It seems like the things that people like to talk about in the sports betting world are cyclical. There are certain concepts that I hear about for a while, then don't see anything about them for some time, and then all of a sudden it seems like people are talking about it again. One such concept is the Wong Teaser. I hadn't heard much about Wong's for the last couple of years, but suddenly the last couple of weeks I have seen several mentions of it. I'm not sure why that is - it's probably just a coincidence - but it does make for a good opportunity to look at the Wong teasers - what are they, are they still relevant, and so on.
Before we start to talk about Wong teasers we need to spend a couple of minutes talking about key numbers. In the NFL there are margins of victory that are more common than others. The most common margin of victory is three points. That makes sense - think of how many games are won by a field goal. About 15 percent of games are decided by this margin. The second most common is seven points - a touchdown - which occurs about seven percent of the time. Because they are so common the three and the seven are called key numbers. There are other key numbers as well - 10, four, one, and 14 for example - but three and seven are the most significant ones, and the important ones for this discussion.

A teaser is a type of wager used in sports betting, most commonly in basketball and football. This wager is a multi-team wager, allowing the bettor to choose a minimum of two teams up to, in some cases, 15 teams. The bettor will get points on his favor to add or subtract to the teams chosen to improve the point spread chosen. Teaser bets are offered at most sportsbooks. Typically these type of wagers are characterized as “exotic” bets. If you are very confident in the result of a game, then a teaser may not be a good idea. Teasers are most popular in sports such as football and basketball. Teasers generally revolve around key numbers for both sports: 4, 4.5, and 5 for basketball, and 6, 6.5, and 7 for football. As you add more teams to the ticket, the risk rises on your end. When it comes to points, the more points that are used, the more of a risk it is for oddsmakers. Say hello to a new way of betting teasers! The Heritage Build Your Own Teaser puts you back in charge! An 'old school' teaser is really a parlay that you buy a specific number of points (6, 6 ½, 7 etc) in a single wager. Other than selecting the teams you wish to have in the teaser, you have no flexibility in the 'old school' teaser options.

A teaser bet is similar to a parlay bet - a bet in which you need to win two or more games in order to get a payoff. The difference between a parlay and a teaser is that in a parlay you are betting that teams will cover the posted point spread, while in a teaser you are able to adjust that spread. Different types of teasers are available, but the typical one, and the one we are looking at here, is a six-point teaser. If, for example, a point spread is -10 in a game, then if you were to be the favorite in a teaser the spread would be -4. If you were to bet on the underdog the spread would be +16. Teasers can be on lines or totals, and work in the same way in both cases. The payout for teasers is fixed - not dependent upon the spread of the games involved - though they change regularly depending upon how well the bets are doing at a given time and the competition between books. A two-team teaser, for example, can pay anywhere from +100 (though it's unlikely that you will find that anymore) to -130.
The name Wong teaser originates because the concept was popularized in the book Sharp Sports Betting by Stanford Wong. It can alternately be seen by other names including a basic strategy teaser. A Wong teaser is a two-game teaser in which teasing the spread moves it through the two key numbers of three and seven. In other words, it's a teaser involving favorites of between 7.5 and 8.5 or underdogs of between 1.5 and 2.5. If a line is reasonably accurate then you can assume about a 50 percent chance of either team covering. If the odds were -110 then you need to win about 52.4 percent of your bets to break even. To win 52.4 percent of your teasers you need to be able to win the individual games approximately 72.5 percent of the time. Because games end up being decided by three and seven more than 22 percent of the time, teasing through these two numbers increases the chances of covering a spread from about 50 percent to 72 percent or more (It's actually better than that because you are also covering the numbers four, five and six, and games can also finish with those margins as well). Over the long term, then, Wong teasers are one of the few places in betting where there is a positive expectation. In other words, Wong teasers are very good for your bankroll.
Before you get too excited, though, there are a few issues that have made it much harder to ride the gravy train. First, books have increased the price of teasers - especially two team teasers - in defense of these situations. When Wong first wrote about these teasers it was easy to find a price of +100 for two team teasers. Now -120 is the most common price in Las Vegas, and -130 isn't unheard of. The extra cost of making the bets makes it much more difficult to earn a long-term profit, and even if you can - which is still possible in theory at -120 - the return on investment is low enough to make it unattractive in most cases. Additionally, some books won't even accept two-game teasers from time to time if they feel the bet isn't in their interest.
Beyond just the prices, books have responded to this situation by making it harder to find suitable situations. Spreads of 7.5-8.5 or 1.5-2.5 aren't nearly as common as they used to be, and that means that opportunities to make these bets aren't as apparent as they once were. They can still be found, but it requires an attentive bettor who is willing to jump on a line as soon as it appears because it isn't likely to stay for long.
Another way that online books have sought to counter Wong teasers is by changing the tie rules with two-game teasers. Traditionally, a teaser in which one team lost and one team pushed would be an overall push and the bettor would get their money refunded. Some online sportsbooks have quietly changed that rule so that now a loss and a push results in an overall loss. That difference alone, though it doesn't seem that significant, can be the difference between long-term profitability and long-term losses with Wong teasers.

