Jeff Haney shows bettors how to make 3s and 7s work for them in two-team parlays

Monday, Aug. 7, 2006 | 7:01 a.m.

In football betting, the popular form of wagering known as a "teaser" is "similar to a parlay, except you're given a line movement of six, 6 1/2 or seven points in your favor on all picks," according to a definition in Michael Shackleford's "Gambling 102: The Best Strategies for All Casino Games."

"Of course, nothing is free - the payoff odds for a teaser are much less than for a parlay," the definition continues.

And just as in a parlay, if one game loses against the point spread, the entire bet is dead.

Shackleford, the Las Vegas math whiz who also operates the Web site wizardofodds.com, makes a convincing case that the best kind of teaser to focus on is a two-team, six-point pro football teaser. In that bet, you choose two NFL games, move the line six points in your favor in each of them and hope they both win.

Of course, you can't just choose any two games and hope to turn a long-term profit. The house's edge on random two-team, six-point NFL teasers is nearly 10 percent, according to Shackleford.

But you can turn the tables on the house if you stick with underdogs of 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 points and favorites of 7 1/2 to 8 1/2 points, according to Shackleford's analysis. Moving those lines six points in your favor allows you to "capture" the two most crucial numbers in pro football scoring: the 3 and the 7. (For example, you can tease an underdog from plus-2 to plus-8, "crossing" the key numbers of plus-3 and plus-7.)

You maintain that edge only if you find the most favorable teaser odds available, however. And teaser odds are not the same everywhere you look.

On those two-team, six-point NFL teasers, the best odds in Las Vegas are 10-11, or minus-110, meaning you risk $1.10 for each $1 you're trying to win.

The following sports books offer that price, making them the best places in town to play teasers: Wynn, Terrible's, the Hilton, the Stratosphere (linked with Arizona Charlie's), Cannery/Rampart, Binion's, the Golden Nugget, Cal Neva (available at the Tuscany and the Four Queens) and El Cortez.

Other joints make you risk $1.20 for each $1 you're trying to win on the same bet. Our feeling is it's tough enough to beat this game without giving away free bonus money to the bookmaker.

Also noted:

Sports betting radio junkies will be able to find a fix on Sunday nights after all.

A new program hosted by John Kelly and Dave Cokin will air from 9 p.m. to 11 p.m. Sundays beginning Aug, 20, according to Jimmy Vaccaro, spokesman for Leroy's sports books. Leroy's sponsors a daily afternoon sports betting program featuring Kelly and Vaccaro.

The Sunday night show is expected to air on KBAD 920-AM, Vaccaro said. The show will air from the station's studio at first but might move to a casino later, Vaccaro said.

The head-to-head football handicapping contest between local professional gamblers Fezzik (one name only, please) and Nick Bogdanovich, also sponsored by Leroy's, will air on the regular Friday afternoon show on KENO 1460-AM each week. Bogdanovich, a former sports book manager at several major casinos, and Fezzik each put up $25,000 and will pick games against the point spread in a winner-take-all format.