Sports Betting Teasers Explained
Sports Betting: Teaser Bets and Payouts. By Loot, Sports Handicapper, Lootmeister.com. Teasers are bets where you pick multiple teams. All of them must cover the spread for you to win, but with teasers, you get to move that spread in your favor. Teasers can only be placed with sports that involve a point-spread, so we’re talking about basketball and football here. Examples are always useful. Teasers are one of the most effortless bets because it is easy to ascertain their value. It doesn't matter if you have no prior knowledge of sports betting calculations. Even it doesn't matter if you don’t know what a teaser is. This article will let you know all that you have to discover about the teaser bet strategy.
Although a little more advanced than a normal moneyline or spread bet, NFL Teaser Betting is fairly popular at sportsbooks during the NFL season. Teaser bets account for over 15% of sportsbooks handles for NFL betting, and is continuously becoming more popular.
NFL teaser betting is more common with intermediate or advanced bettors, but it isn’t a hard concept to understand – I will explain how NFL teasers work below.
What is a NFL Teaser Bet?
A teaser bet is a group of straight bets (two or more) combined into one bet, where each individual line has been shifted to your favour by the number of points of the teaser.
There are three main NFL teasers – 6, 6.5 and 7 point teasers.
In a 6 point NFL teaser the line would be shifted by 6 points in the favour of the bettors play. For example if you wanted to take the Ravens -8, it would be converted into Ravens -2 within a teaser bet. The spread was shifted 6 points (from 8 points down to 2 points). Another example would be if you wanted to play the Chiefs -2.5. In a 6 point teaser the -2.5 line would be changed to Chiefs +3.5.
The same rule is applied for 6.5 and 7 point NFL teasers, except, of course, the line is shifted by either 6.5 or 7 points instead of the 6 points shown in the example above. NFL teaser bets must include two or more bets “parlayed” (cannot do single teaser bets).
NFL Teaser Example
Here is what a two team 6.5 point NFL teaser bet would look like:
Your selections: Pittsburgh Steelers +3 and Dallas Cowboys -4.5
In a 6.5 point teaser these would then be changed to: Steelers +9.5 and Cowboys -2
In order for you to win the teaser bet both incomes would have to be correct. If one selection was a push the bet is often refunded, but some sportsbooks will count it as a loss if the other selection lost (check your sportsbooks‘ rules).
Below is another example of a teaser bet that I recently placed and won. I teased the Vikings and Eagles from +2.5 up to +8.5 in a 2 team 6 point teaser.
NFL Teaser Bet Payouts
Every sportsbook will have their own payouts and rules for teaser bets. Our favorite sportsbook for getting the best NFL odds is 5Dimes.eu. Of course the more points you use on the teaser the lower the payout will be, and the more teams you include in the teaser bet the higher the payout will be.
Here are the NFL Teaser Payouts at 5Dimes (subject to change):
6 Point NFL Teaser Bet Payouts
2 Teams – (+100)
3 Teams – (+180)
4 Teams – (+300)
6.5 Point NFL Teaser Bet Payouts
2 Teams – (-110)
3 Teams – (+165)
4 Teams – (+265)
7 Point NFL Teaser Bet Payouts
2 Teams – (-120)
3 Teams – (+150)
4 Teams – (+240)
Of course you can choose more than 4 teams in your NFL teaser bet, I just used these as example payouts so you could get a feel for what the payouts are like on teaser bets. Full payout charts can usually be found at the sportsbooks website.
Now that you know what teasers are check out this advanced Teaser Betting Strategy article written by our professional sports bettor, Jim. In the article you will learn when teasers are +EV and how you can make a profit during the season picking spots to bet teasers.
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:
Kansas City Chiefs -10 vs. Las Vegas Raiders, Total 52
Final Score: Chiefs 30, Raiders 21
Sports Betting Teasers Explained Sheet
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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Sports Betting Teasers Explained Answers
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.