Sports Betting 101: What is a Teaser?

Looking to learn the ins and outs of sports betting and become a sharper bettor? Well, you came to the right place. We have you covered here at FTN with our Betting 101 series. Below you’ll learn everything you need to know about teasers. 

What Is a Teaser Bet? 

It’s never smart to buy points when you’re betting sports (it might be advantageous to sell points in some spots, but we’ll save that topic for another article) but teasers are a type of parlay that allows you to buy points on a series of bets that will give your wager positive expected value. Like a parlay, all your teaser legs must hit in order for you to cash your bet. There are a few different types of teasers, and all must include a minimum of two teams: 6-point teasers, 6.5-point teasers, 7-point teasers and even 10-plus point teasers. The odds are different for each teaser, and your payout will ultimately depend on the number of teams included in your teaser.

There are a couple rules to remember when putting together a teaser. Key numbers in the NFL refer to the most common margins of victory in games from a historical perspective. Ideally you want to tease through key numbers: 3, 7 and 10 points are the most common margins of victory. You also want to avoid teasing through zero, as you’re wasting a point on a dead-number. It’s wise to avoid teasing totals, and teasers all together in college football and the NBA (given their higher variance and less certainty in the sharpness of the market). 

How to Bet a Teaser? 

Let’s focus on one of the most popular teaser types: NFL two-team 6-point teasers. You want to look to tease underdogs that are sitting between +1.5 and +2.5 (getting you through the 7) and favorites that are lined between -6.5 and -8.5. Let’s say you love two rather large favorites on the NFL board this weekend but aren’t sure if you want to lay the big number. The Philadelphia Eagles are 7.5-point favorites, and the Kansas City Chiefs are -8. Playing the Chiefs and Eagles in a two-team, 6-point teaser would be a +EV wager (positive expected value) since you’re going through multiple key numbers (3 and 7). You’d be teasing the Eagles down from -7.5 to -1.5, and the Chiefs from -8 to -2. You’ve now taken two large favorites, who now only need to win by a field goal or less to cash. 

As positive expected value teasers have become more popular, books have increased the juice on these offerings. Most shops used to offer -110 odds on 2-team 6-point teasers, but it seems as -120 is now the norm (both Caesars and DraftKings Sportsbook offer teasers at -120). You don’t want to lay more than -120 when it comes to a two-team, 6-point teaser, and you might be able to find books that offer -110. To break even on a two-team, 6-point teaser, a bettor would need to win 52.38% of the time at -110 and 54.54% at -120.