Everything You Need to Know about Teasers and Pleasers

Before we cover the ins and outs of teasers and pleasers, it should be acknowledged that gambling terminology can sometimes seem intimidating and confusing to novice sports bettors. This is often the case with bets such as the ones we’ll be covering here today. Fortunately, despite the strange names, teaser and pleaser bets are actually relatively straightforward and easy to understand.

Both bets are a form of parlay bet, meaning that they combine multiple individual wagers to create a single ticket. In order for the gamble to pay out, each individual pick must win. If a single aspect of the card loses, the entire bet loses. Teasers and pleasers are just parlay bets with an added step, a modified point spread, and fixed payout amounts.

Pleaser and teaser parlays must exclusively consist of totals bets and straight bets. When betting pleasers, you may either gamble on the total or a straight bet for a single competition, but you cannot make 2 of your picks from the same game. At the moment, these approaches to parlay betting are only available for football and basketball betting.

Teasers

A teaser is a type of parlay wager in which the bettor is given the opportunity to move the point spread in an advantageous direction, making the individual bets easier to win. The gambler chooses the number of “teams” their teaser will consist of, which is merely the number of teams and the amount that they would like to adjust the point spread.

The most common options with regards to how a teaser bet moves the line range between 6 and 7.5, with each half-integer in-between being available to pick as well.

Teaser odds are determined by the size of the modified point spread and the number of teams you select. Later in the guide, we will show you an example of a payout table that more clearly presents the relationship between points and teams.

Pleasers

Pleaser bets have virtually the same concept as teasers, only they move the line in the opposite direction, making the point spread less favorable for the gambler. Like their counterpart, these wagers are also parlay bets. However, with pleasers, the more significantly you choose to move the line, the longer the odds, and thus the higher the payout.

Ties

Before we move on, there’s one last crucial possibility to cover. What happens when one of the bets ties? There are actually several different ways in which draws are handled. Sometimes you can pick what ties result in, other times the sportsbook picks the rules.

Ties can be treated in one of 3 ways.

1. Ties Win
2. Ties Remove
3. Ties Lose

When ties win, any bet on the parlay that ends in a tie after moving the point spread results in a win for the bettor.

“Ties removed” is one of the most common policies, and it means that bets that push are taken off the card and removed from the odds.

Lastly, is the “ties lose” option. Under these rules, any bet that results in a tie will cause the entire parlay card to fail.

Depending on how ties are resolved, the odds are affected accordingly. Draws that are counted as a win are favorable to the sports bettor since they increase the odds of winning, resulting in reduced payouts. On the other side of the equation, ties that are considered a loss adjust the odds in the opposite direction, as this makes winning a parlay increasingly challenging, but also more lucrative.

Now that you understand the basic concepts behind pleaser and teaser parlays, let’s see how they look in practice. For the sake of these examples, all ties will be reduced from the ticket.

Let’s say we want to bet on the NFL and decide to try a 3-team teaser in which we move the point spread by 6. We select 3 teams with the following pre-teased spreads.

• Patriots -3
• Cowboys +4
• Packers +2 ½

Since it’s a teaser bet, all the lines will be shifted 6 points in our favor. The new lines are as follows.

• Patriots +3
• Cowboys +10
• Packers +8 ½

As this is now a lot easier to win, we won’t be paid out as well as a traditional parlay, but we’ll still see some high payouts. In fact, the average 3-team parlay teased 6 points would pay out +165 odds. Not too shabby for what looks like a relatively easy bet!

Now, let’s reverse this same example and make it a pleaser instead. This time, all the point lines will be shifted in the opposite, less favorable direction. The same 3 teams are selected, once again with the following unaltered spreads.

• Patriots -3
• Cowboys +4
• Packers +2 ½

Since we’re dealing with a pleaser bet this time, all the lines will be shifted against our favor by 6 points. The new lines are as follows.

• Patriots -9
• Cowboys -2
• Packers -3.5

As you can see, this makes the wager much harder to win. Two teams that the bookmakers deemed as underdogs now must win the game and cover the spread. Meanwhile, the Patriots have gone from only needing to win by more than a field goal, to suddenly requiring covering a 9-point spread.

But it’s not all bad news. While this bet may be exponentially more difficult to win than the teaser, it pays accordingly.

Yes, you read that correctly; you will receive $1,750 in earnings for every $100 staked.

Let’s look at one more example, once again with ties reduced. This time, we plan to buy a 6-team parlay that we’ll tease a whopping 7.5 points. The standard point spreads are set to the following values.

