How Does a Teaser Bet Work?

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What Is a Teaser Bet?

Teasers are one of the most popular ways to bet on football and basketball. Other popular sports like baseball, hockey and soccer do not have teasers.

When betting a teaser, the bettor gets extra points to add or take away from the point spread and/or total. While teasing favorites, you will be taking points away from the spread, whereas underdogs will have points added to the spread. With totals, points are added to the Under, while points are subtracted from the Over (learn about “Over Under” here). In other words, with these extra points, the spread and/or total is much more likely to cover.

Getting the extra points is much more advantageous for the bettor obviously, so what is the catch? When a teaser is placed, the bettor must select at least two spreads and/or totals. So even though the bettor has extra points to adjust the spread and/or total in his favor, they must win more games for the bet to be a winner.

When placing a teaser, the bettor first selects which spreads and/or totals to feature in the bet. Depending on the sportsbook, teasers can be offered from two teams up to 15 or even more. The two-team teaser is by far the most popular.

Next up, the bettor will select the number of points in the teaser. For a football teaser, the most common is a 6-point teaser. However, 6.5-point, 7-point, and 7.5-point teasers will most likely be an option as well. It’s important to note, that the more points selected, the more juice you will have to pay. Using a popular online sportsbook as an example, here is how the juice will increase as the points increase:

# of Teams	6 points	6.5 points	7 points	7.5 points
2-Teamer	-110 juice	-120 juice	-130 juice	-150 juice
3-Teamer	+160	+150	+135	+120

Basketball and football teasers work the same with one exception – basketball teasers generally have fewer points. Depending on the sportsbook, basketball teasers will be offered anywhere from 4.5-points up to 7.5-points. Just like football, the more points selected, the more juice the bettor will have to pay.

If you are going to bet teasers with any regularity, be sure to compare sportsbooks’ teaser charts as the pricing and offering can vary quite a bit.

Teaser Bet Explained – Examples

Now that you know the basics of how teasers work, let’s look at some examples.

Example #1

Two-team 6-point football teaser; featuring a same-game spread and total.

Dallas Cowboys (+7) vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Total (51.5)

Since this is a 6-point teaser you will either add or subtract six points from the spread and total. With the spread, you can tease the Cowboys from +7 to +13 or the Buccaneers from -7 to -1. As far as the total is concerned, under bettors will tease the over-under from 51.5 to 57.5 or those wanting to tease the over will tease the total down six-points from 51.5 to 45.5. There would be four different teaser combinations:

Cowboys +13 and Over 45.5
Cowboys +13 and Under 57.5
Buccaneers -1 and Over 45.5
Buccaneers -1 and Under 57.5

Whichever of the four combinations cover BOTH numbers, win the bet. If one or both numbers do not cover, the bet is a loser. And yes, numerous combinations will be winners and it is possible for all four to win – to the displeasure of sportsbook managers around the world.

Example #2

Two-team 7-point teaser featuring two different NFL spreads.

Game 1: Green Bay Packers (pk) vs. Chicago Bears
Game 2: New England Patriots (-4) vs. New York Jets

Once again, there will be four different possible teaser combinations:

Packers +7 and Patriots +3
Packers +7 and Jets +11
Bears +7 and Patriots +3
Bears +7 and Jets +11

Same as before – both sides of the bet must cover the spread for the bet to be a winner. If just one side is a loser – the bet loses. Additionally, for a two-team teaser, a combination of a win and a push will result in the bet being no-actioned and the stake returned to the bettor.

Example #3

Three-team 6-point NFL and college football teaser with two spread and one total.

Game 1: Cincinnati Bengals +6 vs. Pittsburgh Steelers
Game 2: Alabama Crimson Tide -6.5 vs. Auburn Tigers
Game 3: New York Giants vs. Dallas Cowboys Total (50 points)

Since this is a three-team teaser, there will be eight combinations to choose from:

Bengals +12, Bama -0.5 and Giants/Cowboys Over 44 points.
Bengals +12, Auburn +12.5 and Giants/Cowboys Over 44 points.
Bengals +12, Bama -0.5 and Giants/Cowboys Under 56 points.
Bengals +12, Auburn +12.5 and Giants/Cowboys Under 44 points.
Steelers pick ‘em, Bama -0.5 and Giants/Cowboys Over 44 points.
Steelers pick ‘em, Auburn +12.5 and Giants/Cowboys Over 44 points.
Steelers pick ‘em, Bama -0.5 and Giants/Cowboys Under 56 points.
Steelers pick ‘em, Auburn +12.5 and Giants/Cowboys Under 44 points.

All three sides need to win for the bet to win. If one or more sides is a loser, the bet loses. It is important to note – if there is a push but all of the other sides win in teasers of three teams or more, the payout will be reduced to the next lowest teaser. So, if the Bengals and Alabama covered, but the total landed on 44 points (a push), Scenario #1 would be paid out as a two-team teaser instead of a three-teamer.

Teaser Strategy

When betting teasers, it is important to maximize the value of the extra points. Here are some key points to better increase the odds of your teaser being graded a winner:

Cross Key Numbers – In the NFL there are key numbers like 3 and 7. When making a teaser you will get more value out of your bet if it crosses over those key numbers. For example, if you tease a -7.5 spread down to -1.5, you will be crossing both the 7 and the 3. It is important to note however, that many sportsbooks will charge extra juice when crossing over 3-points.
Avoid higher spread and totals – The higher the spread and total are, the less value the teaser points will have. For example, there is more value of teasing a game from -7 to -1 than there would be teasing another game from -20 to -14.
College Football – Teasers in college football are nowhere near as popular as NFL teasers. With the lack of key numbers and higher spreads and totals, college football teasers are more difficult to win compared to the NFL.
Crossing the Zero – Teasers will lose value if you “cross the zero”. For example, if you tease a team from -3 to +3, you are “crossing the zero”. In football, spreads of 1 and 2 points are known as “dead numbers” – they are nowhere near as key as 3, 7 and 10. So using your teaser points to cross over none-key numbers holds minimal value.
Compare Teaser Payouts – As mentioned earlier, it is crucial to compare sportsbooks’ teaser offering. Not only will they vary in the number of teams and points you can tease, but more importantly the juice can also vary from book to book.