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PrintUPDATE: At least one offshore sportsbook (Heritage) is openly admitting they’re changing the payouts on two-team, six-point NFL teasers, which now only offer a payout of -134 instead of the standard -110. If you’re going to employ this betting strategy, make sure your sportsbook hasn’t changed its spreads or rules to counteract the power of teasers in the NFL.
Offshore sportsbooks are starting to catch on.
We’ve written plenty on the two-team, six-point teaser before on this site, but a post titled “Utilizing the Tease” over at Todd Fuhrman’s website added even more.
The conclusion: Use six-point teasers in the NFL only when you can cross both 3 and 7, since roughly 25 percent of NFL games end on those margins. That means only teasing 7.5 to 8.5-point favorites down (to 1.5 or 2.5) and 1.5 to 2.5-point underdogs up (to 7.5 or 8.5). The advantage is magnified even more when you select only home teams.
[Related: How the six-point teaser worked for bettors in the hard-to-predict NFL playoffs]
But it appears some offshore sportsbooks are trying to limit their exposure on NFL teasers.
Eight Week 1 games currently have point spreads that would fit the ideal teaser criteria, but a sampling of five offshore sportsbooks reveals that some are more hesitant than others to open up the possibility of the teaser.
For example, three books have the Seattle Seahawks favored by 2.5 points at Arizona. But two other books (Sportsbook and BetOnline) bumped it up to Seattle -3, thereby eliminating the chance of bettors teasing through both 3 and 7.
Of the eight total games in the ideal teaser range, here’s how many of them are available at each offshore sportsbook:
5Dimes: 8 of 8
YouWager: 5 of 8
Bookmaker: 5 of 8
Sportsbook: 4 of 8
BetOnline: 3 of 8
If sportsbooks are starting to realize the power of the teaser, that’s completely within their rights. It just makes it even more important to line shop before placing your bets.
Note: When we wrote the first version of this post about a week ago, two more games—Eagles-Browns and Dolphins-Texans—had teaser possibilities, but every sportsbook shifted the spread out of the ideal range.
Our favorite Week 1 teaser: Lions -1.5 + Buccaneers +8.5 (currently available at 5Dimes, YouWager, Bookmaker or Sportsbook)
* * *
BILLS AT JETS
5Dimes: Jets -2.5
YouWager: Jets -3
Bookmaker: Jets -3
Sportsbook: Jets -3
BetOnline: Jets -2.5
REDSKINS AT SAINTS
5Dimes: Saints -7.5
YouWager: Saints -7.5
Bookmaker: Saints -7.5
Sportsbook: Saints -7.5
BetOnline: Saints -7
RAMS AT LIONS
5Dimes: Lions -7.5
YouWager: Lions -8
Bookmaker: Lions -7.5
Sportsbook: Lions -7.5
BetOnline: Lions -7.5
FALCONS AT CHIEFS
5Dimes: Falcons -2.5
YouWager: Falcons -3
Bookmaker: Falcons -3
Sportsbook: Falcons -3
BetOnline: Falcons -2.5
PANTHERS AT BUCCANEERS
5Dimes: Panthers -2.5
YouWager: Panthers -2.5
Bookmaker: Panthers -2.5
Sportsbook: Panthers -2.5
BetOnline: Panthers -1
SEAHAWKS AT CARDINALS
5Dimes: Seahawks -2.5
YouWager: Seahawks -2.5
Bookmaker: Seahawks -2.5
Sportsbook: Seahawks -3
BetOnline: Seahawks -3
STEELERS AT BRONCOS
5Dimes: Broncos -2
YouWager: Broncos -1.5
Bookmaker: Broncos -2
Sportsbook: Broncos -2
BetOnline: Broncos -1
CHARGERS AT RAIDERS
5Dimes: Raiders -1.5
YouWager: Raiders -1
Bookmaker: Raiders -1
Sportsbook: Raiders -1
BetOnline: Raiders -1