• Oakland Raiders -4.5
• Houston Texans O/U 39.5
• Carolina Panthers + 6.5
• Denver Broncos O/U 28.5
• Pittsburgh Steelers -5
• Kansas City Chiefs – 10.5

You may have noticed that two of the picks are totals bets this time. We decide to take the over for the Texans game, resulting in the line adjusting downward, in order to make hitting the over easier. For the Broncos, we’ll take the under, which results in the line being teased higher. The parlay ticket would look like this now.

• Oakland Raiders + 3
• Houston Texans Over 32
• Carolina Panthers + 14
• Denver Broncos Under 36
• Pittsburgh Steelers +2.5
• Kansas City Chiefs -3

We decide to stake an even $100 on this 6-team parlay, teased 7.5 points. This wager is offered at +380 odds. Should we win all six games, we will win $380 and receive a total payout of $480 since our staking amount is returned.

Let’s reverse course once again and look at this same example, only on a pleaser parlay this time. We will warn you now, the chances of you ever hitting a 6-team pleaser are slim-to-none.

• Oakland Raiders -4.5
• Houston Texans O/U 39.5
• Carolina Panthers + 6.5
• Denver Broncos O/U 28.5
• Pittsburgh Steelers -5
• Kansas City Chiefs – 10.5

We once again choose the Texans over, and Broncos under. After adjusting all the lines according to the 7.5-point pleaser, the parlay card will look like this.

• Oakland Raiders -12
• Houston Texans Over 47
• Carolina Panthers -1
• Denver Broncos Under 21
• Pittsburgh Steelers -12.5
• Kansas City Chiefs – 18

As you can see, we’ll need multiple miracles to win this bet. The total score in the Texans game has to combine for over 47 points, the Panther team that was handicapped to lose by nearly a touchdown now must win outright by more than 1 point, and the Chiefs now must win by almost 3 touchdowns to cover.

The silver lining is that should miracles happen, a 6-team parlay pleased by 7.5 points pays out 750/1 odds. That’s $750 for every single dollar staked, meaning the same $100 bet would earn $75,000!

The odds that online bookmakers offer on teaser and pleaser parlays may vary from site to site, although they should stay in the same general ballpark as the following tables. As you can see, the odds for one of these unique parlays is wholly determined by the number of teams and the size of the spread adjustment.

The numbers at the top of the table are the range of points, while the rows represent the quantity of “teams” or individual wagers making up our parlay card. The following 2 tables are the teaser values for both the NFL and the NBA. For more combinations or options and their respective payouts, follow this link.

Common NFL Teaser Bet Odds (Ties Remove)

Common NBA Teaser Bet Odds (Ties Remove)

After you study the enormous tables that dictate teaser payouts, you may be surprised to see how many fewer options are provided for pleasers. The maximum number of games allowed to be bet is 6, while the lines can only be moved between 6 and 10 points. The payouts for anything more would be too astronomical for the casino even to consider accepting, regardless of how unlikely such a bet hitting is.

If you’d like to see the full table of pleaser payouts, check out this link. Also of interest, you may notice that this table has the point spread conversions between sports and leagues. For example, -6 points in the NFL is the same as -7 in college football and -5.5 in the NBA.

Common NFL Pleaser Bet Odds (Ties Remove)

Common NBA Pleaser Bet Odds (Ties Remove)

Variety

Teaser and pleaser wagers provide an entertaining twist to conventional parlay betting. Giving the gambler the ability to move the line in either direction significantly presents a conundrum with which even the best handicappers will struggle. Having to solve issues of implied probability, and the estimated value of these complicated bets keeps sports bettors’ minds sharp and engaged.

Depending on the sportsbook, there are even full ranges of options within teasers and pleasers. Some bookmakers offer Sweetheart Teasers that move the line 10 points, for example. All the many combinations of bets and line movements create a marketplace of vast possibilities and options.

While teasers and pleasers are mathematically unsound in most instances, not every sports bettor is obsessed with maximizing value. Some enjoy the additional challenge that these parlays offer. And when the luck does swing your way, you’ll forget all about break-even points and rejoice that you conquered the enormous odds.

Can Be Profitable

Over an extended amount of time, the majority of teaser and pleaser bets will fail to break even. However, some patterns and trends tend to hold true and present opportunities to win money consistently. There are specific point spread values that, when teased, result in winning bets at a rate higher than their break-even percentage, meaning they hold positive value.

Much like playing the lottery, these bets may not be very likely to win, but when they do, the impact is extraordinary.

A 3-team, ties win parlay pleased by 6 points pays out +1550. That’s a bet someone could potentially get lucky on. When you get into the 5 and 6 team pleasers, the potential earnings can range from 350 to 900-to-1 payouts. Sure, these bets aren’t going to hit very often, but if you’re in the right place at the right time, these wagers have life-changing potential.

