Each week of the season I’ll be providing readers with what is known as my best NFL Teaser Pick of the Week (below). These have been very profitable for me as I’ve made money on these bets six of the last eight years.
- Teaser bets are a very popular sports bet. Especially in football and basketball, because a football teaser bet allows you to adjust the point spread in your favor. Teasers allow you to have an advantageous point spread while selecting 2 to 8 teams or more depending on the sportsbook.
- Teasers are bets where you pick multiple teams. All of them must cover the spread for you to win, but with teasers, you get to move that spread in your favor. Teasers can only be placed with sports that involve a point-spread, so we’re talking about basketball and football here. Examples are always useful.
For the record, SI PRO members have already received not one, but TWO “Vegas Whispers” teaser plays for the divisional round along with multiple prop bets. Instead, I’ll take a shot on a matchup.
I will either provide a 2-team 6-point teaser (-120), 2-team 7-point teaser (-140) or 3-team 10-point teaser (-120). The 6-point teaser requires us to risk 120 units to win 100. At a lot of places, you can get even better odds than that so would be ahead even more. For the 10-point teaser, we also have to lay 120 units to win 100. If you need some help with how to bet these wagers, be sure to check out my NFL teaser strategy guide.
While I pick my favorite, I also provide you with the best teaser odds each week. Those teams listed are based on teasing specific numbers. All of these have provided great long-term results (note: lines are based on the odds at Bookmaker at the time this article was posted).
Last Week’s Teaser Result:
- Packers -2 (Won)
- Colts -1 (Won)
NFL Week 16 Teaser Odds – Best Available (6-Point, 7-Point & 10-Point)
Best Two-Team/6-Point Teaser Odds
- Broncos +9
- Texans -1
- Colts +8
- Bears -2
- Panthers +7
- Rams +7
- Cowboys +9
- Titans +9
- Bills -1
Remember that these teams and odds simply represent the best value for teasers based on past results. Instead of just betting them blindly, I want to identify all of them each week and give out what I feel is the best teaser bet of the week. Also remember that you need to be able to get the odds listed on each game, or they may fall out of favor of this system.
Free Pro Football Betting Advice – NFL Teaser Pick of the Week
2-Team/6-Point Teaser
- Bears -2
- Colts +8
Risking 120 to Win 100
2020 Teaser of the Week Record: 11-3 (+740 Units)
Why I Like It
Bears -2 (teased down from -8) vs Jaguars – It’s tough to take the Bears as a road favorite, but the Jags are a mess right now. They are in line for the top pick in next year’s draft, and unlike the Jets, I don’t think that’s something they want to give up. They don’t have a quarterback of the future and they aren’t going to win any games to finish the year out to mess up their chance at Trevor Lawrence.
Colts +8 (teased up from +2) vs Steelers – The Steelers have lost three straight and fell to the Bengals last week. That was a game they needed and it came after two straight losses so you can’t tell me it was a letdown spot. This is going to be a low scoring game with points at a premium. Indy will keep this within a touchdown.
Good luck this week!
Previous Season Results (wagering to win 100 units on each teaser)
- 2012 – 8-2 (+560 units)
- 2013 – 10-6 (+290 units)
- 2014 – 7-10 (-510 units)
- 2015 – 10-7 (+160 units)
- 2016 – 11-6 (+450 units)
- 2017 – 7-11 (-620 Units)
- 2018 – 11-7 (+300 Units)
- 2019 – 12-7 (+360 Units)
Overall Record – 87-59 (59%) +1630
For more great content this week check out my NFL survivor pool picks.
Teasers are one of the more advanced wagers in sports
betting. This is a wager you should definitely learn about
though, even as a beginner, as it provides opportunities to
place relatively low risk wagers which can still provide a good
return.
In this article we explain in detail how teasers work, but we
should point out that you need to already understand a few
things if it’s going to make any sense to you. For one thing you
should know how odds work, because odds are a basic component of
any wager. You should also know how parlays, point spread bets,
and totals bets work.
If you’re not yet familiar with any of these subjects, you
can find what you need to know on the following pages.
The Basics of Teasers
Teasers are essentially a type of parlay, in that they
involve making multiple selections as part of a single wager.
All selections have to win for the bet to be successful. The
selections included in a teaser must be based on either point
spread bets or totals bets. As such, teasers are typically
available only for football and basketball.
The main feature of teasers is that you are able to move the
spreads or totals lines in your favor, increasing your chances
of winning. Let’s take a look at the betting for an upcoming
football match so we can explain how this works in practice.
