Teaser Calculator

A teaser calculator shows what you win when you shift the spread or total in your favor on every leg of an NFL or NBA parlay, trading a lower payout at reduced American odds like -120 for legs that are far easier to cover.

What Is a Teaser Bet?

A teaser is a type of parlay that trades a smaller payout for an easier path to a win. Instead of betting every leg at the spread or total the sportsbook originally posted, you move each line in your favor by a set number of points before the legs are combined into one ticket. In the NFL, that shift is typically 6 points; in the NBA, books usually offer 4 or more. Because every leg still has to win for the teaser to pay out, sportsbooks cut the odds well below what a straight parlay on the same games would pay.

The appeal is straightforward: a spread that looks shaky on its own, such as a favorite laying -8, becomes far more comfortable once it’s teased down to -2. Bettors use teasers to buy their way across the NFL’s most common margins of victory, 3 and 7 points, turning a line that could go either way into one that only needs to hold up against a much smaller number of realistic final scores. This is the idea behind the “Wong teaser,” built around picking legs that cross both of those key numbers, since that’s where the extra points are worth the most relative to the reduced price. Away from those numbers, the reduced odds are a tougher trade to make.

How Teaser Odds and Payouts Are Calculated

Building a teaser starts with the lines themselves. Each leg’s spread or total is shifted by the number of teaser points you’ve chosen - the calculator moves a favorite like the Chiefs -8 to -2, or a total like Under 51 to Under 57, in your favor. Once every leg has been moved, the legs are combined like a normal parlay, except the ticket is priced at whatever teaser odds the sportsbook posts for that number of legs and points, rather than at the multiplied odds of the individual lines. Those prices are set by the book and change as legs are added: a 2-leg 6-point teaser might sit at -120, a 3-leg teaser at the same points might be priced at +160, and a 4-leg version at +265.

To turn that price into a payout, convert the American teaser odds to decimal form and multiply by the stake: Payout = stake x decimal odds. A -120 teaser price converts to 1.83 in decimal form, so a $60 stake returns a $110.00 payout, a $50.00 profit. Every teased leg still has to win outright - moving the lines makes each leg easier, it doesn’t remove the requirement that all of them hit. The wrinkle is what happens when a leg pushes: most books drop it and grade the teaser one leg shorter, but some rule that a push loses the entire ticket instead.

What the Calculator Shows You

Enter the spread or total for each leg, the number of points you want to move, and your stake, and the calculator returns everything you need to see the trade you’re making. It shows the points moved on each leg, so you can confirm the teaser is shifting lines the way you expect. It shows the teaser price in American odds, since that’s how your sportsbook will display it, alongside the equivalent decimal odds so you can see the payout multiplier directly. It lists each leg after the move has been applied, so you can check that a favorite or total has landed where you intended. Finally, it shows the payout and the profit in dollars separately, so you can see both what comes back to you and what you actually made above your stake.

Worked Example

Take a two-team, 6-point NFL teaser priced at -120, with a $60 stake. The first leg is the Chiefs at -8, teased down to -2. The second leg is a game total, Under 51, teased up to Under 57. Both moves take a line that could go either way and give it a lot more cushion: a team favored by 8 points is a much tougher cover than one favored by only 2, and a total needs a wider gap to go over 57 than to go over 51.

Because it’s a 6-point, two-team teaser, the sportsbook prices the combined ticket at -120. Converting -120 to decimal odds gives 1.83. Multiply that by the $60 stake and the payout comes to $110.00, which is $50.00 in profit once the original $60 stake is returned.

That $50.00 profit on a $60 stake is the cost of the safety the teaser buys. A straight two-team parlay on the same games, at the original lines of Chiefs -8 and Under 51, would pay considerably more if it hit, because neither leg would have been made easier. The teaser trades that higher payout for a Chiefs line that only needs to hold at -2 instead of -8, and a total that only needs to stay under 57 instead of under 51. Both legs still have to win outright - teasing the Chiefs to -2 doesn’t help if the total goes over 57, and moving the total doesn’t help if the Chiefs lose outright.

Representative 6-Point Teaser Payouts on a $50 Stake

The exact price a sportsbook offers for a 6-point teaser depends on how many legs you combine, so the table below shows representative American odds and the payout on a $50 stake at each size. A two-team teaser is priced closest to even money, while adding a third or fourth leg pushes the price toward plus-money territory, since combining more legs always cuts the probability of winning even after the lines have been moved in your favor.

Teaser Price in Each Odds Format

The same teaser price can be read three ways: as American odds, as a decimal multiplier, or as an implied probability. The table below lines up all three for the 2-, 3-, and 4-leg 6-point teasers. Notice how the implied probability drops as more legs are added - stacking more legs onto one ticket lowers the overall chance that every leg wins, which is why the American and decimal odds climb from -120 and 1.83 up to +265 and 3.65.

Push Rules, Key Numbers, and the Wong Teaser

Teaser payouts and rules are less standardized than almost any other bet the book offers, which is why the prices above are representative rather than universal. One sportsbook might price a two-team 6-point teaser at -110, while another prices the same bet at -130, and NBA teasers move different numbers of points at different prices depending on the book.

The bigger variable is what happens when a leg pushes. Many books drop the pushed leg and settle the teaser with one fewer leg, but some grade a push as a loss on the entire ticket. Always confirm which rule your book uses before you place a teaser.

The strategic core of teasing is key numbers. A “Wong teaser” moves a favorite of -7.5 to -8.5 through -1.5, or an underdog of +1.5 to +7.5, so the teased leg crosses both 3 and 7 - the two most common margins of victory in the NFL. That’s where six points buy the most value. Away from those numbers, the reduced odds rarely justify the teaser.

When a Teaser Makes Sense

A teaser is worth considering when the legs cross the NFL’s key numbers, 3 and 7, so a two-team ticket like the Chiefs -8 teased to -2 alongside Under 51 teased to Under 57 is doing real work: it turns a line a single field-goal swing could flip into one that only loses on a much less common final margin. Paying -120 for that kind of safety is a reasonable trade when you’d otherwise be uneasy about either leg.

A teaser makes less sense when the legs don’t cross a key number at all - shifting a total from 51 to 57 helps, but moving a line that was never near 3 or 7 mostly just gives away price without improving your chances. It also makes less sense if you haven’t checked your sportsbook’s push rule, since a book that loses the whole ticket on a push carries more risk than one that simply drops the leg.

Compared to a straight parlay, a teaser is the more conservative choice: you’re accepting a lower payout, like $110.00 on a $60 stake, for legs that are individually easier to win. Reserve teasers for spots where the points genuinely matter, and treat them as a bankroll tool for reducing variance, not a way to chase a bigger number.

Common Mistakes

Assuming teaser prices are fixed is a common error - they vary widely from book to book, so the same 6-point, two-team teaser might be -120 at one shop and priced differently at another. Bettors also frequently skip checking whether a push drops a leg or loses the entire teaser, a rule that can swing a ticket’s outcome. Another mistake is teasing legs that don’t cross key numbers like 3 and 7, wasting the points without improving the bet. Finally, it’s easy to forget that every teased leg must still win outright - moving the lines makes each leg easier, but it doesn’t remove the requirement that all of them hit.

Teaser vs a Straight Parlay

A straight parlay keeps the lines as posted, so each leg is harder to win but the payout is higher if it hits. A teaser moves every line in your favor, making each leg easier at the cost of a lower payout - the trade-off to make when crossing key numbers matters more than chasing a bigger number.