What are football teasers?
Teasers are a popular form of betting that allow players to move the pointspread of wagers in their favor. In a standard teaser, a bettor must place at least two selections, both of which must win, and the player is given a cushion of a certain number of points on each leg.
How to make a tease
For example, assuming the New York Giants were 7½ point favorites, and the Dallas Cowboys 10½ point favorites for the full game, a bettor could enter a two-team “tease” on the Giants and Cowboys pointspread. Using a conventional six-point teaser, that would reduce the point spreads of each team to 1½ and 4½ points respectively. Should each team cover the revised odds, the bettor would be paid out at -110 odds at most online sportsbooks.
Advantage teasers
Teasers are often misconstrued to be sucker bets, but actually give a bettor a unique opportunity to make advantage plays at reasonable costs. The best way for a sports bettor to take advantage of teasers in football is to look for opportunities to cross both the 3 and 7 — these are dubbed “Wong” teasers, in recognition of noted gambling author Stanford Wong. When crossing these key NFL numbers, players are getting the best of it.
For example, a home underdog of 2½ points would qualify for such a teaser, as the leg would be increased to 8.5½ points in the standard six-point teaser mentioned earlier. This covers the 3 and 7, or, field goal and touchdown. Conversely, an 8½ point favorite would also qualify to be included, as it still covers the field and touchdown scenarios by reducing the leg to 2½ points.
There are many other types of teasers offered by online sportsbooks. Super teasers, pleasers (which are the opposite of teasers, a bettor actually gives points away in return for even higher returns), sweetheart teasers and the like.
SportsbookReview.com has assembled a list of the best online sportsbooks to offer teasers and their betting odds/details. Each sportsbook allows a player to tease a certain number of games and awards a different payout based on how many legs are included and the points chosen in the teaser.