Teaser Bets

In the betting world, a teaser is a bet which allows you to reduce risk and increase your chances of winning by adjusting the spread/totals line to your favor. It is also known as buying points since you practically buy extra points to have the edge over the standard lines set by the sportsbooks.

A teaser is one kind of a parlay as it has to be consisted of at least two individual picks. In contrast to a normal parlay, the teaser bet gives you a much higher chance of winning. However, the payout is also significantly smaller than with standard parlays.

This type of betting is ideal for football and basketball. It is rarely used for hockey or soccer, while some sportsbooks may offer it as an option for baseball matches.

Overall, a teaser is by no means the most popular betting option, but it may come in quite handy to make NFL Sundays more exciting.

How Teaser Bets Work

There is no general rule for teasers as the entire system varies from one sportsbook to another. The core principle is the same, but not all sportsbooks will give you the same range of options when it comes to the alteration of spread/totals lines.

The basic teaser gives you a seven-point range for football spreads and five for totals. In basketball, the number usually goes between four and five points. Since this type of betting grew in popularity of late, most US sportsbooks offer a much wider array of the lines. You can thus go as far as moving the line for 30 to 35 points for a football contest at FanDuel. Obviously, the more you move the line to your favor, the smaller the payout will be.

In terms of winning a teaser, the principle is identical to a parlay. All of your picks within one teaser need to win for you to get money. If just one lets you down, the teaser is losing. You can back from two to twenty different bets in a single teaser (the number depends on sportsbooks).

With some sportsbooks, you can combine two bets from a single event into one teaser. For example, you can go with New England Patriots to beat San Francisco 49ers by more than six points difference and fewer than 48.5 points to be scored in the match in a single teaser.

Example on Teaser Betting Wager

We will combine four different picks (two football and basketball apiece) in one teaser in the following example. We will first show the original lines and odds and we’ll then adjust the lines according to our preferences. Let’s see the difference in the payout between the original and custom-made lines.

Original lines and odds

Lines and odds in a teaser

You can clearly see the difference in the payout between a regular parlay and a teaser. We backed Steelers not to lose by three or more points difference away at Browns in the divisional derby at the -105 odds. With a teaser, we added extra insurance in the form of five more points for Pittsburgh. We’ll win the bet if the Steelers do not lose by more than seven points difference in this instance. The odds went down from -105 to -260, though. We’ve used the same principle on the other three picks as well. When you count it all together, the payout in a teaser is drastically lower than the one in a standard parlay.

The best thing about this type of betting is that you can play with the lines. If you are convinced in certain team’s blackout, you can move the line the opposite way and increase both risk and payout. For example, let’s say you believe Brooklyn Nets can storm past Utah Jazz on the road. You can back them to win by as many as 18 points difference or more and get whopping +3800 odds for that.

Placing a Teaser Bet

Placing a teaser bet is somewhat more complicated than placing a standard moneyline, spread or totals pick. This is because online sportsbooks have different names for teaser picks. Here are some of the names you will recognize across the mainstream US sportsbooks:

• Teaser Bets
• Buy/Sell Points
• Alternate Lines
• Alternate Handicap/Totals

If you can’t see any of these options on the main page when you click a certain event, just select the “More Wagers” option and you will get there. Most US sportsbooks have this option for football and basketball matches.

Once you find the list of alternate lines, you should just click on the odds for the desired betting pick and it will appear in the bet-slip.

The other way is to just click on the regular points spread/totals lines and change the format from “Standard” to “Teaser” in the bet-slip. In this case, you will automatically get the different (adjusted) lines, but these only vary from 4-5 (4.0, 4.5, 5.0) for basketball and 6-7 (6.0, 6.5, 7.0) for football matches.

Teaser Betting Payouts

The payout with teaser bets is different from the one with regular parlays. The good news is that a bettor is in control as he/she can move the line and payout according to his/her wishes. If you decide to go for a safer option and move the lines in your favor, the payout will be significantly lower than it would have been with the original lines.

You are also in control when it comes to the number of events in a single teaser. The more events you involve, the higher the payout will be, but do not forget that you have to win them all to make the teaser winning.