A teaser bet is a parlay in which you move every point spread or total in your favor by a set number of points, usually 6, 6.5 or 7 in football, in exchange for a lower payout. All the legs still have to win, and each one is graded at its moved line.
Take the Los Angeles Chargers at Buffalo Bills on Sunday, September 27, 2026, listed at Buffalo -7 at DraftKings on ESPN on the morning of September 24. In a 6-point teaser, Buffalo -7 becomes Buffalo -1, and the Chargers +7 becomes the Chargers +13.
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How a teaser works
You pick at least two legs, the book moves each one by the teaser amount, and the teaser pays a fixed price for the number of legs. A favorite’s spread comes down, an underdog’s goes up, an over’s total goes down and an under’s goes up.
Here is how a 6-point teaser moves three of this week’s DraftKings lines, as listed on ESPN on September 24:
| Game | Line | Teased 6 points |
|---|---|---|
| Chargers at Bills | Buffalo -7 / Chargers +7 | Buffalo -1 / Chargers +13 |
| Cardinals at 49ers | San Francisco -8.5 / Arizona +8.5 | San Francisco -2.5 / Arizona +14.5 |
| Bengals at Steelers, total | 42.5 | Over 36.5 / Under 48.5 |
The table shows what the move does to each side. It is not a pick on any of these games.
A teaser pays from the book’s own table, not from the prices of the legs. FanDuel’s Massachusetts house rules, approved by the state’s Gaming Commission on March 27, 2025, put it plainly: “Teaser payoff – Odds are derived from a fixed payout chart.” Check the chart at your book before you bet, because it is the whole price.
What happens on a push
A push is a leg that lands exactly on its teased number, and the book’s own rule decides what happens next. FanDuel’s same house rules say that in a two-team teaser, if one leg pushes or is void, “the entire teaser is voided and the bet will be refunded.” In any larger teaser, “the teaser has action and the teaser payout will be recalculated removing the voided or push legs.”
So a three-team teaser with one push becomes a two-team teaser, paid at the two-team price.
Why 3 and 7 matter in the NFL
Points in football come in 3s and 7s, and final margins bunch on those numbers. In the 2025 NFL regular season, ESPN’s results show 272 games: 41 were decided by exactly 3 points (15.1%) and 26 by exactly 7 (9.6%).
That is why a 6-point teaser is worth more on some lines than others. A margin of 3 to 8 points, by either team, happened in 113 of those 272 games, or 41.5%. A margin of 9 to 14 points happened in 42, or 15.4%. Moving a line from -8.5 to -2.5 crosses both 3 and 7. Moving one from -14.5 to -8.5 crosses neither.
A teased line can also land on a whole number and push. Buffalo -7 teased to -1 pushes on a 1-point Buffalo win, and 16 of the 272 games in 2025 ended with a 1-point margin. In a two-team teaser under the FanDuel rule above, that push refunds the whole bet.
The math behind the price
A teaser only pays off if each leg wins often enough to beat the fixed price. Take a made-up two-team 6-point teaser at -120. You risk $120 to win $100, so you need the teaser to win 54.55% of the time (120 divided by 220).
Both legs have to win, so each leg needs to come in about 73.9% of the time, the square root of 54.55%. For a made-up three-team teaser at +160, the teaser needs 38.46% (100 divided by 260), and each leg about 72.7%.
That gives you the question to ask of every leg: after the 6-point move, does this side win about three times in four? If you would not say yes for each leg, the teaser is costing you money.
Teaser types
- Standard teaser: 6, 6.5 or 7 points in football, with the payout falling as the points rise.
- Basketball teaser: smaller moves, often 4 to 5 points.
- Totals teaser: the over or under moved by the same amount; some books allow spreads and totals in one teaser.
- Sweetheart or monster teaser: a larger move, often 10 points or more, with more legs required and a lower payout.
The teaser amounts and leg limits vary by book and state, so the list above describes the types, not any book’s current menu.
Mistakes to avoid
Adding legs to raise the payout raises the bar faster. If each leg wins 73.9% of the time, the break-even rate for the made-up two-team price, three legs all win 40.3% of the time and four legs 29.8%.
Teasing through no key number is the other one. Both moves below are 6 points. A line of -8.5 teased to -2.5 now also wins on final margins of 3 to 8, the range 113 of the 272 games in 2025 landed in, counting either team. A line of -14.5 teased to -8.5 now also wins on margins of 9 to 14, where 42 landed.
Where to go next
Our guide to the benefits of betting teasers goes further on strategy, and our odds explainer covers how to read the prices. For a different way to combine bets, see round robin parlays. This week’s games and our calls on them are on the NFL predictions hub.