A ‘Teaser‘ bet is one of many popular ways to bet on sporting events and is only growing in popularity with the rise of sports betting availability in the U.S. It is particularly prominent with online bookmakers who allow you to place teasers on some of the more popular sports in the country like football and basketball.
Not familiar with teaser bets? We’re here to get you up to speed so that you can join in on the fun and utilise one of the more exciting ways to bet on sport.
What is a Teaser Bet and how does it work?
A Teaser is a popular sports bet that is quite similar to a Parlay bet. Like parlays, teasers are made up of two or more bets and require all of the ‘legs’ of the bet to win in order for the bettors ticket to be a winning one.
What separates a teaser from a traditional parlay is that with a teaser, the line you bet against for each individual wager is moved to your favor by the number of points of the teaser that you decided upon. If the regular line (spread) is -7.5 and you have a 6-point teaser, then your line would be -1.5.
Example:
Teasers can include as little as two legs and as many as 15 in some cases. Two-team teasers are the most popular form of teasers, and we’ve provided an example of one using the teaser function available at Fanduel Sportsbook.
See in the graphic above, we’ve taken both the Celtics and the Bucks to cover the spread (-13.5 and -12 respectively) at home against typically poorer performing teams in the Cavaliers and the Magic, respectively. We’ve then gone and clicked on ‘teaser’ in the bet slip and have elected a +4 spread, which is the norm for a basketball teaser. This moves the Celtics line from -13.5 to -9.5 and the Bucks line from -12 to -8. Naturally, this gives our picks some more wiggle room but will also lower the odds to -110, which is also the norm for a traditional two-team teaser.
As mentioned above, you can include more selections into your teaser. It’s common for bettors to wager a three or four-team teaser when there’s a big slate of basketball or football on a particular day. Below is a chart of the typical odds you will be offered for the amount of selections in your teaser. Note that the chart below is for basketball teasers, as football teasers odds are based on a different formula.
Pros and Cons
Many bettors, especially recreational bettors, enjoy a teaser bet because it gives their selections some wiggle room or cushion if you like. It’s certainly not rare for a football score or total to finish extremely close to the spread, so getting a few more points in their favor is a major drawcord for a bettor.
The negatives to teaser bets are similar to those of parlays. Although you get a few extra points to work with when opting for a teaser, having multiple selections all needing to win has led to a lot of experts to be sceptical about the long term success of this form of betting.
Opinions certainly vary on whether or not teasers are a viable betting option for sustained success. However, if there’s sufficient research and knowledge behind your selections and you get on at the top of the market, then you’ll always give yourself the best opportunity to succeed in the long term.
That wraps up today’s article on Teasers, but if you have any questions, then make sure to hit us op on Twitter or Facebook where we’ll be more than happy to have a chat!
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