Teaser Betting Guide
Teaser bets are a great way to make US sports betting more engaging, especially if you love point spreads. With sports betting teasers, you are in charge of the spread. The more teams you pick, the bigger the odds!
What is a Teaser Bet?
A teaser is a type of parlay betting covering only point spread picks. The beauty of teaser bets, however, is that you get to move the point spread in your favor.
You will need to select at least two games to qualify for a teaser. However, the number of points you can move the spread by is totally up to you. Move the spread up in a teaser and give the underdog a better shot or move the spread down in a “pleaser” if you think the favorite will win even with a bigger handicap.
How Does a Teaser Bet Work?
Most sportsbooks offer teaser bets in the US. A teaser lets you combine multiple point spread betting selections in one bet. For the teaser to win, every leg of the bet must be successful. Point spreads can be great fun if you’re a savvy gambler. However, why settle for the sportsbook’s spread when you can pick your own and get better odds?
Let’s start by explaining how odds work in the point spread. A point spread is a handicap bet where one team (the favorite) is given a theoretical points deduction before the game starts. The other team (the underdog) is given an equal number of points as a headstart.
For example, imagine the Cleveland Browns are playing at New England Patriots. The spread is listed as follows (odds in brackets):
Cleveland Browns +4.5 (-110)
New England Patriots -4.5 (-110)
The Browns are slight underdogs but are odds-on once a 4.5-point head-start has been applied. Conversely, the Patriots are slightly better odds at -110 than their moneyline betting price of -135 given their 4.5-point handicap.
The score finishes 43-40 to the Patriots. If you’d bet on the Browns on the spread you would have won as they would have ended with a theoretical total of 44.5 (40 + 4.5).
How Do I Place a Teaser Bet?
What if you want to give the Browns an even bigger head-start and combine the bet with other selections? That’s where a teaser bet comes in.
Let’s imagine you pick spreads on two NFL games for your football teasers bet slip:
Cleveland Browns at Patriots +2.5 (-110)
Atlanta Falcons at Dallas Cowboys +10.0 (-125)
A regular 2-leg parlay works out at combined odds of +243. But what if you want to give the Patriots and Falcons an even bigger head-start?
On the bet slip, you can add points to the spread to recalculate the odds on your two-team teaser. Click on the drop-down menu to select your teaser. The sportsbook will display the available odds for each different outcome. Note that some sportsbooks calculate teaser payouts in different ways. We recommend opening several betting accounts to find the best odds.
6-Point Teaser: In our example, we select the two-team, six-point teaser option. The two spreads are now displayed as:
Cleveland Browns +8.5
Atlanta Falcons +16.0
Each team now has an additional six-point advantage before a kick takes place. The odds for this teaser are displayed as -120. This is a fixed price set by the sportsbook. You can also back 6-point teasers across 3-8 teams. The more teams you choose, the higher the odds.
6.5-Point Teaser: You can also pick half-points to add to the spread. The odds are slightly lower than a 6-point teaser as you are giving the teams more points to start with.
- Two teams: -130
- Three teams: +150
- Four teams: +230
- Five teams: +350
- Six teams: +500
- Seven teams: +900
- Eight teams: +1200
7-Point Teaser:
- Two teams: -140
- Three teams: +130
- Four teams: +200
- Five teams: +320
- Six teams: +450
- Seven teams: +700
- Eight teams: +1000
Super/Monster Teaser
You can also add a huge 10 points or 13 points to the spread. A Super Teaser is a bet where each team gains a 10-point add to the spread. A Monster Teaser sees each team get 13 points added to the spread. Typically, Super teasers must contain three picks and Monster teasers four picks.
You can bet teasers typically on football and basketball. Online sportsbooks normally provide football teasers at 6, 6.5 and 7 points for NFL games.
Basketball Teasers at US Sportsbooks
You can also earn teaser payouts betting on basketball point spreads. Bet on NBA or college basketball and make profits gambling on slightly smaller spreads.
For example, here are two games taking place on a Friday night:
Detroit Pistons at Cleveland Cavaliers +5.0 (-110)
Boston Celtics home to Milwaukee Bucks +2.0 (-110)
Both teams are odds-in given their points advantage. Indeed, you can get +264 on the 2-leg parlay. However, if you combine the two games in a teaser and opt for +4 points, you can get –110 on the two results where Detroit has a +9.0 advantage (up from +5.0) and Boston +6.0 (up from just +2.0).
This can be a smart move once you check out the recent form of both teams. If the sides have been finishing games with close scores, the teaser gives both teams a bigger points cushion.
