What are teaser bets?
Teaser bets are essentially parlays of alternate lines, most commonly seen with spread bets. Bettors can choose how many picks they add to a teaser bet, and how many points they move the line. Every pick/point combination has a prescribed odds value regardless of which picks are included in the teaser.
Example
Let's look at an NFL teaser bet as an example. Say that these are the teams that we want to include in our teaser, along with their corresponding spread values.
- Washington Commanders -3.5
- Baltimore Ravens -7
- Cleveland Browns +4.5
A six-point teaser would lessen all of these spreads by six points. That means the new values would become:
- Washington Commanders +2.5
- Baltimore Ravens -1
- Cleveland Browns +10.5
A three-leg, six-point teaser comes with an odds value of +160. A four-leg, 13-point teaser has odds of -140.
Conclusion
Just like in parlays, every leg of a teaser must hit for the bet to cash. A rule of thumb is to avoid crossing a teaser past the zero-point line if possible since that's essentially paying for a number that doesn't exist in 99 percent of outcomes.