Teaser Bet

In the mood for a bet but not wanting to take a big risk?

Then maybe it’s time you gave teaser bets a try.

What Is a Teaser Bet?

Teaser bets are very popular bets in online sports betting.

You get to place low-risk bets on multiple games and enjoy higher odds of winning.

With a teaser bet, you can buy extra points to add to your bets to get better odds. Winning a teaser isn’t such a sure thing though.

Here’s the catch: you need to bet on two or more game outcomes per betting slip or ticket. And you either win it all or lose it all.

This might sound familiar to you if you’ve ever made parlay bets. Teaser bets are part of the parlay family.

You place teaser parlay bets just like a regular parlay— by grouping multiple matches or bets.

And similar to parlay betting, you only win teasers if all the single bets in your ticket win.

If even just one of your legs loses, then you lose the entire teaser bet.

How a Teaser Bet Works

A teaser bet can have as few as two teams or as many as 15. Bookmakers and sportsbooks can offer up to 12-point teasers.

NFL teaser bets are popular among sports bettors. When teasing NFL games, bettors can buy either 6, 6.5, or 7 points to add to the point spreads.

Bettors then use these points to move the favorite line down or push the underdog odds up.

Six-point NFL teasers are probably the most common teaser bet.

In a 6-point teaser bet, you bet on two games' outcomes but with an extra six points for each line.

Learning by Example

A quick way to grasp how teasers work is by example:

Imagine two games on the same day with the following original bet odds:

Denver Broncos (-7) vs. New York Jets

Las Vegas Raiders (+2) vs. Kansas City Chiefs

If you buy six points (a six-point teaser) and apply it to both the Broncos and Raiders, the point spreads will change to the following:

Denver Broncos (-1) vs. New York Jets

Las Vegas Raiders (+8) vs. Kansas City Chiefs

Now, the Broncos only need to win by at least one point. Meanwhile, the Raiders need to win the game or lose by less than eight points.

To win your teaser bet, both teams have to cover their new spreads. If just one of the teams you bet on fails to cover their spread, you lose your entire teaser.

Standard Teaser Odds

Six-point spread teasers usually have around +160 betting odds.

Like other betting odds, teaser odds can vary from one sportsbook to another. Some sportsbooks also offer better payouts.

This is why line shopping is important in sports betting! You need to shop around and find the best lines and odds.

When betting on six-point football teasers, you’ll want to pick two teams with -110 odds or better. Others say the best line for six-point, two-team teasers is around -120 odds.

For three-team teasers, go for +180 or better. Then try to pick +300 or better odds for four-team teasers.

A common teaser betting odd for a seven-point NFL tease is -140. But you can sometimes find discounted 7-point teasers with -130 or -120 odds.

Types of Teaser Bets

The different types of teasers or teaser options depend on how creative you and other bettors can get. A two-team, six-point teaser bet is the most common.

You can also bet on a six-team, six-point teaser; a four-team, four-point teaser; or a two-team, 10-point teaser.

Teaser bets can also be categorized as Vegas teasers or sweetheart teasers.

Vegas Teasers

A Vegas teaser lets you buy 6, 6.5, or 7 points for football bets and 4, 4.5, or 5 points for basketball bets.

You can choose between three to eight teams in a Vegas teaser. A major point in favor of Vegas teasers is that ties, pushes, or cancellations are not counted as a loss.

For example, in a three-team teaser with a leg that ends in a push, that result is just removed. The three-team teaser is then counted as a two-team tease.

But for a two-team tease with one push, the entire bet just becomes a push.

Sweetheart Teasers

Sweetheart teasers are also known as monster teasers. This type of teaser adjusts the point spread by a huge margin compared to regular teasers. Hence being dubbed “monster.”

A three-team, 10-point teaser format is typical for sweetheart teasers. You can find online betting sites offering between -110 and -140 odds.

Your sweetheart teaser bet can also include four or five legs and change the spread by 13 points. Four-team, 13-point teasers often have odds around -120.

If one of the legs in your sweetheart teaser pushes, this will count as a loss for you.

Advantages and Drawbacks of Teaser Bets

The main advantage of teasers is that you take on less risk. If you’re interested in parlay bets but feel that the stakes are more than you can take, teaser bets are great alternatives.

Also, teaser bets with several games tied together can give you potentially huge payoffs.

Now for the cons.

Realistically, the chances of winning a teaser bet are pretty low. This is especially true for teasers with four or more legs.

Think about how often professional sports bettors win individual bets. A 55% to 60% win rate is already considered exceptional! So imagine just how hard it is to win several bets tied together all at the same time.

This remains true no matter how favorable you make the odds with teaser bets.

And compared to parlay bets, you stand to win less, too. This is expected since you’re risking much less with teasers than with parlays.

General Teaser Bet Rules

Teaser bets seem easy and fun, right? Well, don’t go diving headfirst into teaser bets just yet.

