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.

1. What's A Teaser Bet
2. What Is A Teaser Bet In Basketball
3. What Is A Betting Teaser Card
4. What Does A Teaser Bet Mean
5. What Is A Super Teaser Bet
6. What Is A Reverse 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.

Teasers are essentially a type of parlay, in that they involve making multiple selections as part of a single wager. All selections have to win for the bet to be successful. The selections included in a teaser must be based on either point spread bets or totals bets. As such, teasers are typically available only for football and basketball. What is a Teaser Bet? A lesser-known, safer cousin of parlay betting, the teaser is set up similar to the multi-team parlay in which the bettor chooses two or more games to combine into one bet. For each type of bet, all plays must hit for the ticket to be a winner. The big difference between teasers and a parlay bet is for teasers, lines are. A Teaser bet is only allowed as part of a parlay or accumulator combination bet. It is an American betting term that is not used much, if at all, in the UK or Europe. A Teaser applies when you are making up a parlay of bets with points spreads. It is when you change the point spread to give your bet a better chance of winning. 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.

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.

A Teaser is a bet on two or more teams or selections. The difference between a teaser and a parlay is that in a teaser YOU ADJUST (tease) THE LINE IN YOUR FAVOR. For example: If New England Patriots are favored by seven points in one game and the Buffalo Bills are favored by 10 points in a second game.

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.

The basics of teasers

What's A Teaser Bet

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

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

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.

What Is A Teaser Bet In Basketball

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:

What Is A Betting Teaser Card

• 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.

Home > Sports Betting > Sports Betting Articles > Are Teasers Terrible Bets

Every piece of advice I've found about sports betting says the same thing about teasers.

Teasers are sucker bets and should be avoided at all costs.

I've read bookies claiming they love when players bet on teasers and wish more people would use them.

If you blindly accept this advice and aren't willing to consider a contrarian approach to possibly find a profitable edge, you don't have much reason to continue reading.

You'll need to decide for yourself if you can use this information to make teasers profitable enough to bet on a regular basis, but I'm convinced some sharp sports bettors already are turning profit using them.

If you're like me and realize most sports betting books are below average at best, keep reading to see why teasers are more profitable now than ever before.

What Is a Teaser Bet?

A teaser bet is when you bet on two or more games or matches and receive a number of points to add to each line that you bet on.

Here's an example:

The regular lines on three games are as follows:

Titans +7

DOLPHINS -7

Giants +4

COWBOYS -4

Patriots -6

BENGALS +6

You decide to place a 7 point teaser bet including all three games and pick the Dolphins, Cowboys, and Bengals.

The line moves 7 points in your favor on a 7 point teaser on each game. So the Dolphins game moves to even, the Cowboys move to + 3, and the Bengals move to + 13.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Different sports books set up their teasers in different ways. Make sure you completely understand the process before placing your bets. Some books call a 7 point teaser one where you only have a total of 7 points to divide among the teams you pick instead of getting 7 points for each team.

You also need to know what happens on ties. Some teaser bets lose on ties, others win ties, and others reduce the number of games in the teaser on a tie. In other words, if one team ties on a three team teaser the teaser is reduced to a two team teaser.

You have to win all the games on the teaser in order to win.

Here's a sample pay out chart for a teaser wager:

This chart is for a 7 point teaser where each team chosen receives 7 points and ties reduce the number of teams in the teaser.

Here's a chart for a 5 ½ point teaser:

Notice that in a 7 point teaser with two games you have to bet 135 to win 100, but everything else on both charts is bet 100 to win the plus amount. On a 5 ½ point teaser with three teams you bet $100 to win $180.

Math Examples

Skip this section if you're allergic to math, but it's good to understand how the math works and what you need to become profitable betting teasers.

Normal bets with the spread require a bet of 110 to win 100. If you place two bets, one on each of two different games, and win one and lose one you end up losing $10. If you placed a 5 ½ point teaser bet on the same two games you'd bet $200 to win $200. If you lost one of your bets against the spread by fewer than 5 ½ points, in the teaser you'd have won.

