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Pleaser Bets

A pleaser bet lets you move the line in the sportsbook’s favor, in exchange for better than normal odds. It is similar to a teaser except the sportsbook gains the better line, while you receive the chance at a higher payout as the player.

Most pleasers are for six points, but many books allow you to give away more points for better odds. Typically, pleasers contain two to six teams, but again, some more aggressive books will allow more teams to be used.

Keep reading to learn how pleaser bets can leave you with a smile on your face.

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How to Place a Pleaser Bet

A pleaser bet is relatively straightforward in it’s application. You log into your account, select ‘pleaser’ and then pick two to six teams (or more if your book offers it), and then usually there is a dropdown box to select how many points to ‘please’. Some books only allow six-team pleasers, so they may simply post the lines with the six points taken off when you select ‘pleaser’.

This makes it a lot easier to see exactly how many points your teams need to win/lose by for your bet to cash. Other books make you do the math yourself, which seems strange in 2022.

Pleaser Payouts

Typical payouts for a six-point pleaser are:

  • Two teams (+600)
  • Three teams (+1700)
  • Four teams (+4500)
  • Five teams (+12000)
  • Six teams (+30000)
Man celebrating winning pleaser bet

Examples of Pleaser Bets

Let’s take a look at a few examples of pleaser bets and how they work.

Let’s say you want to bet on the following NFL spreads: Baltimore -16.5 vs Indianapolis +16.5 and San Diego -7 vs Buffalo +7.

There are a few combinations that you can bet using these lines. You can bet a two-team, six-point pleaser with Baltimore -22.5 and San Diego -13. You can also take Baltimore -22.5 and Buffalo +1. Or you could take Indianapolis +10.5 and San Diego -13, or Indianapolis +10.5 and Buffalo +1.

If both of your picks win, you get paid out at +600. If one pushes, then the bet is usually a push, depending on your book. If one loses, your bet is a loser and worthless.

Another example of a pleaser is this one involving three teams and six points:

You like Pittsburgh -6, Tennessee +2.5, and Jacksonville +6. The lines for your pleaser become Pittsburgh -12, Tennessee -3.5, and Jacksonville pick ’em.

If one pushes, the bet usually will be graded a push. If one loses, you lose – and if all three hit, then you get paid +1700.

One example of a pleaser that you cannot bet is one involving two teams from the same game.

For example, if we have Carolina -6 vs Kansas City +6, you cannot bet both Carolina and Kansas City in the same pleaser. The reason is that your bet has exactly a 0% chance to win!

If we were able to place that bet, it would become Carolina -12 vs Kansas City pick ’em, which is obviously impossible because Carolina cannot win by 13+ points while Kansas City also wins the game.

This is one main difference between a pleaser and a teaser. In a regular teaser bet you certainly can bet both teams in the same game, also known as a ‘jake’.

Rear view of sports bettor pointing with his fingers against blue matrix and codes

Strategy for Pleaser Bets

One strategy that can be used to bet pleasers is to find teams with spreads in the pick ’em-3 range and bet them with other teams in a similar range. Upsets happen often in the NFL and a three-point underdog will win a decent portion of the time. If you can find two teams primed for the small upset, you can get paid +600, not a bad return with minimal risk.

The odds for a pleaser look very good, but in reality they are still in favor of the sportsbooks most times. (Where have we heard that before??)

If you can find a certain subset of bets where moving the spread six points won’t cripple your chances of cashing, then you may have found a good bet.

For example, moving a spread across the -1, pick ’em, and +1 seems like a good way to ‘burn’ points while not really reducing the chance that you win. The chance of an NFL game landing on the 1 is very slim.

These bets might work best if you find a book that allows smaller pleasers such as 5.5 points.

Generally, if you find more than two teams worth pleasing, you’re better off simply betting them in a round robin parlay bet. The math works out so that it’s about the same expected payout, but with a pleaser you are taking a much higher risk and thus increasing your variance, which requires a higher than usual bankroll.

Betting pleasers profitably and professionally requires a lot of math and legwork but can be done. It is a bit beyond the scope of this article, but there are resources online to help aid your progress if you wish to devote a lot of time and money to this.

Screens inside land-based sportsbook

Final Thoughts on Pleasers

If you aren’t looking to go pro, and simply want to gamble it up, pleasers are a nice option if you see some lines that you think are pretty far off in the best sportsbook sites. You can usually find lots of NFL games that are ‘closer than the experts think’ and use that to your advantage.

It can be fun, although not very smart, to pick four or five teams, fire up a pleaser bet, and hope for the best. Who knows, you may be running well and get lucky that day.

Playing pleasers in this way is similar to playing a slot machine hoping for a big payout. It is possible, but the odds are against you, and in the long run you will most likely come out behind.

About the author

Alan Penny

Editor-in-Chief

Alan hails from Northern Ireland and is an avid fan of all sports. He has been with us since 2017 and serves as SBO’s Editor-in-Chief. Alan passionately covers everything from the latest regulatory developments across the globe to tips on the latest football matches.

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T&C: The bonus code is only valid for a new customer's first deposit and must be redeemed immediately after the deposit and before a wager has been placed. The sum of the deposit and the bonus are subject to rollover requirements of 8x at min. odds of -200 (1.5) before a new bonus can be redeemed or a withdrawal can be made. Max. $1000 of each bet count towards the rollover requirements. Terms and Conditions apply. – Terms apply
Claimed by 384 people this week
Up To $1000 Welcome Bonus
Terms and conditions: The bonus code is only valid for a new customer's first deposit and must be redeemed immediately after the deposit and before a wager has been placed. The sum of the deposit and the bonus are subject to rollover requirements of 8x at min. odds of -200 (1.5) before a new bonus can be redeemed or a withdrawal can be made. Max. $1000 of each bet count towards the rollover requirements. Terms and Conditions apply. – Terms apply