Challenging

These enhanced parley bets also provide an additional challenge for sports betting enthusiasts. Developing a betting system with any sustained success takes immense data collection, number crunching, and trial-and-error. These bets appear incredibly enticing, especially teasers, because they seem like they’d be so easy to win.

Despite their appearance, they are actually extremely tough to win with any regularity. A determined handicapper will keep digging through the odds, searching out specific scenarios that can be exploited with the right line shift at the right time. Teasers and pleasers are best left to advanced gamblers, but they’ll provide a worthwhile challenge to bettors of all levels.

Tease Home Favorites

One of the bets that has proven to win consistently over time is teasing 2 home favorites of -7.5 to -9. It was discovered that the most effective NFL bet is one that teases the point spread across the 3 and the 7. So, for example, teasing a -8.5 favorite to -2.5 would cross both the 7 and the 3.

According to 27 years of NFL data, teasing home teams favored by any number between -7.5 and -9 will result in a winning percentage high enough to clear the break-even point. The return on investment over time can range from 3.1 to 5.6%.

Tease Underdogs on the Road

Another pattern that has been found to maximize your return on NFL parlays is to tease underdogs on the road. More specifically, you are looking for underdogs getting between +1 and +2.5. When you tease the line, once again it will pass the 3 and 7, which is the sign of a winning teaser bet.

Moving the line 6 points results in a return on investment of 3.1 while pushing the line 6.5 points sees gains of 5.6%. So, the best wager you can find is a road underdog sitting at +2.5 before being teased to +9.

Stick to 2-Team Pleasers

If you examine the odds frequently provided on pleaser bets, they mainly stay the same regardless of how many teams you chose to bet. With the odds being offered, the break-even percentage for each individual wager regardless of the total size of the ticket is roughly 39% always. Since the odds get no better with more teams, your best bet is to stick to 2-team pleasers.

If you do spot more than 2 lines that you like, it is more advisable to combine the picks into several 2-team bets, rather than put all 3 on the same card.

Please Underdogs +13.5

The majority of pleaser parleys are suckers’ bets, but there is one scenario that has a high enough expected value to be worth wagering. Specifically, pleasing +13.5 favorites to +7.5 has more value than making a straight bet on the +13.5 underdogs at -105 odds.

Look for Totals of Less than 49 Points

In games with a total of 7 touchdowns or less, teasers have been incredibly successful. If the total is less than 49, the winning percentages of teaser bets average out to 77.5%, which is significantly higher than the break-even percentage.

If the total is less than or equal to 49, the primary strategy guideline says to only tease the line 6 or 6.5 points.

Avoid Teasing Down Road Favorites -7.5 or More

Road favorites that are giving up a touchdown or more are consistently mispriced and inflated. In fact, road favorites that are favored by this amount only cover the spread 40% of the time. When that line is teased down, the probability of winning remains below the break-even percentage no matter how much you tease.

Teasing the line by 6 points results in a paltry 60% likelihood of winning, well short of the necessary 73.7% to break even. Teasing by 6.5 improves the winning percentage to 69%, but it’s still short. Even playing a 7-point tease results in an overall loss, coming in at only 72%.

In Conclusion

Teaser and pleaser parlay bets present some interest options for sports gamblers. The opportunity to adjust the point spread to create a more winnable parlay can be incredibly enticing. The stakes can sometimes feel impossible to lose.

On the other side of the equation, pleasers make parlays exponentially more challenging to win. But in the unlikely situation that you actually do win a multiple team pleaser, you stand to make an enormous return on what you staked. Both sides of the coin are attractive in their own ways.

While these advanced parlay bets do appear to offer bettors another viable wager type to exploit, the math does not support participating in pleasers and teasers. In fact, for the most part, these can be considered suckers’ bets.

Included in this strategy are 5 separate rules, which were incorporated into a previous section. By taking the time to locate the specific scenarios in which the right lines present themselves, money can be made. It just requires a disciplined approach and the ability to resist lines that appear too good to be true.

Despite their reputation as a suckers’ bet, the world of sports betting is better for having teasers and pleasers. These bets provide a fascinating twist to the typical parlay bet and keep gamblers entertained and challenged. Lastly, many recreational bettors enjoy being able to risk small sums of money for the possibility of hitting the jackpot.

Pleasers and teasers provide this low-risk, high-reward possibility. Even if they never win the big one, for many gamblers out there, just daydreaming about hitting the motherlode while the card is still in play is rewarding enough.