Typically, US sportsbooks will offer 4-point teasers on NBA games, followed by 4.5 points, 5 points, 8 points, and 10 points. Common basketball teaser payouts might be:
4-Point Teaser:
- Two teams: -110
- Three teams: +170
- Four teams: +290
- Five teams: +450
- Six teams: +650
- Seven teams: +1000
- Eight teams: +1500
4.5-Point Teaser:
- Two teams: -120
- Three teams: +150
- Four teams: +240
- Five teams: +400
- Six teams: +550
- Seven teams: +900
- Eight teams: +1200
5-Point Teaser:
- Two teams: -130
- Three teams: +130
- Four teams: +190
- Five teams: +350
- Six teams: +450
- Seven teams: +700
- Eight teams: +1000
8-Point Teaser (Super Teaser)
- 3 teams: -120
10-Point Teaser (Monster Teaser)
- 4 teams: -120
As with multiple bets in NFL, always check the terms and conditions on a push. Some sportsbooks will void the entire bet if one of your legs ends in a tie.
Are Teasers Good Bets?
A point teaser bet can be a great wager to make in some circumstances. The best way to use a point teaser is if you want to give the underdog a big positive points head-start. For instance, the Atlanta Falcons may be no-hopers at the Cowboys on a moneyline bet. However, with a 10 or 13-point advantage, they become a better prospect.
Teaser Bet Pros
There are some advantages to placing teaser bets. As mentioned, you give the underdog a fighting chance, and when you combine multiple legs you have a shot at bagging a decent payout on NFL games or basketball.
You can also compare and contrast multiple sportsbooks. All online sportsbooks offer teaser bets and they’re easy to place – even for casual bettors.
Teaser Bet Cons
Teasing the point spread increases the probability of winning. However, most standard teaser bet payouts heavily stack the odds in the sportsbook’s favor. Some gamblers will avoid a two-team teaser purely because of the house edge.
For instance, a regular eight-team parlay on point spreads may pay out +3000. However, a 7-point teaser bet with those same eight teams may only pay +1000. That’s a huge difference.
Reverse Teasers (Pleasers)
A pleaser is like a teaser but the point spread is moved against the player toward the sportsbook. As a result, the odds will increase to give the player a better payout. All selections must come good for you to win your pleaser bet.
You place the pleaser in the same way as you would the teaser. However, instead of adding points to the spread, you adjust the spread down.
In our example, let’s imagine a 7-point pleaser. The pleaser would look like this:
Cleveland Browns at New England Patriots -5.5
Atlanta Falcons at Dallas Cowboys +3.0
The Browns are now even bigger underdogs, while the Falcons have a bigger mountain to climb from their 3-point advantage. However, the odds on this two-team pleaser are now listed as +700. There could be value there if you like the look of the two handicapped teams.
Can a Teaser Bet Push?
A teaser bet can sometimes end in a tie. For instance, one of our teams may hit the spread on the nail. If this happens, the leg will result in a “push”. The leg is removed from the bet and the sportsbook will recalculate the payout based on your remaining parlay legs.
It’s important to check the sportsbook’s terms and conditions. Some betting sites will scrap the leg and honor the remaining legs. However, some US sportsbooks will void the entire wager.
Teaser Betting Strategy
Essentially, teaser betting is all about turning a marginal outcome into a profitable one. If the underdog has a +2.5pt spread, it’s always better to tease the spread to +7 or +7.5. True, the payouts come down but you are giving yourself a better chance of a payout.
You can use some basic strategies to find the top teaser odds. Wong Teasers is a term to describe the most favorable bets first highlighted in Stanford Wong’s 2001 book, Sharp Sports Betting.
In Wong’s book, he recommended teasing up home underdogs who started with a spread of +1.5 to +2.5. Similarly, he recommended teasing hot home favorites who started at -7.5 to -8.5 points. The simple reason was that the probability of home teams winning made the teaser bets worth backing.
Betting Teasers on Football
Football is probably the most popular sport for teaser bets. Most casual bettors will cover teasers in NFL games and all US sportsbooks will offer a range of odds. You can also select college football games to add to your team teaser wagers. Be mindful of the rules in your state as some US states won’t allow betting on college football if your team is playing at home.
Betting Teasers on Basketball
You can also win basketball teaser payouts on NBA and college games. As with football, be sure that college basketball (NCAAB) betting is permitted in your state. Teaser spreads tend to be smaller in basketball and normally cover from 4 points to 10 points. You can also back up to 10 teams in your teaser parlay.
Betting Teasers on Baseball
Teaser betting is not normally offered on the MLB. This is due to the small point spreads (run line) available on MLB games. However, you can still place parlay bets on multiple MLB legs.
Betting Teasers on Hockey
As with baseball, sportsbooks tend not to offer teaser payouts on hockey. This is down to the close scores seen in many NHL games. Again, you can find a good selection point spread betting on NHL games and even parlay boosts for multi-leg wagers.
Betting Teasers on Soccer
Sports betting teasers are not usually offered on soccer due to the close nature of scores. However, you can oftentimes find handicap betting on soccer games where one or either team will be given a +1.5/-1.5 goal handicap first. You can combine handicap bets in a single parlay, plus you’ll have the option to pick handicaps as wide as -2.5 / +2.5.
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