What Is a Teaser Bet in Sports Betting? How Teasers Work in Football and Basketball

A teaser bet is a parlay where you move every line a set number of points in your favor, and accept lower odds in return. In football that's usually 6 points: a team at -7.5 becomes -1.5, a +2.5 underdog becomes +8.5, and an over 47.5 becomes over 41.5. You need at least two picks, and every one of them still has to win.

Teasers are built around the point spread or total in football and basketball, mostly the NFL and NBA. They're one of the few bets in sports betting where knowing a little math can help you, and one of the easiest to lose money on without it. Most of that math comes down to the key numbers 3 and 7.

How a teaser bet works

You pick two or more spreads or totals and choose the number of points to tease, like 6, 6.5 or 7 points in football, or 4, 4.5 or 5 in basketball. The sportsbook moves each line by that much in your direction:

• A favorite's spread gets smaller: -7.5 becomes -1.5.
• An underdog's spread gets bigger: +2.5 becomes +8.5.
• An over goes down: 47.5 becomes 41.5.
• An under goes up: 44.5 becomes 50.5.

Then the bet works like a parlay. All legs win on their new lines and the teaser pays. One leg loses and the entire bet loses.

A 6-point NFL teaser example

Say the Eagles are -8 against the Giants and the Bears are +1.5 at the Packers. A 2-team, 6-point teaser turns those into Eagles -2 and Bears +7.5.

The Eagles win 24-20 and the Bears lose 23-17. On the regular spreads, you'd have lost both bets: the Eagles didn't cover -8 and the Bears lost by 6. On the teaser, the Eagles cover -2 by two points and the Bears cover +7.5 by a point and a half. Both legs win, and the teaser pays.

Close losses on a straight bet become wins in a teaser, and you pay for that in the price.

Teaser odds and payouts

Teasers pay much less than regular parlays because each leg is so much easier. Prices vary by sportsbook, but a common NFL 6-point table looks roughly like this:

Compare a regular 2-team parlay at -110 per leg, which pays about +264. The teaser pays less than half as much. Moving to a 6.5-point or 7-point teaser lowers the potential payout again, because each extra half point raises your chances of winning each leg.

At -110, a 2-team teaser needs both legs to win, so each leg has to win about 72.4% of the time to break even. At +160 for three teams, it's about 72.7% per leg. If a 6-point move doesn't get a pick to around that win rate, the teaser is a losing bet over time. Our guide to calculating parlay payouts shows how to work out any price.

Why key numbers matter in teasers

In the NFL, more games end with a margin of exactly 3 or 7 than any other numbers. A 6-point teaser that moves a line across both of them picks up the most likely results there are.

That's the idea behind what bettors call a Wong teaser, named after the author Stanford Wong, who wrote about it. You tease favorites 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. Either way the line crosses both 3 and 7.

Teasing a -3 favorite to +3 is a different story. You cross 3 once, then spend the rest of the six points on margins like 1 and 2, and on ties, which come up far less often. The same goes for teasing a -10 favorite to -4. And when you tease totals, say from 45.5 to 39.5, you're moving through numbers games don't land on very often. Those points cost the same but land on far fewer results.

Sportsbooks know all this. Many have raised their prices or limited which lines you can tease, so a classic Wong teaser at a bad price isn't automatically a good bet anymore. And the edge has shifted as scoring in the NFL has changed over the years, so it's worth checking current results rather than trusting old rules of thumb.

Teasers in basketball

Basketball teasers use smaller moves, usually 4 to 5 points, and most sportsbooks that offer teasers on the NFL offer them on the NBA too. They're popular, but we're not big fans. NBA and college basketball games don't cluster on key numbers the way the NFL does, so each point moved adds far less to your chance of winning. Most basketball teasers come out worse than just betting the spread.

Teaser vs parlay vs buying points

A regular parlay keeps the lines as they are and pays a lot. A teaser moves every line a lot and pays a little. Buying points moves one straight bet by a half point to a point and a half and costs some juice. All three let you trade price for a better number. Teasers make the biggest move, and they only make sense when that move crosses numbers where games actually end. More on the single-bet version in what buying points means.

Pushes and other teaser rules

What happens when a teased leg lands exactly on its new number depends on the book. Some drop the leg and pay at the odds for one fewer team. Some treat a push as a loss. It's worth reading the house rules before you bet, especially for 2-team teasers, where one push can leave just a single leg.

On Paid2Bet, a tied or cancelled leg drops out and the teaser pays at the odds for one fewer pick. If fewer than two picks are left, you get your stake back. Teasers here are made from Full Game spreads and totals in one sport, so football and basketball can't be mixed, and moneylines and props can't be teased. The full rules are on the rules page.

Should you bet teasers?

If you bet the NFL and your football teaser legs cross 3 and 7, a teaser can be a reasonable bet, as long as the price is fair. Most other teasers, especially in basketball and on totals, give the sportsbook a bigger edge than a straight bet does. Keep them small and pick them on purpose, not because two picks "feel safe" with extra points.

If you see Teasers next to Single Bet and Parlay on the Paid2Bet Bet page, you can build one with a free balance and watch the moved lines on the slip before you place it.

You must be 21 or older to play. Gambling problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER.