The definitive ranking of Britain's 50 biggest football clubs, including Manchester. In football, both college and pro, the more popular teasers are 6, 6.5, and 7-point teasers. Here is an example. These are the point-spreads you see on the betting board: Oakland Raiders +4. Arizona Cardinals +5.5. New York Giants -3. If you were to make a 6.5-point teaser on these three teams, the spreads would change to look like this.
Estimated Read Time: 4 minutes- A football pleaser is a multi-game bet on football, like a parlay, but one that allows you to move the pointspread to improve your potential payout. It is essentially the opposite of a teaser.
- For NFL football, they offer 2-6 team pleasers in point formats of 6, 6.5, 7, 7.5, 8, 8.5, 9, 9.5 and 10, with each available in a “ties win” or “ties reduce” option. That’s nine point options, times 5 number of team options for 45, times 2 options for the handling of ties, giving us 90 different sets of pleaser odds.
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Teasers and pleasers are both challenging but potentially lucrative wager types that require bettors to adjust the point spread or total when wagering on multiple games in a single bet, or parlay. The primary difference is that teasers move the spread or total in the bettor’s favor, whereas pleasers move the line in favor of the sportsbook.
If you haven’t already done so, be sure to review our detailed explanation of parlays and teasers. This article focuses primarily on pleasers, which are the riskiest option compared to both teasers and regular parlays.
What Is a Pleaser Bet?
A pleaser is essentially the exact opposite of a teaser. When betting pleasers, you will ‘give’ or ‘sell’ the sportsbook points on a spread or totals line in exchange for a higher potential payout. This means the odds will move in the sportsbook’s favor.
Like all parlays, teasers inextricably tie together the outcome of at least two events. They are only offered on basketball and football at most sportsbooks and are most commonly used to bet on the NFL.
Typically, you have the option of adjusting the spread by 6, 6.5, or 7 points when betting football pleasers (some books allow you to give up to 10 points), and 4, 4.5, or 5 points when betting basketball. The more you move the spreads or total in the bookmaker’s favor, the larger your potential payout becomes. Of course, your risk also increases substantially with each point given away.
You must include a minimum of two picks or ‘legs’ in your teaser, and most sportsbooks will limit you to six. Again, your payout will increase dramatically with each additional leg you take, but please note that your chances of winning decrease exponentially.
Pleasers vs Teasers in Practice
Let’s look at an example of how both teasers and pleasers work in practice. We’ll use the same starting football spreads for both in order to demonstrate how each modifies the original line.
Say the following NFL spreads were available for wagering at your sportsbook of choice:
Note that you can only include one side of each point spread in any type of parlay, including pleasers and teasers. There is no way to win (or lose) a wager you’ve taken both sides of, so you cannot do so to make up two distinct ‘legs’ of your parlay.
As mentioned above, teasers move the spread in the bettor’s favor. If you want to construct a standard 3-team 7-point teaser with the lines above, you end up with the following adjusted spreads:
All three adjusted lines are linked together in a single bet, and all of them need to hit for you to come out a winner. The same is true if you pick these spreads as part of a 3-team 7-point pleaser, but the original lines move seven points in the opposite direction.
Obviously, teasers make it easier to hit every leg compared to standard parlays, while pleasers make it harder. As such, teasers offer a reduced payout compared to standard parlays, while pleasers offer an increased payout.
How Much Do Teasers and Pleasers Pay Out?
Your payout when betting any kind of parlay depends on the number of legs included. The more picks you tie together, the higher your potential reward becomes.
The tables below include typical payouts for all three types of multi bets. These numbers are examples only, as payout terms vary significantly between online sportsbooks and numbers have been rounded. That said, they provide a solid indication of the relative difference in payout between the three wager types and number of legs included.