As you can see, the Kansas City Chiefs are given 3.5 points
on the spread here. If you were including a point spread bet on
the Chiefs in a parlay, or just making a straight bet on the
spread, you would need them to lose by three points or less (or
win). As a selection in a teaser, however, they would be given
extra points. If you included them in a six point teaser, for
example, they would be given 9.5 points on the spread, meaning
they could lose by up to nine points and the selection would
still be a winner.
The same principle applies if you’re betting on the totals.
The line is set at 46.5 for this match, which means if you went
for the over you would need the total points scored to be 47 or
more. In a six point teaser the line would be moved to 40.5,
which means 41 or more would be good enough. If you went for the
under, the six point swing would be in the other direction, and
the line would move to 52.5.
As you can see, teasers can make it significantly easier to
get your selections right. The downside is that the payouts are
lower than in standard parlays, which we’ll get to later.
Teaser Variables
The main variable with teasers is the number of points that
the spread or totals lines are moved by. With football teasers
you’ll find most bookmakers and online betting sites offer
three options – 6, 6.5, and 7 points. With basketball the three
options are usually 4, 4.5, and 5 points. These aren’t set in
stone though, and some places will offer even more flexibility.
Another variable is the number of selections you include in a
teaser. With most bookmakers, online and offline, the minimum
allowed is two and the maximum allowed is ten. This isn’t
always the case though. Some places may require more than two
selections or allow more than ten.
The payouts for teasers also vary. The more the spreads and
lines are moved in your favor, the lower the payouts will be. So
a 7 point football teaser will have lower payouts than a 6 point
football teaser. Payouts also change based on the number of
selections, as they do with a standard parlay. The more
selections included, the higher potential payouts. Remember,
though, that including more selections also increases the
chances of one or more of them losing.
Example Payouts
The following charts show some example payouts based on the
number of points and the number of selections. Please note that
the payouts for teasers won’t always be exactly the same with
every bookmaker and sports betting site, but the examples here
provide a good guide.
| Football Teaser Payouts | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| # of Selections | Payout Odds (6.0 Points) | Payout Odds (6.5 Points) | Payout Odds (7.0 Points) |
| 2 | 10/11 | 10/12 | 10/13 |
| 3 | 9/5 | 8/5 | 7/5 |
| 4 | 3/1 | 5/2 | 2/1 |
| 5 | 9/2 | 4/1 | 7/2 |
| 6 | 6/1 | 11/2 | 5/1 |
| 7 | 10/1 | 9/1 | 8/1 |
| 8 | 15/1 | 12/1 | 10/1 |
| 9 | 20/1 | 15/1 | 12/1 |
| 10 | 25/1 | 20/1 | 15/1 |
| Basketball Teaser Payouts | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| # of Selections | Payout Odds (4.0 Points) | Payout Odds (4.5 Points) | Payout Odds (5.0 Points) |
| 2 | 1/1 | 10/12 | 10/13 |
| 3 | 9/5 | 8/5 | 7/5 |
| 4 | 3/1 | 5/2 | 2/1 |
| 5 | 9/2 | 4/1 | 7/2 |
| 6 | 6/1 | 11/2 | 5/1 |
| 7 | 10/1 | 9/1 | 8/1 |
| 8 | 15/1 | 12/1 | 10/1 |
| 9 | 20/1 | 15/1 | 12/1 |
| 10 | 25/1 | 20/1 | 15/1 |
Teaser Example
To further illustrate exactly how teasers work, we’ll look at
an example teaser based on the following three football matches.
Let’s assume you decide to place a three team, six point
teaser, for a stake of $50. You select the Kansas City Chiefs,
the Dallas Cowboys, and the Atlanta Falcons on the spread. You
would need the following three results to win this teaser.
Football Teaser Bets
- Kansas City Chiefs to win, or lose by nine points or
less. - Dallas Cowboys to win, or lose by less than nine points.
A nine point loss would be a push. - Atlanta Falcons to win, or lose by a single point. A two
point loss would be a push.
If all three results came in, then you would win $90 based on
odds of 9/5. You’d also get your stake back of course. If just
one result went the wrong way, you would lose your $50 stake.
You can see that a push is a possibility in two of the games.
The rules relating to pushes varies at different bookmakers and
betting sites, but what generally happens is that a push means
that selection is effectively removed from the wager. If the
Cowboys lost by exactly nine points, for example, then that
selection wouldn’t count anymore. You’d be left with a two team
teaser. If the other two results came in, then you would win at
reduced odds of 10/11.
Best Teaser Bets Nfl
Now that you understand how teasers work, you might want to
learn how best to use them to your advantage. We can help you
with this, because we have provided a strategy article with advice on
football teasers.