THE HIGHEST TEASER BETTING ODDS CAN BE FOUND AT 5DIMES SPORTSBOOK. With teasers, all teams need to beat the adjusted spread for you to win. A $100 teaser in the above 3-team/5-point teaser would pay out $150 in winnings. A teaser is similar to a parlay bet in that the player ties multiple wagers together and the cumulative bet wins only if the wagers all win together. Where the teaser differs from the parlay is that the point spread is moved a specified number of points (usually 6 to 7 points) in the player's favor on all picks.

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

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.

One of the most popular types of wagers that NFL sports gamblers like to bet on are teaser bets. An age old question among sports bettors is are these bets profitable and what is the best way to reduce the edge held by the sportsbooks?

What Are Teasers?

Teasers are multi-leg bets similar to parlays, but that instead allow bettors to modify or move the point spread. They are most common in both college and pro football, but can also be bet on basketball games, as well.

All the legs of the bet must win for a bettor to win their teaser. If one the legs loses the teaser is graded as a loss. Bettors must choose a minimum of two teams in their teaser bet but may choose up to 15 teams at many sportsbooks, and anything in-between. When I say teams, I mean totals as well, any side or total can be used as a leg in a teaser bet.

Let’s look at some straight bets from a typical NFL Sunday before I show how a teaser affects each number:

San Francisco 49ers -3
St. Louis Rams +6.5
Minnesota Vikings +5

Now, we’ll look at the odds offered after we add 6-point three team teaser to our selection of bets.

San Francisco 49ers +3
St. Louis Rams +12.5
Minnesota Vikings +11

As you can see the odds have moved 6 points in our favor. This 3-team teaser pays out at +165 for bettors in US odds. That means, if a bettor wagered $100 on this 3-team teaser and all his legs won, he would win $165 plus original stake of $100. But, what if one of the legs ties or pushes?

Let’s say the 49ers end up losing the game by exactly 3 points, making the San Francisco leg of the bet a push. Depending on your online sportsbook, a tie could result in the loss of the teaser or grade the wager no action. What happens then? The teaser is reduced to two teams. If the sportsbooks allows pushes to be graded as no action, the teaser will then just be reduced by one game.

For instance, if one of my bets pushes in a 4-team teaser, then the teaser becomes 3-team teaser with correct appropriate odds. Remember, this is not the case if one bet pushes and the other bet loses. Any teaser, besides a 2-team teaser is graded as a loss.

The vast majority of sportsbooks offer teasers that count pushes as a reduction in the number of teams and not as a loss. Some sportsbooks, such as 5Dimes Sportsbook offers players a wide array of choice with their teaser bets, including options for ties/pushes reducing the number of teams and a tie counting as a win, as well. Of course, the odds change slightly depending on your choice, but this is a marvellous feature which puts a lot of control in the bettor’s hands.

Almost all US-facing sportsbooks will offer sweetheart teasers, also known as monster teasers. These bets are normally 10 3-team teasers but have unique rules. I cover sweetheart teasers in depth on this page.

Teaser Odds

Below are the listed NFL teaser odds for Bovada.lv, which is probably the most popular online sportsbook for US-based online sports bettors.

As you can see, the odds increase dramatically as players start to reach the higher numbers of teams. Also, if players want to buy more than six points it will cost them. Bovada’s teaser odds are around the industry standard, but US bettors can usually find better odds and certainly better options at 5Dimes.

For those that like to bet 2-team teasers, 5Dimes offers players +100 odds versus the -110 that Bovada offers. 5Dimes also allows players to go up to 15-team teasers and allows teaser options up to even 20 points. Of course, bettors will pay big if they want a 20 point teaser, and it will vastly decrease the amount they stand to win on the wager.

Why Odds Less Than Parlays?

Those that bet NFL parlays may come over to teasers and wonder why the odds are so much worse for bettors. For one, bettors are getting more points in their favor, but the other reason is that a teaser is the only bet which a sportsbook offers that can be beat from both sides, even if they receive balanced action. Let me show you what I mean.

Cincinnati Bengals +3 at Pittsburgh Steelers -3 Total: OverUnder 47

We bet several combinations of teasers:

Bengals +9 and Over 41
Bengals +9 and Under 53
Pittsburgh +3 and Under 53
Pittsburgh +3 and Over 41

If Pittsburgh wins the game by a final score of 23-20, all of the above bets win. 23-20 is a fairly common score line in the NFL, meaning that bookmakers can lose their asses when certain numbers hit for players.

However, if the books can lose big, they can also win big. This same situation may happen in reverse, but go in favor of the sportsbooks and they can scoop up the profits from teaser bettors. Also, certain types of teasers have had a lot of success over the years, especially Wong Teasers, which have forced bookies to decrease the overall teasers and have even pushed them off certain numbers.

Are Teasers Profitable?

The Wizard Of Odds did a long term study over hundreds of NFL games from 2001 to 2011 on the profitably of teasers and the sportsbook’s edge on bettors.

He analyzed common teasers of 6, 6.5 and 7 points but also looked at teasers up to 14 points. His results were rather conclusive, and he found that sportsbooks held a rather large edge on NFL teasers. Interestingly, he found that for the more commonly bet teasers of 6 or 7 points that away teams and overs were marginally better than home teams and unders.

Teasers are similar to parlays, in that the edge of the sportsbooks increases as the number of picks or teams in the teaser increases. So, if bettors want to have a chance at betting the sportsbooks with teaser bets, they better stick to 2 or 3-team teasers.

Teaser Odds Calculator

Even these odds are not great as they still give the sportsbooks an edge of 10 to 19 percent depending on your prospective sportsbook’s teaser odds. This is a significant edge, and it only gets worse from there. As the number of teams get higher, the odds get worse and worse for NFL bettors. According the decade on NFL games compiled by the Wizard of Odds, the sportsbook’s edges on teasers of 4 or more picks is anywhere largely from 17 to 55 percent and gets worse as gamblers add more bets.

This massive edge is impossible to beat, making teasers a sucker bet in many cases. Wong Teasers, as mentioned on Intense Gambling have been proven to be profitable with the appropriate odds, and I discuss this in-depth here. But, long term, teasers in most situations are not wise bet for bettors.

Tips For Betting Teasers

Teaser Odds Calculator

Though we just discussed that most teasers are not profitable for bettors, there is a reason why it is called gambling. Bettors may still want to try and hit it big by betting teasers, and even though the odds normally are not in their favor, I’ll do my best to point them in the right direction to minimize the bookie’s edge as best as possible.

Teaser Odds Basketball

Firstly, finding a sportsbook with the best odds and options is vital. Making sure that the book gives no action on 2-team teaser in which one game pushes is also crucial. If you want to bet teasers with a variety of options, such as teasers higher than 8-9 teams or sweetheart teasers, be sure to check that the book is offering these wagers before signing up. Try to formulate your own strategy for NFL teasers and use some of the tips and information written by Intense Gambling. The IntenseGambling.com page is the best NFL teaser study I’ve found online and its results seem to reveal some conclusive patterns.