Typical Parlay Payout Odds (Spreads/Total Not Adjusted)
| Legs (# of picks included in parlay) | Payout (Profit/Risk) |
|---|---|
| 2 | 2.6/1 (+260) |
| 3 | 5.9/1 (+590) |
| 4 | 12.3/1 (+1230) |
| 5 | 24.4/1 (+2440) |
| 6 | 47.4/1 (+4740) |
| 7 | 91.4/1 (+9140) |
| 8 | 175.4/1 (+17540) |
Typical Teaser Payout Odds (7 Points Purchased/Taken)
| Legs (# of picks included in parlay) | Payout (Profit/Risk) |
|---|---|
| 3 | 1.3/1 (+130) |
| 4 | 2.1/1 (+210) |
| 5 | 3.2/1 (+320) |
| 6 | 4.5/1 (+450) |
| 7 | 6/1 (+600) |
| 8 | 6.5/1 (+650) |
Typical Pleaser Payout Odds (7 Points Sold/Given)
| Legs (# of picks included in parlay) | Payout (Profit/Risk) |
|---|---|
| 2 | 8/1 (+800) |
| 3 | 25/1 (+2500) |
| 4 | 60/1 (+6000) |
| 5 | 150/1 (+15000) |
| 6 | 450/1 (+45000) |
| 7 | 700/1 (+70000) |
| 8 | 1000/1 (+100000) |
Note that payouts for teasers and pleasers are also dependent on the number of points the line is adjusted by. Taking more points decreases your payout when betting teasers, whereas selling more points increases your payout when betting pleasers.
Pleaser Bets Explained: Are They Worth the Risk?
As you can see from the tables above, pleasers offer the opportunity to multiply your stake by an incredibly large factor if you can identify multiple lines that remain winnable despite moving to the bookmaker’s favor.
That said, anyone who’s spent a bit of time betting point spreads will tell you that it’s challenging enough to hit three or more picks even when the lines are not adjusted against you. You’ll be hard-pressed to find an experienced bettor who suggests betting pleasers can be a profitable enterprise over the long run. Most would advise you to avoid them entirely.
If you’re willing to take on the extremely high risk inherent with betting pleasers, make sure you reserve them for special occasions in which you see multiple lines that seem way off.
When You (Might) Want to Bet a Pleaser
Some lines make more sense to please than others. Obviously, any line you feel is off by close to a touchdown is a worthy candidate for inclusion in your pleaser. Once the sportsbook has set a line at +/- 7, they’re indicating one side is a heavy favorite. It might make sense to tease the line even further, assuming you think there’s a good chance the favorite can come up by more than one touchdown.
Spreads of +/- 3.5 are also worth consideration, as they reflect the bookmaker’s feeling that the game is more or less a toss-up. Pleasing a line from +3.5 to -3.5, for example, would be a smart move if you’re confident the team in question will win the game by a touchdown rather than a field goal.
Remember, of course, that you need to identify multiple faulty lines in order to bet a pleaser with any sort of confidence.
Ultimately, we can’t recommend pleasers as a profitable betting strategy.
Looking for More Ways to Bet on Sports?
Pleasers and teasers are only two of many options when it comes to betting on sports. The world of sports betting is full of jargon and numbers, so take the time to understand the details before placing any wagers. SBD’s Betting 101 guides are a great place to start.
For those looking for more sport-specific advice or intermediate and advanced betting strategies, consider exploring our how to bet on sports and sports betting strategy sections.
Our goal is to provide valuable insights and betting advice regardless of your experience level. Please remember to always wager responsibly and enjoy the action out there.
Football Pleasers
In the late 1990’s the Stardust Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada introduced a unique wagering ticket for football betting called “Ultimate Challenge”. Bettors purchasing a ticket (card) would choose a side from four college football games, and if they beat the point spread by 8 points or more in all selections they’d be paid 60 to 1. In 2003 the now defunct online sportsbook Bet Jamaica introduced the same type of wager for NFL football calling them pleasers. This ended up being the name that stuck and today NFL pleasers are one of the many types of football wagers available online and are offered in 2-6 team formats.
Where to Bet Pleasers Online
The most popular sportsbook offering pleasers is www.betonline.ag. Here NFL pleasers use a six-point base and carry the following fixed odds payouts:
- 2-Team 6-Point Pleaser +600 (6 to 1)
- 3-Team 6-point Pleaser +1700 (17 to 1)
- 4-Team 6-Point Pleaser +4500 (45 to 1)
- 5-Team 6-Point Pleaser +12000 (120 to 1)
- 6-Team 6-Point Pleaser +30000 (300 to 1)
To make sure it’s understood: a pleaser is basically the opposite of a teaser bet. For example, if you choose selections from the board listed as Jets +4.5 Patriots -6.5, Packers -1 and place them into a 3-team 6-point pleaser you end up with a parlay bet of Jets -1.5, Patriots -12.5 and Packers -7 which pays 17 to 1 if all three selections cover. In the case of a tie the wager size reduces, for example a win/win/push will pay the same as a 2-team pleaser, or in two team pleasers win/push is a push, where loss/push is a loss.
