What is a Teaser Bet with Teaser Odds and Betting Strategy

Teaser Bet: A subset of parlay bets, where the bettor will put two or more selections together but with altered point spreads as a way to benefit the player in terms of more favorable odds. 

So, then in simpler terms, what is a teaser bet? As we discuss teaser bets in this article, there will be a lot of similarities between them and regular parlay bets.

This is because the structure and the betting rules for each are mainly the same. 

A teaser bet is a parlay bet in nearly every sense, like round robin bets, is a special variation that takes the high odds that come with parlay bets and combines them into a strategy that uses those odds while also striving to avoid the higher risk that comes with them.

How Does a Teaser Bet Work?

In essence, teaser bets are quite simple to understand. Teaser bets are currently most popular in the NFL, however they can be used in other sports as well such as basketball. 

A teaser bet works by adjusting the spread through adding points to give the bettor more favorable chances of winning. The most common teasers are six, 6.5 and seven points. 

Let's take a look at an example of how a classic 6.5 point teaser bet works on three NFL games: 

In these three games, we have applied the 6.5-points to our NFL teaser picks Miami, Philadelphia and Carolina. Only one of these teams (Philadelphia), was considered a favorite with the spread, so the teaser here was definitely necessary for the additional protection. 

There are two differences now in the games we have selected.

1. Instead of Miami and Carolina getting 3.5 and three points added to their final score, they will have ten and 9.5 points added, respectively. 
2. If the game finishes with a final score of New England 28, Miami 21, then the original spread will lose, but the teaser bet will win. 

Philadelphia on the other hand, has gone from being a favorite in the betting lines to being the underdog, in terms of the spread. The teaser bet gives an already favored team even better chances to succeed. 

Let's say Philadelphia actually ends up losing the game by a score of 28 to 27. With our original spread, the score is even worse for the Eagles at 28 to 23.5 (27-3.5). Our teaser bet is a winner, however, giving us a final score of Philadelphia 30 (27 + 3), New York 28. 

The teaser bet works because it gives each team you select even better chances of winning the game. It can give underdogs an even bigger safety net in points and even add points to a team's score who was already favored to win the game. 

With the difficulty of winning parlays, teaser bets are a helpful strategy for higher chances of success. 

Best Teaser Betting Strategy and Tips

Teasers work mainly due to the margins of victory that are apparent in every sport. There are certain point totals that teams are more likely to win by for each sport. In football, the most common margins of victory are three and seven points, which are the margin of victory around 25% of the time in the NFL. 

The margin of score differences can be found in other sports as well. The most common margin of victory for the NHL is by far one, making up more than 20% of all final scores. In the NBA, most games are decided by between two and eight points. 

The most common margins of victory for both the NFL and the MLB (percentages include):

How our teaser betting strategy will work is by attempting to ush the spreads over the most common margins of victory for our sport. This will work best for sports like football, baseball and basketball, but can still be used on any other sport where these numbers are known. 

Let's take some NFL teaser picks and put our strategy to work by exploiting the common victory margins.

• New England Patriots +3 @ Baltimore Ravens

• Kansas City Chiefs +3 @ Philadelphia Eagles   

If the player selects a six-point teaser, then the numbers will then change to this:

• New England Patriots +9 @ Baltimore Ravens

• Kansas City Chiefs +9 @ Philadelphia Eagles 

Now, the spread for these games have seen major changes. For both the Patriots and Chiefs, you have covered the two most common margins of victory three and seven. Not to mention the other margins of victory in between, which also command their own percentage of the average victory margins. 

Both the Ravens and the Eagles will now need to win by more than nine points for your bets to fail. This explains why the teaser bet can be so effective, as the higher the point spread given, the slimmer the chance that teams will be able to overcome this. 

Teaser Odds and Resulting Teaser Payouts

After looking at the example of our NFL teaser picks, you may be thinking that this is the best betting strategy in existence with no chance of losing. While it's true you will gain a much greater chance to win using teaser bets, however, there is no betting strategy that comes only with positives.

The drawback comes down to teaser odds. The odds on teaser bets will be lower than the regular spread lines, meaning that the resulting teaser payouts will also be lower. This should be expected, as more likely outcomes will have lower odds.  

Common teaser odds given depending on the points and number of games:

Here we can see that with the more games added, and with less points, that the teaser odds will be higher. Therefore, the resulting teaser payouts under these conditions will also be higher. Less games added and higher points will carry better chances of winning, however. 

With a ten dollar stake, a quick look at a teaser payout chart will tell us how much we can make.

The teaser odds will be at their highest the more risk you take on. Six point teasers are more of a risk than with seven points. The risk also rises the more teams you add to the teaser. The payouts will be higher as the teaser odds go up as well since you are undertaking more risk. 

How Does a Teaser Pleaser Bet Work?

While teaser bets add more simplicity and decreased risk to your bets, the opposite also exists in the form of a pleaser. A pleaser bet will do the exact opposite of a teaser, in that it moves the point spread or totals in favor of the sportsbook, thus ensuring you a higher payout if won but with increased risk. 

Therefore, if we are doing a seven point NFL pleaser bet for better odds and the game spread had the Buffalo Bills at (-12) and the Arizona Cardinals at (+12), you would now be left with the Bills at (-5) or the Cardinals at (+5). 

There are a couple of main reasons why bettors may prefer a pleaser bet instead:

1. The spread for the favored team is too low, and the team can win by much more
2. The spread for the underdog is too high, and the game will be much closer

Teaser pleasers will work in the same way as the original teaser bet. However, the odds here will be much higher due to the increased risk. With online sports betting, making a pleaser bet has really never been easier. 

Many online sportsbooks will allow you to adjust point and total spreads freely, picking your own specific numbers. These selections can then be grouped together in the bet slip or bet on individually. The pleaser odds will automatically calculate for each number, and each game added. 

Teaser Bets on Totals or Over/Unders

Since online sportsbooks can allow us to adjust point totals as well, these are also fair game to be «teased». With over/under markets (or totals), we instead need to find the average scores of games and look a little deeper at which teams score the most and the least. 

For NFL teasers, teams will almost always be offensively or defensively focused; the same is mostly true for the other major leagues as well. Some NHL teams have better forwards, while others are built on more solid defensive lines and goaltending.

NFL, NHL and NBA scoring has been on the rise for the past few seasons, with all three recently hitting records. The average points scored in a game for the NFL in 2019-20 was 48.4, while for the NBA in the same season the average points per game was at 112.4. 

Teaser Bet Calculator 

In order to keep on track of your betting finances, you need to strategize your bets ahead of time in order to know what will be profitable over the long run. Or if the bet is even worth taking.

There are many different calculators for teaser bets available online as well as calculators for all types including parlay bets, round robin bets and more.

The player simply needs to go to the website and fill in the information pertinent to their bet. Then you can see the stake and payout correlation as you look for the best bet to put together. This can greatly help you to plan out different scenarios and different markets for your teaser bets.