Have you ever been hesitant to play a game because the line wasn’t where you wanted it? Let’s say you really liked the Chicago Bears to win against the Lions at home on a given NFL Sunday. The money line of -170 to win straight up isn’t that attractive to your bankroll. The oddsmakers have set the line at Bears -3.5. You hate the hook (the half point) and don’t want to get burned by the Bears winning by a field goal and losing your wager. Well, there is another option where you can actually move the line and set the line to where you are more comfortable.
It’s called a teaser bet, and true to their name, they can act just like a tease. Let’s continue to look at our football game example. Laying the 3.5 points with the Bears gives you an uneasy feeling because you’re pretty sure the game might be close, but are convinced the Bears will prevail. The option of moving the line 6, 6.5, or even 7 points in your favor is available to you.
What’s the catch? Well, there definitely is a catch. You must also find another game that you are confident on and you can move that line the same amount of points as you did in the first game. It’s called a two team teaser and they have rapidly gained popularity over the last few years. Going back to our example, we must also find another game we liked. Let’s suppose we also liked the Cowboys laying 6 points at home against the Giants.
Our two games we like are:
- Bears -3.5 points
- Cowboys -6 points
We can choose to move the line 6, 6.5, or 7 points in our favor. It does cost money for each point. Although different books have different numbers, in general the cost of your wager would be:
- 6 points -110
- 6.5 points -120
- 7 points -130
We decide to lay -110 and move the line 6 points in our favor. Our new bet now looks like this:
- Bears + 2.5 points
- Cowboys pick
If both the above selections with our new lines win, we win our teaser wager. You can also add more teams to your teaser as well for even better odds. You can play any amount of teams up to 15 where you can get 150 to 1 odds if they all win. Similar to parlays, you must hit all legs of your teaser to win. Any loss will result in your entire bet losing.
Teasers are a great way to reduce risk in games you deem close situations. But again, they are difficult because you must correctly predict the outcome of two games instead of one. They are called teasers because they always look good on paper, but they aren’t always as easy as they seem. They are also offered on game totals and in other sports like basketball. Check out your book to see which options are available and the odds for different points and legs of the teaser.
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