What is a Teaser and How do They Work?

A teaser is pretty similar to a parlay wager however there is one big difference in that you are able to adjust the points spread on each team that you select. They are however similar in that all teams chosen as part of a teaser must win for the bet to be a winning bet. Football teasers are a popular bet and we’ll look at a typical NFL wager as an example.

Let’s say that the New York Giants are -10 @ Miami Dolphins +10 and you want to add the Giants as a part of your teaser. To begin with you have to decide how many points you wish to ‘tease’ the spread by and most online sportsbooks will offer you the opportunity to move the line either 6, 6.5 or by 7 points in either direction. Keep in mind however the more you move the line in favor of your chosen team, the worse the odds will become, for example a 6 point teaser will give you a better payout than a 7 point teaser. So you wish to add 6 points to the Giants spread making it a -4 spread. You then need to do the same with the other selections of your teaser, which may be between 2 and 6 teams. In a nutshell, a teaser is like a parlay in which you have adjusted the line on each team by 6,6.5 or 7 points. In basketball, the teaser is made in exactly the same way, however you are given fewer points in which to play with. Once you’ve signed up to your sportsbook of choice and placed a few teasers you’ll see just how easy they are to place.

Football Teaser Odds

As mentioned, most books will offer you odds on football (both NFL and NCAA) teasers of between 2 and 6 teams, and the odds differ as to how many points you tease the bet by, with the standard football teaser payout chart looking like this...

6-point Teasers

Two teams = 10/11 Three teams = 9/5 Four teams = 3/1 Five teams = 9/2 Six teams = 6/1

6.5-point Teasers

Two teams = 10/12 Three teams = 8/5 Four teams = 5/2 Five teams = 4/1 Six teams = 11/2

7-point Teasers

Two teams = 10/13 Three teams = 7/5 Four teams = 2/1 Five teams = 7/2 Six teams = 5/1

You will find that a few sportsbooks will offer odds for more teams, however not that many, and sensible bettors would rarely wish to place a teaser on more than 6 teams. Teasers offer plenty of excitement that’s for sure, however similar to parlays they are a difficult bet to win, even though you can adjust the spread. Most bettors will place small wagers on teasers and use them on packed weekend sports schedules as an extra small wager to their main bets.