Among the most surprising things I’ve found during my many years as a sports fan is just how difficult it is to sustain success in betting. As someone with a fairly decent amount of sports knowledge, particularly with baseball and football, I figured it would be easy to make a killing on gambling. Sadly, this has not been the case.
One strategy I have found consistent success with, however, is the College Basketball Teaser. Despite being far from an expert on the sport, I have discovered a strategy that has been successful for me approximately 80% of the time over the past 5 years.
For those who don't know, a teaser is a type of bet that allows the bettor to choose multiple games and move the spread a certain amount of points in his or her favor. The caveat is that you must get every game correct and the payout is usually smaller.
Every week, typically on a Saturday morning, I scroll through the list games, targeting something very specific: four games that each have a spread between 9-12 points (preferably with the home team favored). I include these matchups in a 4-game teaser in which I move the spread 9 points in favor of the home team.
With every game I find that fits these criteria, I perform some quick research on the teams involved. I typically look at the final scores of the last 6 or 7 games each team has played to see which way they are trending. I like to see how the favored team fares in close games and how well they shoot free throws. If they check those boxes, then I feel good about them covering a spread between -0.5 and -3. For additional research, I’ll look at the injury reports and how the teams fared against common opponents.
Below are the 4 games I chose for my teaser today:
George Mason at VCU (-9.5)
Robert Morris at Detroit (-9)
Depaul at St Johns (-11)
California Baptist at Grand Canyon (-9.5)
Moving the spread 9 points makes it so that all I need is for the favored team to win (St. Johns would need to cover -2).
I will use the first game as an example of how I did my research.
VCU has won 10 of their last 11 home games, while George Mason has lost 4 of their last 5 road games. VCU is also a very good free throw shooting team at 75.9% and has been excellent in close games (they’ve also sprinkled in some blowout wins during the last 2 months). On top of that, VCU beat George Mason earlier this season on the Patriots’ home floor.
I should mention that this strategy has been far less successful for me during tournament time. As we all know, that is the most unpredictable event in all of sports. Either way, always make sure you do your due diligence and find a strategy that works for you!