How to Take the NFL Teasers

Over the last few days, we told you all about the 2019 NFL futures, Super Bowl predictions, and player specials. Now, we would like to take a closer look at different types of bets you can make during the 2019 NFL season. We will start with the teaser bets which are very popular among the punters nowadays.

What’s a Teaser?

The teaser bet is basically a parlay, but with shifted lines on the spread. You take two or more straight bets with shifted lines to your favor and combine them into one wager. Of course, you have to nail all games on your teaser to win the bet. Betting on the single teaser is not allowed.

So, what’s the catch? The bookies allow you to take safe bets, but they force you to wager on two or more games. Mathematically speaking, it means you have fewer chances to win the bet. You have a fifty-fifty chance to win a straight bet on a team to cover the spread. With a teaser, your chances are 25%.  

How the NFL Teaser Bet Works?

The vast majority of sportsbooks offer three different types of teaser bets. There are a 6, 6.5, and 7-point teaser, and the more points you use, the lower your payout will be. On the other hand, the more bets you include in the NFL teaser, the higher your payout will be.

For example, you fancy Pittsburgh over Cincinnati and New England over Buffalo. Your teams are both listed as 8.5-point favorites to win. With a 6-point teaser, your teams become 2-point favorites. Your payout is +100, but both Pittsburgh and New England have to cover a 2-point spread.

It’s the same thing with a 6.5 and 7-point teaser. You are just buying points for your teams. Likewise, if you tease a 3-point underdog using a 7-point teaser, you’ll get a 10-point dog. Here’s a table with approximate teaser payouts depending on a number of games and a teaser type.   

Keep in mind that you can include more than four games into a teaser bet. However, your chances are rapidly declining with each game you add. On the other hand, you cannot get +300 wages or more with a straight bet on a team to cover.

NFL Teaser Bet – Tips and Strategies

All professional sports bettors will tell you that taking a straight bet is the only right way to do it. However, some of them occasionally use the teaser bets, and they do it on the NFL games. There are strong reasons why they mostly avoid college football and basketball.

Firstly, the NFL games produced fewer points than NCAAF. Likewise, the lines on the spread are lower, so the points you buy with a teaser really means. Compared to basketball games, the difference is even bigger. In the NBA, a 7-point teaser means far less with 200 or more points in a game.

Second, almost all the scoring in football is coming in threes and sevens. Of course, if the kicker converts the extra point. Therefore, three and seven are the most common margins of victory. When you get three and seven working in your favor, the NFL teaser makes sense.

At the same time, it is the most common strategy for NFL teaser bets. You want to cover those two numbers. If Pittsburgh is a 9.5-point fave, you want to tease them to 2.5 points. With a 6-point teaser, you don’t cover a 3-point winning margin.

Also, search for tight games where you fancy slight favorites or underdogs. If you expect a tough battle, tease your underdog above seven points. Likewise, use a teaser bet to turn your 3-point fave into a 3.5 or 4-point underdog.

You can consider the NFL teasers as an insurance policy. Instead of taking the straight bets, you can adjust the lines and take a teaser bet. Howsoever, be careful and very selective. Remember that you’re betting numbers, not teams.

Furthermore, you have to track the situation and realize when there’s a value in combining two or more NFL games into a teaser. Follow your guts, too, especially when you can cover the key numbers with your teaser bet.