Where to set your own spread

Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2008 | 2 a.m.

Betting football teasers at decent odds in Las Vegas is still possible, although it appears to be a dying art.

A teaser is a form of parlay in which the bettor is permitted to adjust the point spreads in a set of games in his or her favor in exchange for paying a heavier commission, or vigorish.

For example, bettors playing a two-team, 6-point teaser in the NFL this week might choose to “tease” the Kansas City Chiefs from a 4 1/2-point underdog to a 10 1/2-point underdog in one game, and the Cleveland Browns from a 2-point underdog to an 8-point underdog in the second leg of the teaser.

For the privilege, bettors in Las Vegas would pay anywhere from $1.10 to $1.30 for each $1 they’re trying to win, depending on the casino property. As with a parlay, both legs of the teaser must win for the bet to be successful.

Other forms of football teasers allow bettors to choose three or more teams and adjust the point spread by 6 1/2, 7 or more points, all at various payout odds.

The more gimmicky teasers, though, typically don’t offer value to bettors, so we’ll concentrate on the most common football teasers: two-teamers using 6 points in the line; and three-teamers using 7 points in the line.

We’ll also focus on NFL teasers only, as college football teasers rarely if ever are winning propositions.

Discerning teaser players (there’s a candidate for the oxymoron hall of fame) insist on laying no more than $1.10 for each $1 they’re trying to win when playing a two-team, 6-point pro football teaser.

Those odds can still be found in Las Vegas even if they’re not as prevalent as they once were.

Sports books offering the attractive minus 110 odds include Cal Neva joints (Binion’s, Four Queens, Tuscany, etc.), the Stratosphere/Arizona Charlie’s properties and Wynn Las Vegas.

Don’t be duped by the sign on the wall at Terrible’s enumerating the rules of the house, which state that two-team, 6-point football teasers are available at minus 110. The book won’t take an NFL teaser wager with fewer than three teams involved.

Elsewhere in town, the price on the same wager ranges from minus 130 at the Las Vegas Hilton to minus 120 at most other properties, including but not limited to Boyd/Coast, Leroy’s, Lucky’s, the MGM Mirage properties, the Palms and Rampart/Cannery.

If any of the casinos offering minus 120 are also declining two-team NFL teasers, I’m not aware of it. As a discerning teaser player, I consider that price too high and won’t even try to get a bet in at those joints.

In the realm of three-team, 7-point NFL teasers, self-respecting teaser players will demand odds of 3-2, or plus 150 (net $1.50 for each $1 risked).

It wasn’t so long ago that the book “Sharp Sports Betting” by Stanford Wong (2001), which contains a strong treatment of teasers, listed plus 150 as a “typical” payout on three-team, 7-point teasers.

Today’s Las Vegas odds on that particular bet are unplayable, although in an Orwellian sense, some are more unplayable than others.

The books at the Harrah’s properties, Planet Hollywood and the Venetian, for example, pay only even money on that form of teaser.

Others pay plus 140, including Jerry’s Nugget, Leroy’s, the Stratosphere/Arizona Charlie’s and the Wynn. Cal Neva and Lucky’s at the Plaza are among those paying plus 130 on the bet.

Big carryover

The prize in the free weekly football contest at Lucky’s sports books, which carries over to the following week if no entrant has a perfect record, has grown from $6,000 to $18,000 for this week’s slate of NFL games.

The contest entails picking the outright winner in each NFL game. It is free to enter and limited to one entry per person. For complete rules, visit betatluckys.com.