Gambling terms, explained straight

Sports Betting

2 team teaser push rules

When one leg of a two-team teaser ties, that leg is cancelled and the bet is settled on the remaining leg alone, often becoming a single wager or voided entirely.

Applies to
Sports betting teasers, most commonly in football and basketball point-spread wagers.23
Common adjustment
Teasers often adjust spreads by a predetermined margin, such as six points in American football.13
Push outcome
A push is a tied adjusted score with no win or loss on that leg.13

Key points

  • In a two-team teaser, if one leg pushes, that leg is voided and the wager is regraded on the remaining leg.2
  • If both legs push, the wager is typically no action, but exact house rules vary by sportsbook.24
  • Unlike a parlay, which requires all legs to win, a teaser's push handling can reduce the number of active legs.4

Where this term is used

Sports betting Teaser A bet type that adjusts point spreads in the bettor's favour across multiple selections. Sports betting Teaser vs parlay Compares the structure and settlement rules of teasers and parlays. Sports betting Parlay A multi-leg wager where all selections must win for the bet to pay out. Sports betting Moneyline A straight bet on which team or player will win outright. Sports betting Spread betting Betting on the margin of victory with a handicap applied. Sports betting Moneyline betting A simple wager on the winner of a contest without a point spread.

Sources

  1. Spread betting en.wikipedia.org Defines a push as a tied adjusted score and notes the six-point margin common in football teasers.
  2. Teaser (gambling) - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org Explains teaser settlement rules, including how a pushed leg is voided and the bet reduces.
  3. Sports betting en.wikipedia.org Covers sports betting basics and the context of point-spread teasers in football and basketball.
  4. Parlay - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org Distinguishes teaser push handling from parlay rules where all legs must win.

Sources are drawn from regulators, universities and published research, and each one is labelled with what it actually is — a preprint is not called a paper. Bookmaker and affiliate pages are never cited here, because a page that sells betting is not a neutral authority on it.

Written and maintained by Ellis Warrender, writer and maintainer.

Last updated 28 July 2026. Spotted an error? Tell me and it gets fixed and logged on the corrections page.