What Does A Teaser Bet Mean

Of course, sometimes you'll win both bets against the spread for a profit of $200 on a $220 wage. In those cases you'll also win $200 on the 5 ½ point teaser as well.

The downside is if you lose one game on the teaser, you lose the entire $200. But if you lose both games against the spread you lose $220.

Diversify your bets if you start making teaser wagers. Instead of betting the same $220 as you would on straight bets on one teaser, bet two different teasers for $100 each.

The 10 team teasers have nice looking pay outs, but they rarely hit. Focus on finding a few games that offer the best chance to win. Place two or three game teasers until you start winning consistently.

Current Betting Lines

Teasers are more profitable now than in the past because the sports books are better at setting lines than ever.

As the posted lines get closer to the true lines, any number of points you can move the line can be more profitable.

If you pay attention to NFL and NCAA football, you know the favorite doesn't always win and even huge underdogs can win from time to time.

Even a 7 point teaser isn't enough to overcome many of these upsets.

Just like you can't blindly follow the advice not to use teasers, you can't blindly bet teasers and hope to profit. Even if most of the lines are perfect, every week a few will beat you. In other words, you still need to handicap games to pick the games offering the best chance to win any teaser bet.

A Strategy

This is a simple strategy developed from a theory I have. It's not meant to be a final strategy you should blindly use. What you should do is develop your own theories and strategies derived from this one.

After I started thinking about how much better the sports books are at setting lines than in the past, I started considering whether or not you could find situations where you could just bet teasers and show a long term profit.

If the lines are close to true lines, teaser bets should win more often than in the past.

I started investigating the NFL by looking at home underdogs that were less than 7 point dogs over the past several seasons. I then compared the average number of points they lost by with the spread. I tried to find a sweet spot where a teaser at a set point amount could be profitable without further handicapping.

I still haven't found an exact magic spot, but the research has shown promise. I'm convinced I can find multiple areas where it can be profitable.

You don't need to do anything more than I just described to develop and test your own theories. Keep coming up with new ideas and test them. Eventually you'll find things that work.

All you have to do is develop a theory, figure out a way to test it, test it on previous results, track future results, and be willing to tweak the process repeatedly until you find something that works.

Here's an example:

What Is A Super Teaser Bet

You could look at NBA games where road teams were favored, or when the road team is playing the third straight road game.

Let your mind wander and write down any theory that comes to mind, even if it sounds silly. Most sports bettors consider betting teasers silly, but that doesn't mean they're right.

Until you compile the information about your theory and test it you don't know if it'll work or not.

The best thing about finding a series of profitable teaser bets is they should be profitable for years to come. The sport books will continue getting better at setting lines, so teasers stand a good chance to be even more profitable in the future.

If you do find a profitable teaser system, keep it to yourself. If the sports books figure out too many players are profiting from the teasers offered, they'll start adjusting the teaser payouts against the public. The sports books are good at figuring out what works and making corrections.

Going Against the Crowd

One reason I started investigating the possibility of using teasers profitably was because everyone says not to use them.

Sometimes advice like this is good, but many times something has been repeated and spoken as gospel for so long that no one bothers to consider if it's really true.

What Is A Reverse Teaser Bet

A friend of mine likes to play pocket aces in Texas Holdem differently than most experts suggest because no one will put him on such a strong hand. I don't know if the way he plays is more profitable in the long run, but he's right about his opponents not putting him on such a big hand.

When I asked him why he plays aces the way he does, he told me in many things the most accepted way to do something isn't the best way. In many studies if you just do the opposite of the general public you'll be better off.

I'm not talking about doing anything illegal or stupid, but don't blindly follow everyone else because it's the way it's always been done. At one point everyone was convinced the world was flat and that earth was the center of the universe.

Take the information covered here and start tracking the results for yourself. Explore the different point levels with other aspects of sports betting to see if you can develop a new formula.

Once you develop some theories back test them and keep track of them moving forward.

Conclusion

Teaser bets aren't for everyone, but don't ignore them just because an old book said to. Start testing your own ideas and see if you can develop a winning teaser strategy. Take advantage of the accurate lines and start winning more today.