Are Pleasers Sucker Bets?
For the most part the answer to this question is yes, however to show why let’s take a look at the actual odd we’re getting per team in a pleaser bet. Starting with 2-team 6-point at +600 we first calculate the implied probability of +600. To do this we need to use the formula risk/return=implied probability. To note: return is stake+win, so… when staking $100 @ +600 the wager is $100 to win $600, therefore the return is $700 and the math here is 100/700= 0.142857. What this tells us is in order to average break even at +600 we need both teams to win 14.2857% of the time. To see how often we need each individual team to win (in order to achieve this 14.29% break even rate) we take the square root of 0.142857 which is 0.3780. This tells us if each individual team wins 37.80% of the time we’ll achieve our overall required break even rate of 14.29%. So to see the actual odds we’re getting per team visit our odds converter and plug in 37.80% under the field implied probability. You’ll now see the American odds equivalent is +164.55.
I’ve done out the same calculations for each pleaser set BetOnline offers. I’ll save sharing the math, but note: when calculating the 3-team pleaser I calculated the implied probability of +1700 then took its cubed root. For 4 teams I calculated the implied probability of +4500 and took its 4th root, etc. etc. Below is how each solved.
- 2-Team 6-Point Pleaser +600 = 2-team parlay with +164.55 per team
- 3-Team 6-point Pleaser +1700 =3-team parlay with +162 per team
- 4-Team 6-Point Pleaser +4500 = 4-team parlay with +160.55 per team
- 5-Team 6-Point Pleaser +12000 = 5-team parlay with +160.73 per team
- 6-Team 6-Point Pleaser +30000 = 6-team parlay with +159.17 per team
Perhaps the first clue pleasers are a sucker bet comes in the fact the more teams added the worse the odds become. However the bigger indication: let’s look at the example of pleasing an underdog +4.5 to -1.5. Here we’re getting between +159.17 to +164.55 on this selection depending if we put them in a 2-team, 3-team, 4-team, 5-team or 6-team pleaser. As I’m writing this article I look and see that this week the Arizona Cardinals are +4.5 -110 at BetOnline, but also BetOnline has their moneyline at +185. This tells me I can bet them straight with no point spread +185 or I can add them to a pleaser and get them -1.5 +164.55 at best. Obviously wagering them on the moneyline is a far better choice. No matter how you slice it, for the most part pleasers are not a good wager and have a large edge to the house. However, the payouts are attractive enough and this is a heck of a lot better than the state lottery might offer. So with that said let me go ahead and provide some please betting strategy.
Pleaser Betting Strategy
- When the payouts are the same as BetOnline offers never bet more than 2-teams in the same pleaser. If you’d like additional teams it would be best to place manual round robin wagers.
- Never make a pleaser bet that fully crosses +3 or -3 as three is by far the most common margin of victory in NFL football. To will illustrate why: -3.5 -110 and -2.5 -164 have about the same expected value, this why most bookmakers will not sell half points on spreads of -3.5, -3.0, +2.5 and +3.0. What I’m attempting to get at here is if you please through the 3 (meaning going from a win to a now loss on either -3 or +3) the entire value of your pleaser is used up in that one single point move and you still have 5 other points to deal with. This is a huge sucker bet.
- The best pleaser bets are large favorites, for example teasing a team that is -14.5 to -20.5 brings this much close to neutral expected value.
- My final tip is to simply avoid pleasers. If you’re looking for big payouts moneyline parlays on underdogs will give you much better value. If you’re looking for maximum value, teasers are a far better bet, but only if you follow the advice in my strategy article on teasers.
What Is A Football Pleaser
Pleasers are for recreational gamblers looking for large payouts. If you’re willing to bet the despite our warning about their overall profitability you can find these available for wagering at 5Dimes and www.betonline.ag. I strongly suggest however betting smart using a wagering system.
Football Pleaser Odds
Author & Professional: Jim Griffin