Wong teasers are one of those things that come up every now and then in the betting world. One minute they are the greatest thing since sliced bread. The next, well, not so much. Be prepared next time they come up as we look at basic teaser strategy.
Key Points
– Wong teasers and NFL key numbers go hand in hand.
– The most common teaser is the NFL two-team, six-point teaser.
The Deal with Key Numbers
Before discussing Wong teasers, we need to spend a few minutes discussing key numbers. In each sport, there are winning margins that happen more often than others.
In the NFL, for example, there are some winning margins that happen way more than others. Three points is the most typical scoring margin in an NFL game. Roughly 15 percent of all NFL games are decided by a field goal.
The next most common scoring margin in the NFL is seven points. Seven percent of games end up being decided by a touchdown. This is why 3 and 7 are commonly referred to as key numbers in NFL betting.
Knowing that 15 percent of games are decided by exactly three points and that over 23 percent of games are decided by three points or less is valuable information for an NFL bettor.
There are other key numbers, too. The top-6 most common NFL scoring margins since 2000 are 3, 7, 6, 10, 4, and 14. Games decided by exactly one of those numbers account for 45.71 percent of all games since 2000.
This is valuable information, especially for NFL teaser bettors.
ICYMI: THE TRUTH ABOUT WAGERING ON SPORTS
Teaser Bets
A teaser bet is a form of a parlay wager. A parlay is a single bet composed of multiple bets. For example, you bet on two NFL games. You can combine them into a single bet making an NFL parlay. However, both individual bets must be graded as wins for the parlay to win.
When betting a teaser, bettors get to adjust the point spread in their favor. There are multiple types of teaser bets, but the most common is the NFL two-team teaser.
A typical two-team NFL teaser might look like the one below.
Pittsburgh Steelers -7.5 >>> Pittsburgh Steelers -1.5
Baltimore Ravens +2 >>> Baltimore Ravens +8
Notice the original spread for the two teams that we liked. Pittsburgh was a -7.5 favorite. With the six-point teaser, we can adjust the spread to -1.5. Now, the Steelers only have to win by two more points.
The same goes for Baltimore, which was a two-point underdog. We adjust the spread to +8 and now the Ravens can either win outright or lose by seven points or less in order to win the bet.
If we combine these bets into a single NFL two-team, six-point teaser, both bets must win in order for the teaser to win.
Because of the shifting of point spreads in the bettor’s favor, odds on a two-team teaser are roughly the standard -110. Sometimes, you might find more favorable odds. Sometimes, you won’t.
Wong Teasers Defined
The term “Wong teaser” comes from Stanford Wong’s book Sharp Sports Betting, which popularized the idea. It can also be known as other things, like a basic strategy teaser.
In a Wong teaser, the spread is moved through the two NFL key numbers of three and seven. For Wong, working through the key numbers is what makes this a top NFL wagering strategy.
NFL teaser bettors should seek out favorites between 7.5 and 8.5 or underdogs between 1.5 and 2.5. Here’s why.
Look at the example above and take the Steelers. At -7.5, Pittsburgh must win by eight points or more to cover. Winning by eight or more only covers two of the top-6 most common scoring margins – 10 and 14. Those two margins account for about 10.5 percent of all games.
If the Steelers are a -1.5 favorite, now they only have to win by two or more points. That would cover all of the top-6 scoring margins. That’s roughly half of all NFL games. Games decided by one point account for just four percent of all NFL matchups. Teasing the spread down to -1.5 gives Pittsburgh (and the bettor) a much better chance of covering.
In the grand scheme of things, bettors need to hit just over 72 percent of their bets in order to make 52.4 percent of their teasers. Remember, that’s the number that bettors must hit in order to break even at standard odds (-110).
Issues with Wong Teasers
Before you get too enthused, keep in mind that a few problems have made it much more difficult to ride the Wong teasers gravy train.
In order to combat the rise of NFL teasers, sportsbooks have first raised the cost of teasers. Books have been extremely cautious in regards to the two-team teasers. It used to be easy to find a price of +100 for two-team teasers after Wong first wrote about them. Now, the typical NFL two-team teaser is priced at -120 in Las Vegas. Many sportsbooks will even go to -130 on NFL teaser bets.
It’s still possible to win and make some money betting Wong teasers. They are just more unattractive now due to the additional cost. There is also the issue of finding bets.
There are sportsbooks that won’t even accept NFL two-team teasers. If a book feels it is not in the best interest of the operation, they simply will not offer the bet.
Sportsbooks Have Changed the Rules
Sportsbooks have reacted to Wong teasers by making it more difficult to find them. Remember, NFL teaser bettors are looking for short underdogs and long favorites.
If point spreads of 7.5 to 8.5 and 1.5 to 2.5 draw in teaser bettors, sportsbooks know this. To combat bettors from finding good teaser bets, bettors simply will not find as many point spreads in those ranges.
Now, those numbers still exist. Finding them requires a watchful eye and the right circumstances to use it in an NFL teaser. Often, when spreads do find themselves in those ranges, they are not there for long as sportsbooks adjust them.
Online sportsbooks have also changed the rules regarding a push. In a two-team teaser, the rules used to be that if one leg of the bet was a push, the entire teaser was a push. That resulted in a bettor getting his bet refunded.
That is not the case anymore. Most sportsbooks now count a win and a push in a two-team teaser as an overall loss. This has discouraged some bettors from attempting to put together two-team teasers.
