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A teaser is a parlay with a trade attached. You move the point spread or total on every leg by a fixed number of points in your favour, and in return the payout drops sharply. In the NFL the standard move is 6 points, so a favourite at -7.5 becomes -1.5 and an underdog at +2.5 becomes +8.5. Both legs still have to win.
Teasers are almost entirely a US product, built around American football and basketball spreads. This guide shows how they are priced, works out the win rate each leg needs, explains why the numbers 3 and 7 decide whether a teaser is any good, and covers the push rules that catch people out. If spreads are new to you, start with our guide to point spread and handicap betting.
How a teaser works
Every teaser has three settings: the number of legs, the number of points each leg moves, and the price. A common menu in American football is 6, 6.5 or 7 points over two to six legs. Basketball teasers usually move 4, 4.5 or 5 points. More points means a lower payout, and more legs means a higher one.
Say you build a two-team, 6-point NFL teaser:
- Leg 1: a favourite at -7.5 becomes -1.5, so it now only has to win by 2.
- Leg 2: an underdog at +2.5 becomes +8.5, so it can lose by up to 8.
You can tease totals as well. An over 47.5 teased by 6 becomes over 41.5, and an under 44 becomes under 50. Each leg is graded against its new number, and every leg must win for the teaser to pay.
Prices vary by sportsbook and change over time, so the examples in this guide use illustrative odds: -120 for a two-team, 6-point teaser and +160 for three teams. A $120 stake on the two-team teaser returns $220 if both legs win, a profit of $100.
The break-even rate each leg needs
Because every leg must win, the useful question is how often each leg has to cover for the teaser to break even. Convert the price to decimal odds, take the inverse, then take the root that matches the number of legs. This treats the legs as independent, which is close enough for games on different fields.
Two teams at -120: decimal odds are 1.833, the inverse is 0.5455 and the square root is 0.7385. Each leg needs to win about 73.9% of the time. At -110 the figure falls to 72.4%.
Three teams at +160: decimal odds are 2.60, the inverse is 0.3846 and the cube root is 0.7273, so each leg needs 72.7%.
Compare that with a single spread bet at -110, which breaks even at 52.4%. Moving the line by 6 points has to lift a coin-flip spread to roughly three wins in four just to stand still. Whether it does depends on which margins the extra points cover. Our guide to implied probability explains the conversion in more detail.
Why 3 and 7 decide whether a teaser is worth it
NFL games end on some margins far more often than others, because most scoring comes from 3-point field goals and 7-point touchdowns. A margin of exactly 3 is the most common result and 7 is next. Margins such as 5 or 9 come up far less often. Our NFL betting guide covers these key numbers in detail.
Six points are only valuable when they cross 3 and 7. Teasing a favourite from -8.5 to -2.5 means a win by 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8 now covers, and that range holds both key numbers. Teasing a favourite from -13.5 to -7.5 adds wins by 8 to 13, which happen far less often for the same price.
The pattern bettors call a Wong teaser, after the author Stanford Wong, applies this idea. It teases favourites of -7.5 to -8.5 down to -1.5 to -2.5, and underdogs of +1.5 to +2.5 up to +7.5 to +8.5, so both moves cross 3 and 7. Sportsbooks know the pattern well and price teasers with it in mind, so treat it as a filter for which legs to consider rather than a guarantee of value.
Two other moves are weak. A favourite at -3 teased to +3 gains wins by 1 or 2, a tie and losses by 1 or 2, and none of those margins is common. Totals are usually poor teaser legs too, because NFL game totals spread across many numbers without the same clustering.
Basketball and other sports
Basketball teasers exist, usually at 4 to 5 points, but they are generally a poorer deal. NBA and college basketball margins are spread more evenly than NFL margins, with no single number taking a big share of results, so each point you buy covers less. Higher scoring also means a 4-point move covers a smaller share of outcomes. Our guides to NBA betting and college basketball betting look at those spreads in more depth.
College football sits in between. Spreads are larger and less tightly grouped than in the NFL, so 3 and 7 still matter but carry less weight; our college football betting guide explains why. Some books offer teasers on other sports or across sports, and the logic is the same: points are only worth paying for if they cover margins that happen often.
Pushes, ties and house rules
A teased leg can land exactly on its new number. A favourite teased to -2 that wins by 2 is a push. What happens next depends on the house rules, and they differ between sportsbooks:
- On many books the pushed leg is removed and the teaser drops to the next size down, so a three-team teaser is paid at the two-team price.
- A two-team teaser with one push may be voided, graded on the remaining leg or settled as a loss.
- Some teaser cards state that ties lose, which means any push sinks the whole bet.
Read the rule before you place the bet, and favour half-point lines when you can, because a leg at -1.5 or +8.5 cannot push. Postponed and cancelled games follow the house rules too. Most books void the leg and reduce the teaser, but check the wording on the card.
Teasers compared with parlays and alternate lines
A teaser and a standard parlay are built the same way. The difference is what you pay for the points. Two spread legs at -110 in a parlay pay about +264, so a $100 stake returns about $364. The same two legs teased by 6 pay around -120. You give up most of the payout in exchange for a much higher chance that each leg wins. Our parlay calculator checks the parlay side of that comparison.
Many sportsbooks also offer alternate spreads, where you buy points on a single game at a shorter price. Two alternate lines in a parlay come close to a teaser. Compare the combined price of the two alternate lines with the teaser price for the same numbers: whichever pays more is the better bet, and it is not always the teaser.
Pros
- Moving an NFL line across 3 and 7 can raise a leg's chance of covering a lot
- Two-leg teasers are simple to check against the break-even rate
- Teased half-point lines cannot push
Things to consider
- Each leg must win about 72% to 74% of the time just to break even
- Points that cross no key number add very little
- Push and cancellation rules differ between sportsbooks
- Every extra leg adds the bookmaker's margin again
Before you place a teaser
A short set of checks covers most teaser mistakes:
- Work out the break-even rate for the price you are offered, not the one in an article.
- Check that each teased leg crosses 3 and 7. If it crosses neither, leave it out.
- Prefer two or three legs, since each extra leg adds margin.
- Read the push, tie and postponement rules on the teaser card.
- Compare the price with two alternate lines in a parlay.
- Keep teaser stakes within the units in your bankroll plan, and never raise them to win back a loss. Our responsible gambling page lists tools for setting limits.
Teasers suit a bettor who already has a view on a game and wants to pay for safety on the margins that matter. They do not turn two coin flips into a sure thing.
Frequently asked questions
What is a 6-point teaser?
A parlay in which the spread or total on every leg moves 6 points in your favour. A -7 favourite becomes -1 and a +3 underdog becomes +9. All legs must win, and the payout is far lower than on a normal parlay.
Do all legs of a teaser have to win?
Yes. A teaser is a type of parlay, so one losing leg loses the bet. Pushes are handled by house rules, which differ between sportsbooks.
What happens if one leg of a teaser pushes?
Many books drop the teaser one level, so a three-team teaser is paid at the two-team price. A two-team teaser may be voided or graded on the other leg, and some cards say ties lose. Check the rules first.
What is a Wong teaser?
A two-team NFL teaser that moves favourites of -7.5 to -8.5 and underdogs of +1.5 to +2.5 by 6 points, so each leg crosses both 3 and 7. It is named after Stanford Wong, who wrote about the approach.
Are teasers a good bet?
Only when the points cross key numbers and the price is fair. At -120 each leg of a two-team teaser must win about 73.9% of the time, so a teaser on legs that cross no key numbers is usually a poor bet.