Although a little more advanced than a normal moneyline or spread bet, NFL Teaser Betting is fairly popular at sportsbooks during the NFL season. Teaser bets account for over 15% of sportsbooks handles for NFL betting, and is continuously becoming more popular.

NFL teaser betting is more common with intermediate or advanced bettors, but it isn’t a hard concept to understand – I will explain how NFL teasers work below.

What is a NFL Teaser Bet?

A teaser bet is a group of straight bets (two or more) combined into one bet, where each individual line has been shifted to your favour by the number of points of the teaser.

There are three main NFL teasers – 6, 6.5 and 7 point teasers.

In a 6 point NFL teaser the line would be shifted by 6 points in the favour of the bettors play. For example if you wanted to take the Ravens -8, it would be converted into Ravens -2 within a teaser bet. The spread was shifted 6 points (from 8 points down to 2 points). Another example would be if you wanted to play the Chiefs -2.5. In a 6 point teaser the -2.5 line would be changed to Chiefs +3.5.

The same rule is applied for 6.5 and 7 point NFL teasers, except, of course, the line is shifted by either 6.5 or 7 points instead of the 6 points shown in the example above. NFL teaser bets must include two or more bets “parlayed” (cannot do single teaser bets).

NFL Teaser Example

Here is what a two team 6.5 point NFL teaser bet would look like:

Your selections: Pittsburgh Steelers +3 and Dallas Cowboys -4.5

In a 6.5 point teaser these would then be changed to: Steelers +9.5 and Cowboys -2

In order for you to win the teaser bet both incomes would have to be correct. If one selection was a push the bet is often refunded, but some sportsbooks will count it as a loss if the other selection lost (check your sportsbooks‘ rules).

Below is another example of a teaser bet that I recently placed and won. I teased the Vikings and Eagles from +2.5 up to +8.5 in a 2 team 6 point teaser.

NFL Teaser Bet Payouts

Every sportsbook will have their own payouts and rules for teaser bets. Our favorite sportsbook for getting the best NFL odds is 5Dimes.eu. Of course the more points you use on the teaser the lower the payout will be, and the more teams you include in the teaser bet the higher the payout will be.

Here are the NFL Teaser Payouts at 5Dimes (subject to change):

6 Point NFL Teaser Bet Payouts
2 Teams – (+100)
3 Teams – (+180)
4 Teams – (+300)

6.5 Point NFL Teaser Bet Payouts
2 Teams – (-110)
3 Teams – (+165)
4 Teams – (+265)

6 Point Teaser Odds

7 Point NFL Teaser Bet Payouts
2 Teams – (-120)
3 Teams – (+150)
4 Teams – (+240)

Sports Teasers

Of course you can choose more than 4 teams in your NFL teaser bet, I just used these as example payouts so you could get a feel for what the payouts are like on teaser bets. Full payout charts can usually be found at the sportsbooks website.

Teasers Sports Bar Amsterdam

Now that you know what teasers are check out this advanced Teaser Betting Strategy article written by our professional sports bettor, Jim. In the article you will learn when teasers are +EV and how you can make a profit during the season picking spots to bet teasers.