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You used to hear that a teaser bet in football was a "sucker" play designed to take money from "squares" (the Vegas term for public bettors). What's happened over the years though is that many "sharps" (professional wagerers) have literally made fortunes betting teasers. sports books have continually made adjustments to discourage teaser betting from sharps as a result.
If you are not familiar with teasers, these are bets that:
1. Allow you to move a line SIX points in a pair of games at the new lines to win your bet.
2. Allow you to move a line TEN points on three games, but you have to win ALL THREE games at the new lines to win your bet. There are a lot of other variations. Those are the most common.
In a nutshell squares lose money betting teasers, and sports books would love to deposit that directly in their coffers.
Sharps make more money betting teasers than squares lose, so the sports books aren't coming out ahead on the deal.
To combat that, sports books have gotten savvy about barring sharps from play. They also made very clear line adjustments last season. You may have noticed a seemingly abnormal number of 9 point favorites in the NFL. Even if people bet the underdog, the line would not come to 8.5 or 8. That was in the "strike zone" of basic teaser strategy. Sports Books would rather live with one-sided action on the underdog +9 than risk getting pounded on the favorite -2.5 in two team teasers.
Sharps have found over the years that moving lines "across" the three and seven provided significant value. If they focused their play only on those options, they were able to consistently grind out a profit.'
Elements of the basic strategy:
Use it for NFL betting. Sometimes college football has such scoring volatility that the "bonus" points you are giving yourself aren't worth enough to offset the vigorish.
In two-team teasers, move favorites of 7.5, 8 or 8.5 points down to 1.5, 2, and 2.5 points (thereby crossing the 3 and the 7).
In two-team teasers, move underdogs of 1.5, 2, or 2.5 points up to 7.5, 8, or 8.5 points (thereby crossing the 3 and the 7 from the other direction).
In three-team teasers, move favorites of 10.5, 11, 11.5, 12, and 12.5 down to 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, and 2.5 (thereby crossing the 3, 7, and 10—which is another key number in the NFL)
In three-team teasers, move underdogs of 1, 1.5, 2, and 2.5 up to 11, 11.5, 12, and 12.5 (thereby crossing those same numbers from the other direction).
Various people take credit for developing this basic strategy. I've heard that it goes back at least to the 1980's, even though some are acting like they invented it recently. I think a lot of people may have discovered independently that this works. The strategy itself goes back more than 20 years.
If you haven't been applying this option to your own sports betting strategy, you need to start. Just be aware that the books are onto you. They try to avoid the strike points as much as possible in the NFL. And, they might become suspicious if ALL you do is bet big money on these types of teasers! Some discretion is in order.
Oh ... you have to AVOID the temptation to take 6-point favorites down to pick-em. This will seem like a logical approach if you're new to the strategy. It's what SQUARES do! They're always thinking the superior team is going to win straight up ... and moving six down to pick-em gives them a lock. Wrong! This is one of the worst strategies you could use.
Any team not good enough to be a touchdown favorite in the NFL can't be considered a sure thing to win straight up by any means. In recent years, seeing a home favorite around -6 has meant "overrated team" plus home field advantage. Competitive games are going to be priced near a field goal. Probable one-sided match ups are going to be priced at higher than a touchdown. Anything around five or six often points to a favorite the public is in love with but shouldn't be.
Are there any other positive strike points besides crossing the three and seven? I know many sharps are also focusing on underdogs that cross the seven and the 10. Those are underdogs of 4.5, 5, 5.5, and 6 points. You can move those up to +10.5, +11, +11.5, and +12. The key here is that they're not using a blanket strategy. Sharps will only use underdogs with good defenses ... or underdogs in games with totals of 3 8 points or less. They want points that MEAN something, so they focus on games that are expected to be low scoring ... and on defenses that can keep their teams within striking distance.
Using basic strategy in teasers will make you money. Using a combination of your own handicapping expertise and key numbers will help you make even more. Frankly, you may have to start creating these alternatives because the sports books are trying to avoid posting numbers in the main strike zone. Imagine an NFL weekend where there's only ONE game in the right range. You have an ideal teaser nominee, but nothing to tease it with! Necessity is the mother of invention. Sharps have applied their insights to find other strike zones to help exploit that one ideal nominee as best as possible.
Trying to tease college football may be a losing proposition. Sometimes the extra points you're giving yourself just aren't worth enough. One of the reasons to play college teasers is to help camouflage your true intent in the NFL. You play a few light "square" bets in the colleges to keep the heat off and set up your bigger "sharp" bets in the pros.
Trying to tease the NFL will work if you use the traditional 'basic strategy. You can successfully expand your list of nominees by focusing on quality teams that play good defense.
Don't bet haphazardly. Don't take all of your regular bets and tease them. Those bonus points are ONLY worth paying for if you're crossing the key numbers.
