation and can affect your return significantly. You need to be aware of what the book offers and make sure that it fits your needs. There isn't necessarily one situation that is better than another, but you need to make sure that the potential return adequately reflects the risk you are taking.

NFL Betting Teaser with Example

Sharp bettors generally stay away from basketball teasers, as previously stated, and also normally avoid college football teasers in favor of NFL teasers. We already talked about the perils of hoops teasers, but for college football there are many more points scored in general than in professional football, removing the value out of the extra six points you get in a matchup. There are also more blowouts in college football. NFL betting lines are considered the sharpest in the sports betting industry, meaning the oddsmakers set the tightest lines on the games. So, therefore, getting the six points on a matchup creates great value for the bettor when many games end up close to the point spread. There are many NFL games where both sides of a teaser hit as well as both sides of the total. The following is an example:

Original Spread:

What Is Teaser Bet

Kansas City Chiefs -10 vs. Las Vegas Raiders, Total 52

Final Score: Chiefs 30, Raiders 21

The Four Possible Six-Point Teaser Options:

Chiefs -4, Raiders +16, Over 46, Under 58

In this example, all six-point teasers for this game were a winner.

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Best Teaser Bets NFL: Basic Strategy Teasers

A popular strategy implored by most casual bettors is to tease favorites down so that they are closer to a pick'em and to tease a total down and take the over. A smarter strategy used by professional bettors is to make the most of the allotted points in the teaser. In what is known as a Basic Strategy Teaser or a Wong Teaser , bettors use the six points in the teaser to move the line past the two main key numbers in professional football, which are three and seven. An example of this would be moving a favorite of -8 down to a favorite of -2, thereby moving past the three and the seven, and moving an underdog of +2 points to +8. So many NFL games fall on these two key numbers, so moving the points past these key numbers gives the bettor a nice chance for profit.

Unfortunately for bettors, most sportsbooks raised the juice for a two-team, six-point Basic Strategy Teaser because the sharp bettors were consistently winning. The Expected Value was too great for the bettor at -110 vig. Therefore, the sportsbooks increased their juice on these Wong teasers to -115 or even -120 in some cases, removing most of the value and potential for long-term profit.

Are Teaser Bets Worth It?

It depends. Most smart bettors avoid NBA, college hoops and NCAA football teasers altogether. But I do know some sharp guys who use teasers in these sports on a regular basis with success. Personally, I play only NFL teasers, and, unless in very rare circumstances, I play only the Basic Strategy Teaser variety. I have found that I hit a high enough percentage of these bets that I can achieve profit even at -115 or -120 juice.