How to place teaser bets on Bovada: points, payouts and rules
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A teaser is a parlay of football or basketball spreads and totals where every line moves the same number of points in your favor, and the payout drops in return. On Bovada, you add 2 to 12 picks to the bet slip, open the Multiples tab and choose a teaser. NFL regular-season teasers come in 6, 6.5, 7, 8 or 9 points, and every pick has to cover its new line.
What a teaser does to your lines
With a 6-point NFL teaser, a favorite at -7.5 becomes -1.5, so it only has to win by 2. An underdog at +2.5 becomes +8.5, so it can lose by as many as 8 and still cover. Totals move as well. Over 44.5 becomes over 38.5, and under 44.5 becomes under 50.5.
You pay for the better lines with a smaller payout. A two-team, 6-point NFL teaser pays -120 at Bovada. A regular two-team parlay with both picks at -110 pays about +264.
How to place a teaser on Bovada
- Sign in, open the sportsbook and go to football or basketball.
- Click the point spread or total for each pick to add it to the bet slip. Moneylines, props, futures and first-half, second-half or quarter lines can’t go in a teaser.
- At the top of the bet slip, switch from Singles to Multiples, then choose Teaser and the number of points.
- Enter the amount you want to risk or win. The slip works out the other number.
- Check your picks and click Place Bets. Bovada doesn’t let you cancel a bet once it’s accepted.
Point options and payouts
| League | Teaser points |
|---|---|
| NFL regular season | 6, 6.5, 7, 8, 9 |
| College football | 6, 6.5, 7, 8, 9 |
| NFL preseason | 6, 6.5, 7 |
| CFL | 6, 6.5, 7 |
| Basketball | 4, 4.5, 5, 6 |
Regular teasers take 2 to 12 picks, though not every sport and point option goes that high. Here’s what Bovada pays on NFL regular-season teasers at 6, 6.5 and 7 points:
| Picks | 6 points | 6.5 points | 7 points |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | -120 | -130 | -140 |
| 3 | +150 | +135 | +120 |
| 4 | +260 | +225 | +200 |
| 5 | +400 | +350 | +325 |
| 6 | +600 | +500 | +450 |
What it takes to come out ahead
At -120, a two-team, 6-point teaser has to win 54.55% of the time to break even (120 ÷ 220). Both picks have to cover, so if they’re unrelated and equally likely, each one needs to cover about 73.9% of the time. A three-team, 6-point teaser at +150 needs 40% (100 ÷ 250), which works out to about 73.7% per pick. At 7 points, the two-team price of -140 raises the bar to 58.33%, or about 76.4% per pick.
That’s why the numbers a line crosses matter. Three is the most common final margin in the NFL, and seven is next. A 6-point teaser that moves a favorite from -7.5 to -1.5, or an underdog from +1.5 to +7.5, crosses both. A move that crosses neither, such as -13.5 to -7.5, helps you less.
Ties and No Action
In a two-team teaser, a push or a No Action result plus a win is graded No Action, and you get your stake back. A push plus a loss is a loss.
With three or more picks, a push or a No Action result drops that pick and the teaser is graded on the rest. A three-team teaser with a push becomes a two-team teaser.
Sweetheart teasers
Sweetheart teasers move the lines further: 10 to 13 points in football (10 or 13 in the NFL preseason) and 7 to 13 in basketball, with 3 to 12 picks. In the NFL regular season, a three-team, 10-point sweetheart pays -130, and a four-team, 13-point sweetheart pays -140.
The catch is the push rule. A push on any pick loses the whole sweetheart teaser, the same as a loss.
No Action results are handled differently. A three-team, 10-point or four-team, 13-point sweetheart doesn’t shrink, so if one pick is No Action and the rest win, the whole bet is No Action. A four-team, 10-point sweetheart, or any sweetheart with 5 to 12 picks, drops the No Action pick instead, and Bovada adjusts the odds.
A worked example
You put $60 on a two-team, 6-point NFL teaser at -120. Your picks are a favorite at -7.5, which becomes -1.5, and an underdog in another game at +2.5, which becomes +8.5.
- The favorite wins by 3 and the underdog loses by 6. Both cover their teased lines, so you win $50 (60 × 100 ÷ 120) and get $110 back. Neither pick would have covered at its original number.
- The favorite wins by 1. It misses -1.5, so the teaser loses no matter what the underdog does.
- Now say the favorite had been -7, teased to -1, and it wins by exactly 1. That pick pushes. If the underdog covers, the teaser is graded No Action and your $60 comes back.
For how regular parlays work, see our guides to placing a parlay on Bovada and how to bet parlays. For the break-even math on straight bets, see the magic of 55 percent winners.
Bovada is an offshore sportsbook with no US state license, and it doesn’t accept players in 19 states and Washington, DC. If you live in a state with legal online sportsbooks, a state-licensed book gives you more protection, because it answers to a state regulator if something goes wrong. Our Bovada review covers the rest.
Bovada’s teasers use football and basketball spreads and totals. This link opens its NFL lines.
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Only bet what you’ve set aside to lose. If gambling has stopped being fun, call or text 1-800-MY-RESET (1-800-697-3738) for free, confidential help, 24/7, or chat online with the National Problem Gambling Helpline.
Sources
- Bovada help center: Teaser betting (point options, payout tables, sweetheart and push rules)
- Bovada help center: Sports bet slip, General betting rules
- NFL margin-of-victory data: Action Network, NFL key betting numbers (2003 to 2019 seasons)