As with any game, you need to know the rules to play and win.

Types of Bets You Can Tease

As mentioned earlier, a teaser is similar to a traditional parlay. A major difference between the two is that you can’t tease moneyline bets.

So far, all the teaser bet examples we’ve given are line spreads. But you can also tease totals or over/under bets.

Over/under bets are actually one of the most popular teaser bets with the NFL.

A hard rule for teaser bets is that each leg should have the same number of points.

Teaser Bets and Pushes

Vegas teasers can push, but for regular teasers, it would depend on the sportsbook you use.

Legs that are pushed are removed from your bet slip. Your teaser bet will then be graded based on the remaining games.

A four-team teaser with one pushed bet will become a three-team teaser. Likewise, a four-team teaser with two pushed bets will become a two-team teaser.

For two-team teasers that end with a push, you’ll be refunded automatically.

Adding bets On Your Ticket

You can add additional games or legs to a current teaser bet ticket. But you can only do this while you have no losing bets or pending and undecided bets.

This is called an open teaser. Make sure you contact your sportsbook and ask if this option is available for you.

Teaser Payouts

There are two things to remember about teaser bets.

One is that the more points you buy, the more money you have to put out.

Just be smart with the points you use to raise your odds. The more points you use, the less your payout will be.

The second thing to remember: the greater number of teams you put on your teaser ticket, the higher your possible payout.

With every team added to your ticket, you’re also raising the risk you shoulder. You might have a higher payout, but you also have a higher chance of losing it all.

Here’s a quick look at the typical payouts for 6, 6.5, and 7-point odds for two- to four-team teasers:

If you get a push on a three-team teaser, your payout will drop to -110 from +160 as the ticket would become a two-team teaser.

A Beginner’s Guide to Advanced Teaser Strategy

Now that you know the rules, we’ll teach you how to bet smarter, not harder.

The Golden Ticket in Teaser Bets

In the NFL, the key to a good teaser bet is to ensure that your bet crosses many key numbers. Key numbers are the most common victory margins or point totals in a game.

Two of the biggest NFL key numbers are three and seven. Other key numbers include 6, 10, and 14.

If you can tease your bet down to below three, you’ll be golden if your team wins by three points. A lot of NFL games end with a three-point margin of victory, so your chances are pretty good.

For example, if you get a favorite down from -8 to a -2, you're using teasers correctly.

Teaser Strategy 101

Here are a few proven strategies that can help you get the most from your teasers and escape the curse of a sucker bet:

• Cross as many key numbers as you can
• Take bigger favorites and tease them down
• For the underdogs, tease them up
• Good straight bets are likely better to tease as long as you can find a matching leg
• Make sure to get -110 odds on two-team, six-point teasers

The Truth About Teasing Across Zero

Many experts would tell you not to tease through zero.

Others might say that not teasing through zero is an old-fashioned rule you can break. So, which is it really?

Teasing through zero means you literally cross the zero midline. For example, going from -5.0 to +5.0, -2.5 to +3.5, and -4.0 to +2.5 all tease across zero.

Teasing through zero is frowned upon because NFL games rarely end in a tie. Crossing zero is seen as the worst teaser strategy and a waste of a point.

If you tease across zero, you’re paying for an outcome that will likely never happen.

But there are some cases where teasing across zero can end successfully. Taking a short favorite and teasing them to a short underdog can make sense. It also means you need to tease through zero.

Teasing across zero requires a fair amount of bravery, spare cash, and acceptance.

If you think teasing across zero will be good for your leg, just be prepared to accept a loss and learn from the experience.

College Football Teaser Bets

College football teaser bets are a major sports betting market. NCAA football teaser bets and odds generally have the same payouts as an NFL teaser.

NFL matches are much more consistent than the NCAA. You can spot valuable bets much easier in professional football matchups.

Not to mention, a lot of the math and strategies that work with NFL teaser bets won’t work on college football teasers. The large point spreads in college football make it hard for you to take advantage of the value of teasers.

If you’re set to try out NCAA football teaser bets, one strategy you can use is betting Wong teasers.

Wong teasers are also called basic teasers. This strategy became famous thanks to Stanford Wong and his book Sharp Sports Betting.

The strategy revolves around the fact that most football games have victory margins between three and seven points. This is true whether for college or professional football games.

A wong teaser is a two-game teaser. You tease the spread to move through the key numbers three and seven.

Basketball Teaser Bets

You can also bet on basketball game teasers. Just note that many online sportsbooks offer fewer basketball teaser cards or tickets than football ones.

The typical teaser bet for the NBA is by 4, 4.5, or 5 points— these are also the key numbers. You can tease basketball matches by 5.5 and 6 points, too.

Basketball teaser odds can be similar to football. One difference is that the odds don’t move around as much.