Teaser Bet: What Exactly Is It?

As a sports bettor, you’re truly spoiled for choice when placing a wager. While many sports fans stick to the moneyline and spread betting, a whole host of markets are available for your favorite sports. 

One such option is a teaser bet, which allows you to alter the spread or points totals in your favor. But how does a teaser work, and is it a worthwhile betting option? Let’s take a closer look now. 

So, what is a teaser bet?

In sports betting, a teaser is a variation of a parlay bet. Specifically, it enables you to move the totals (over/under) or point spread a designated amount of points in your favor.

While it’s simple enough to understand from the outset, a teaser is actually multiple bets brought together, meaning that all of your selections must win if you are to profit from the wager.

How does a teaser bet work in practice?

While there a various types of teaser bets, a six-point teaser is perhaps the most common. As the title suggests, it enables you to add or remove six points from a spread bet or over/under total, depending on what you think will happen. You might see half points offered on teasers (6.5) as a way for the bookmaker to avoid a push bet. 

Primarily, your teaser must include at least two bets, but some sportsbooks won’t take a teaser that isn’t comprised of at least three selections. As with a parlay, the more bets you add to your teaser, the more you stand to win.

But be careful - adding more teams to your teaser makes your bet riskier, as all of your selections need to come in for you to win your wager. 

Now that you understand the premise let’s look at a teaser bet example to see what it might look like on your betting slip. 

A Teaser Bet Example  

Let’s assume you’re a NFL fan and want to make your betting slip more exciting this week. You can do that with a teaser, as we illustrate in this game week example: 

Single-game bets

Cincinnati Bengals -9.5 (-110) 

Cleveland Browns +6.5 (-110) 

Green Bay Packers -6.5 (-110) 

The above are single-game spread bets that you might place on the Bengals, Browns, and Packers in a single-game week. But a teaser allows you to change or “tease” the spread in your favor while bringing all of the bets together in the same slip. So, let’s say that you wish to tease six points for the above selections:  

Teaser bet

Cincinnati Bengals -3.5 

Cleveland Browns +12.5 

Green Bay Packers -0.5 

As you can see, the spread for each team has been moved by six points. For your teaser bet to come in, you would need all of the above selections to win by the margins that you have set with the spread. But what about the odds? 

Teaser Bet Odds Explained

As far as odds are concerned, the three teams combine to offer you one price instead of three individual prices, as is the case with single-game bets. It’s difficult to predict the odds that you will be given for a teaser bet because there are so many factors that can influence the outcome of your selections. However, one thing is for sure - the more teams you include in your teaser, the longer your odds will be.

In the above example, the sportsbook might offer you odds of +170 for the teaser. So, a $100 bet would return $170 should the Bengals, Browns, and Packers win by the stipulated margins in the spread. Remember, if one of your selections fails, you will lose your bet.

What about reverse teasers?

Reverse teasers - also known as pleasers – let you add or take away a specific number of points and then bet with that move. For instance, if you drop the totals line from 56 to 50 in an NFL bet, you could then bet the under instead of gaining the obvious advantage by betting the over. 

A pleaser should be disadvantageous to players, meaning the risk of placing your bets is higher than it would have been had you not teased the line. As a result, if your selections come off, you will be rewarded with higher profits. Let’s take a look at a Pleaser bet example in the NBA: 

Single-game bets

Cleveland Cavaliers -9.5 (-110)

LA Lakers +2.5 (-110)  

Miami Heat +6.5 (-110) 

Remember, with a pleaser, you’re essentially making a bet more difficult for yourself, as you think the team is capable of winning by more points than the sportsbook has given them credit for. Here’s what your six-point pleaser would look like: 

Teaser bet

Cleveland Cavaliers -15.5 

LA Lakers -3.5 

Miami Heat +0.5

As you can see, the Cavs would have to win by 16 points, and the Lakers go from underdogs to favorites, while the Heat’s margin for defeat is considerably less than it was originally. As a result, you will be offered much longer odds by the sportsbook, perhaps something like +650, should all three selections come in. 

The Verdict: Are teaser Bets Worth it?

The bottom line is that teaser bets are a risky wager, just like parlay bets. But they certainly spice things up as far as your betting slip is concerned and give you more chance of winning big. 

If you keep your teaser to three teams and stick with six points, it’s a good option for sports bettors. But if you find yourself building five or six team teasers with big points differences, you’re not likely to turn a profit throughout the season.