5 Great NFL Teaser Strategy Tips To Help You Win Bets

Winning more NFL bets can make you feel on top of the world. (Photo credit: ncbronte / Foter / CC BY-SA)


Teasers are a very popular way to bet on NFL football, but many people don’t use them to their maximum advantage.

In this article, we’ll explain NFL teaser strategy and give 5 tips that will help you win more football bets.

First, Let’s Make Sure You’ve Had NFL Teasers Explained To You

Teasers, in case you don’t know, allow you to move a point spread or total in your direction (standard football teasers means moving the NFL lines 6 points).

In exchange for the extra points you receive on your bet, you’ll need to parlay at least two games on your football teasers ticket and win them all to cash in.

NFL Teasers Allow You To Move The Lines

NFL lines on opening week of the 2014 season at www.Pinnacle.com saw the Cowboys as +4.5 versus the 49ers and the Broncos as -7 points against the Colts.

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If you liked the Cowboys and Broncos but were a bit nervous about having to make NFL spread picks, you could move the Cowboys to +10.5 and the Broncos to -1 by playing a 6-point teaser.

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NFL Teaser Rules And Payouts

You would need to win both ends of a 2-game NFL teaser to cash your bet, generally getting back the same return on a 6-point, 2-game teaser that you would on your regular NFL spread picks.

If you bet on more than 2 games on a NFL teaser bet, you’ll need to win all of them as well. Your payout will vary on how many games you pick, how many points you tease by, and which sportsbook you use.

NFL Teaser Strategy: 5 Tips To Remember

1. Cross key numbers

In the example from above, those two games are perfect examples of ideal NFL lines to tease.

Why? Well, when you move NFL lines 6 points in your favour, it’s ideal to move it across as many NFL key numbers as possible.

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By moving the Cowboys to +10.5, you will still win if Dallas loses by 6, 7 or 10 points — margins of defeat that are quite common in the NFL.

It’s the same with the Broncos. By teasing them down to -1, you still win if the Broncos win by just 3, 4 or 6 points.

That extra insurance can come in nice and handy when the game is tied in the late going and the Broncos are just playing for a field goal to win by 3.

2. Get the best odds

When teasing NFL lines or any other sport, however, it’s still important to line shop.

Not all sportsbooks pay the same on football teasers.

Pinnacle is good for 2-team, 6-point football teasers, paying at -110 odds.

Pinnacle NFL Teaser Odds

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Sports Interaction is probably a book you don’t want to use when betting football teasers, since their 2-team, 6-point teasers pay at -120 odds (1.83 in decimal odds is the same as -120 in American odds).

Sports Interaction NFL Teaser Odds

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3. Get the best lines

Also, not all sportsbooks will offer the same teaser NFL lines.

Pinnacle, for example, sometimes lists a team as 9-point favourites with plus juice (+110).

It’s basically the same price as -7.5 -110, but by listing the team as 9-point favourites, they ensure that you can only tease the team down to a 3-point favourite on a 6-point teaser.

That’s a big deal, since you’re no longer crossing the key number of 3 with your football teasers.

You’d be better off betting your football teasers at another sportsbook which likely listed the team as 7.5-point favourites.

4. Be selective

Sportsbooks also offer football teasers of 6.5 points, 7 points and even as high as 14 points on NFL lines.

But the number of games you’ll have to win, and the lower return you’ll get on your bet, generally makes it a bad idea to play those higher football teasers.

WizardofOdds.com wrote a good piece several years ago that explained NFL teasers and included this graph that shows how your probability of winning increases for every half point you buy.

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Your best NFL teaser strategy is to find a couple teams you like, bet them on 6-point teasers and make sure that your bet crosses as many key numbers as possible.

It doesn’t make that much sense to tease NFL lines from a 14-point favourite to an 8-point favourite.

But it makes a whole lot of sense to tease them down from a 7-point favourite to a 1-point favourite.

5. Proline and other provincial sports lotteries don’t offer football teasers

If you use football teasers to your advantage, they can be an excellent way to make a profit with your football predictions.

And remember, you won’t find Proline, Mise-O-Jeu, Sport Select or PlayNow offering football teasers or anything else that will help you make money on NFL lines.

The only way to bet NFL teasers — well, unless you want to fly to Nevada — is with online sportsbooks.