Teaser bets are a type of bet that is most popularly used for sporting events in football and basketball. These sports leagues include the National Football League, National Basketball Association, and the NCAA divisions of both sports. These bets can add a lot of fun during the NCAA basketball tournament or during games whose lines are really close and hard to call.
These bets are made on the point spreads and the over/under (point totals) in the games. Points are added to the point spreads and totals (over/under) so that they are adjusted, or teased, in order to increase the bettor’s chances. These bets are a type of bet that gamblers utilize in order to increase their chances of winning.
These are not the type of bets that bettors are going to make huge profits on, but it will increase the chances of winning. Gamblers will also use these types of bets when they are less worried about the amount of money that they win and are more worried about winning in general. If a bettor is confident in their choice for a game, teaser bets are not going to be the best idea. They are best used in games that have close lines and are difficult to call.
They are much like a parlay bet. Parlay bets are bets that combine two or more bets into one singular bet. Teaser bets are offered by most sportsbook and they are advertised by them as “exotic” bets. Let’s discuss an example of a teaser bet in order to understand how they work.
For purposes of discussion, we will use a National Basketball Association game as an example. Before a bettor can take advantage of a teaser bet, they have to find a line that you like. For example, if they find a line that has the Philadelphia 76ers +7.5 over the Boston Celtics and the over/under is 198. They like Philadelphia to cover the spread, which means they will win the game or lose by 8 points or more. They also choose the under and bet that the points total will be less than 198 points.
The teaser bet from the sportsbook on this game offers you 5 points in which to adjust the spread and the over/under. These additional points are added to both the spread and the over/under, thus making the points spread 12.5 and the over/under 203. This gives the bettor a little more wiggle room in the outcome of the game. This increases a bettor’s chances because now Philadelphia has to win the game out right or lose by 13 points or more. And when it comes to the under that was chosen by the bettor, the points will have to be less than 203.
When it comes to the NFL, the best teasers cover the key numbers. Those key numbers are 3, 4, 6, and 7. The optimal 6-point teaser would be to take a 2.5-point underdog and make them an 8.5-point underdog or to take a 7.5 or 8.5-point favorite and take them down to 1.5 or 2.5. Crossing key numbers in totals like 44, 45, 51, 52, 54, or 55 are also important for those that are teasing totals. You want to make sure that you are getting important numbers and not just teasing for teasing sake because a two-team teaser has the standard -110 vigorish, even though you need both games to come through.
Betting is never an exact science, and there is always going to be a certain amount of risk involved. These teaser bets can give the bettor increased chances in those close games that can go either way, or they are having difficulty choosing. If a person is confident in the outcome of a particular game, this is not a type of bet that needs to be taken advantage of.
