College Basketball Teasers Explained
By Loot, NCAA Basketball Handicapper, Lootmeister.com
There are many different kinds of bets you can make in college basketball. One of the more popular are teasers. We will explain the ins and outs of college basketball teasers, while discussing its pros and cons. Then you can decide whether to make them a part of your wagering repertoire.
A teaser is a singular bet containing multiple games. It is like a parlay, being that in order to win--you must win all the games. Where the teaser differs and why many find it appealing is that you get a pre-determined amount of points in your favor. The normal point-spread or total is moved in your favor in exchange for a lesser payout. Sportsbooks are adding different kinds of teasers as they grow in popularity. But the more common ones are 4, 4.5, and 5-point teasers.
So you choose multiple teams or games (generally 2-10), and you receive a 4, 4.5, or 5-point adjustment of the spread or total in your favor. Let’s say, for example, that you liked these 3 teams:
Alabama -9.5
San Jose State +5
Michigan -7
Now, let’s say you want to put those 3 teams on a 4-point teaser. Here are the new point-spreads you will have to cover:
Alabama -5.5
San Jose State +9
Michigan -3
You see that the point-spread moved in your favor on all 3 games chose by 4 points apiece. Again, you must cover every game by the adjusted point-spread or the teaser is a loser. If there is a push, like if Michigan won by exactly 3 points, the teaser would just become a 2-team teaser, as if the game never happened. If a push occurs on a two-team teaser, the other game would just become a straight bet.
The drawbacks with teasers are numerous. Chief amongst the criticisms is that you need to win every game. Even with points in your favor, that is not easy to do--even on a two-team teaser, much less on a teaser with a bunch of games. In addition, your payout is severely diminished from what you would get on a parlay. The potential payout is just not that impressive considering that you are asking for a lot of things to go right. Here are the payouts for 4, 4.5, and 5-point teasers:
4-Point Teasers
2-Team: 1-1
3-Team: 9-5
4-Team: 3-1
5-Team: 5-1
6-Team: 7-1
7-Team: 10-1
8-Team: 15-1
9-Team: 20-1
10-Team: 25-1
4.5-Point Teasers
2-Team: 10-115-Team Teasers
2-Team: 5-6
3-Team: 3-2
4-Team: 2-1
5-Team: 7-2
6-Team: 5-1
7-Team: 8-1
8-Team: 10-1
9-Team: 12-1
10-Team: 15-1
So you see the vast difference in payouts from parlays to teasers. On a parlay, a 4-teamer would yield 10-1 odds, while a teaser requires you to hit an 8-teamer to accomplish the same result. It just seems there are easier bets to win than an 8-team teaser in order to secure a 10-1 return.
Nevertheless, these bets have a certain appeal. If you like a team, you will like them even more getting extra points. And in college, where the games are much lower-scoring than in the NBA, those 4-5 points can be even more valuable. Also--teasers are fun. If you’re a purely recreational player, teasers are entertaining wagers to make.
Serious college basketball bettors, however, consider teasers to be “sucker bets.” Having 4-5 points seems tantalizing, but over the long haul, the numbers do not favor it as a sound wager. The extra points will not help as much as you having to win every game will hurt. In relation to the odds you receive, whatever edge the points gives you is trumped by the high winning percentage you have to maintain on teasers for them to show a profit over the long run.
To win different teasers, you must maintain a certain winning percentage over the long run. That percentage is based on the payouts. If the extra 4-5 points made underdogs or favorites cover at a rate exceeding that percentage, it would be good bet, but it’s not even that close. In other words, a habitual teaser player is getting juiced to death. Approach teasers with apprehension. The highest/best teaser odds on the web are only found at 5Dimes Casino. There is no comparison! They simply TRUMP the rest in a huge way!
