In addition to side bets (a.k.a. pointspread bets), the other type of bet that I frequently make is called a teaser bet. While teaser bets vary by the number of teams involved in the teaser as well as by the number of points, the teaser bets that I make are almost always the standard 2 teams, 6 points. Odds on the standard 2 team, 6 point teaser vary, but is usually between -110 and -120, i.e risking anywhere between 11 and 12 dollars for every 10 dollars that you are attempting to win. But there are enough sportsbooks around (mostly offshore sportbooks) that still offer -110 odds (or even as low as -105) that bettors who are serious about betting teasers should have no problem betting with multiple sportsbooks that offer such odds. In the standard 2 team, 6 point teaser bet, a bettor is effectively wagering on two teams but the pointspread is adjusted in his favor by six points on both teams. So for example, a 7 point favorite becomes just a 1 point favorite, and a 2.5 point underdog becomes an 8.5 point underdog. But the bettor must win both games in order to win the teaser bet. A loss on either game (let alone both) results in the bet becoming a loss.
Many people think that teaser bets are sucker bets. While I would never place teaser bets on college football games, making the standard 2 team, 6 point teaser bet in the NFL (at odds of -110 or better) can be very profitable. In fact, my lifetime winning percentage on teasers (58%) is actually better than it is on side plays. The reason why great profit potential exists in regards to betting NFL teasers is due to the frequency with which NFL games are decided by three points or seven points. Specifically, one out of every seven (14.3%) NFL games is decided by exactly three points, where as one out of every thirteen (7.7%) NFL games is decided by exactly seven points. Hence, if one bets a NFL teaser where the additional six points that he gets as a result of the teaser captures both the 3 pointspread and the 7 pointspread, he has an enhanced chance of winning the bet (as opposed to the probability of him winning a teaser play that doesn't capture both the three pointspread and the seven pointspread). This is because in this situation there is a greater chance that the additional six points will make the difference in winning a bet that one otherwise would have lost had he bet the two teams together in a parlay instead of a teaser. While college football games are also disproportionately decided by three points and seven points (as opposed to other point margins of victory), such occurrences are less frequent than in the NFL. This is due partially to the fact that the overtime rules are different in college football than they are in the NFL and partially to the fact that there is a lower degree of parity in college football than there is in the NFL. The later causes there to be a greater amount of variance in college football scores than there is in NFL scores, which obviously results in there being less close games decided by seven points or less (and concomitantly by exactly three or seven points).
Since basketball is scored differently than football is (i.e always in increments of one, two, and three points instead of the usual increments of three points and seven points in football), there are no "magic numbers" in basketball where point margins of victory disproportionately land. Hence in basketball it doesn't matter what pointspread that one teasers up or down from (save through zero), unlike football.
The aforementioned reasons are what make betting teasers in college football and basketball less attractive than betting them in the NFL. If one combines solid handicapping with good strategy, he can indeed be very successful betting NFL teasers. And one can make a very good income winning at a clip of 58% (at odds of -110 or better) as I have done betting teasers over the course of my NFL handicapping career.
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