What is a Teaser and a Pleaser?

Pleasers vs Teasers

Table of contents

Whether you are new to sports betting or have been doing it for years, knowing the types of bets you can make is vital to having success. Aside from the most common betting markets, such as the money line, spread, or totals, there are countless other types of betting markets that can prove to be profitable over the long term.

Of course, this is dependent on knowing how these different types of betting markets work. Two of these markets, in particular, can be confusing on the surface: bet types known as a teaser and a pleaser.

Below, we have created a comprehensive guide explaining what teaser and pleaser bets are when it comes to sports betting. This will also include the different types of teasers and pleasers bets you can make, and examples of how they work.

What are Teasers in Sports Betting?

The easiest way to define a teaser bet is that it is a parlay with a twist. Like a parlay, a minimum of two legs must be placed, and all of the legs must win for your bet to be graded as a win.

With that said, the payout for a teaser bet is significantly less than that of a parlay. Further, teaser bets are primarily used in football (NFL & College) and basketball (NBA, College) betting and allow you to move the point spread or total in your favor.  

Types of Teasers & How They Work

The major types of teasers available to bet on come in the form of the number of points you can tease and the sport you are betting on. 

Football Teasers

For football, namely the NFL and College, teasers are generally offered at 6-points, 6.5-points, 7-points, and sometimes 10-points or 13-points. All of these options have vastly different payouts, which solely depend on how many teams you put in your teaser.

The most common type of teaser in football is a 2-team 6-point teaser. For example, say that Team A was -6.5 against Team B and Team C was +4.5 against Team D. If you did a 2-team 6-point teaser, it could look like the following:

  • Team A (-6.5) vs Team B -> Team A (-0.5) vs Team B
  • Team C (+4.5) vs Team D -> Team C (+10.5) vs Team D

In this example, you would need Team A to just win the game, while Team C would need to win or lose by less than 10.5 points.

The same rule applies if you were making a teaser bet using totals. Say the game between Team A and Team B has an Over/Under of 48.5 points. An example of teasing the total would look like the following.

  • Team A/Team B - O/U 48.5 Points -> Team A/Team B - O/U 42.5 Points or 54.5 Points

In this example, if you were to bet the over, the total would be teased down to 42.5 points, while betting on the under would tease the total up to 54.5 points.

Note that regardless of which teaser you decide to use, the odds you will receive are highly dependent on which sportsbook you are betting with. 

Many legal sportsbooks, such as DraftKings and FanDuel, offer fair odds for their teaser bets and are often regarded as top sportsbooks to place these types of bets with. 

Basketball Teaser

While basketball teasers work similarly to football teasers, the number of points you adjust the line by is much different. A typical basketball teaser is usually 4-points, 4.5-points, or 5-points. However, some sportsbooks also offer 8-point and 10-point teasers as well. 

An example of a 2-team 4-point basketball teaser would be as follows:

  • Team A (-4.5) vs Team B -> Team A (-0.5) vs Team B 
  • Team C (+5.5) vs Team D -> Team C (+9.5) vs Team D

As you can see, Team A would only need to win the game now, while Team C would need to avoid losing by double-digits.

Again, the same rule would apply when teasing a basketball total. This could look like the following:

  • Team A/Team B - O/U 220.5 Points -> Team A/Team B - O/U 216.5 Points or 224.5 Points

With this, betting on the over would only require 217 points, while betting the under would give you more room for error, as high as 224 points.

What are Pleasers in Sports Betting?

A pleaser bet is essentially the polar opposite of a teaser bet. The same rules apply as listed above in the sense that a pleaser bet must be a minimum of two legs, and every leg must win for the overall bet to win.

The difference with a pleaser bet is that you must move the point spread or total in the sportsbook’s favor. Doing this makes your bet much more difficult to win; however, the payouts are much higher.

Further, pleaser bets are much less common and, as such, are rarely offered by legal sportsbooks. In fact, only a handful of sportsbooks even have pleaser bets available, all of which are located in Las Vegas and require you to make the bet in-person.

Types of Pleasers & How They Work

Like a teaser, the types of pleasers come in the form of how many points you are required to move the original point spread or total. As mentioned, a pleaser requires you to move the line in favor of the sportsbook. 

If we used the same football example as before, where Team A is -6.5 vs Team B, and Team C is +4.5 vs Team D, a 6-point pleaser bet could look like the following:

  • Team A (-6.5) vs Team B -> Team A (-12.5) vs Team B
  • Team C (+4.5) vs Team D -> Team C (-2.5) vs Team D

Since this was a pleaser bet, Team A, which was originally a touchdown favorite, now has to win by nearly two touchdowns. Whereas Team C, which was an underdog, is now a field goal favorite.

Conclusion

The best advice is to avoid betting on these types of bets too often. Especially, pleasers bets, as they are rare to begin with, so even with the higher payouts, it is not advised to move the lines in favor of the sportsbooks to make it even harder for you to win.

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