Teaser Bet

Sometimes it’s hard to make a decision when you’re handicapping a football or basketball game. The odds makers make a tough line and it’s challenging to pick a side. However, did you know that you can move those lines? Although they’re not available in hockey or baseball, teasers and pleasers give you the opportunity to shift the betting odds so that you can get a better number to your liking. But what’s the catch? Read on to find out:

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What Is A Teaser Bet?

A teaser is a type of bet that allows you to shift a point spread in your favor. As a result, you have to give back a portion of your payout. You also have to tease at least two games together, making it into a parlay. Here’s an example:

1. Dallas Cowboys +3
2. New York Giants -3
3. Chicago Bears +6.5
4. Green Bay Packers -6.5

f you wanted to bet one of these games, then it’s simple: just pick a side. However, if you want to play a teaser, you are forced to play a parlay but you get to shift the line by a certain amount for both bets. Some teasers are as small as six points and can go as high as 14 or even 20 (in rare instances). Let’s say you liked Green Bay and Dallas from the above two games, if you played a six-point teaser, you would move both line in your favor and create a two-game parlay out of them. That means you’d have Dallas +9 instead of +3 AND Green Bay -0.5 in a two-game parlay. Both would have to cover their new spreads for you to win. When you start getting into 10 point teasers, you’ll usually need to parlay at least three games together. And if you play a 14-point super teaser, then you to parlay at least four games together.
In terms of your payout structure, that completely changes. Again, remember that you’re getting a benefit by receiving points. As a result, since your chances of winning increase, you’ll have to take on risk elsewhere (smaller payout, playing a parlay). Here is what a sample football teaser payout structure looks like:

In basketball, the idea is similar but the amount of points you can receive is different since the sport is played differently.

Pleaser Bet

Now that you know what a teaser is, it’s easy to understand what a pleaser is: it’s the opposite. In the above equation, you’re buying points and receiving them to your benefit. That increases your margin of victory and you have to give some other benefits back as a result. However, with a pleaser, you’re going to do the opposite. You’re going to give away points, which in turn – at least in theory – decreases your chances of winning, but the benefit is that you’ll get a bigger payout. It’s a risky proposition and mostly a square’s bet, but if you think that a betting line is way off of your number, you can sell some points and try to get yourself better odds.

What’s The Best Strategy With Teasers?

Although teasers are mostly deemed as a square’s bet, there are times when it is a sharp strategy. The key with teasers – particularly in football – is to cross as many key numbers as possible. In football, the key numbers revolve around field goals and touchdowns, which means anything related to -2.5, -3, -3.5, -6.5, -7, -7.5, -9.5, -10, -10.5 and so on are all important numbers. So you’re to play a teaser that takes a team from -20 down to -14, that’s not bad but you’d rather play a seven point teaser that takes you from -7.5 to -0.5. The key is to get across as many of these key numbers as possible in your teased games.