Prop Bets Explained

A proposition bet, popularly known as a prop bet, is one of the most exciting types of betting nowadays. It has become extremely popular in the sports betting industry all over the globe and it is not exclusively attached to sports.

As the name suggests, it is a proposition that a certain event will or will not happen. It is usually connected to players, but a prop bet can also be referred to teams. In fact, it comes in all shapes and sizes depending on the sport. It also goes beyond the sports and can be applied to a music contest, presidential elections etc.

For now, the proposition betting only refers to sports events in the United States due to the country’s gambling regulations. It can be used in all sports, going from whether Buffalo Bills will make it to the play-offs to whether Conor McGregor will knock-out Khabib Nurmagomedov in the UFC.

Most of you have probably made prop bets at some point in your life without being aware of it. Here is a simple example of a personal prop bet:

I bet I can eat six hamburgers at McDonald’s within half an hour

This type of betting is in huge expansion within sports betting circles at the moment, but we feel it has not reached the full potential yet. The range of proposition bets seems limitless. Some bookmakers have gone as far as inviting their users to e-mail them individual suggestions for prop bets. They would then decide whether or not to accept the proposal and offer adequate odds.

Prop bets can be divided into two main categories:

Fun Prop Bets and Skilled Prop Bets

With fun bets, a punter relies exclusively on luck. Here are a couple of examples:

• Coin Toss at the Super Bowl – You decide whether or not the coin toss will be heads or tails
• The Duration of the National Anthem at the Super Bowl – The bookmaker offer you a certain length of time and you back whether the singer will sing the anthem Over or Under the given line

You can check how many times has the coin flipped heads or tails historically at the Super Bowl, but it by no means has an impact on the next flip. This is why the skill has nothing to do with these variants of prop bets.

In contrast, we’ll show you some examples of skilled prop bets. Most US bookmakers will offer the following options for all games during the regular football season.

• Vikings @ Cowboys – Ezequiel Elliott to score more than 1.5 touchdowns @ +230
• Steelers @ Browns – Nick Chubb to score the touchdown @ -125
• Steelers @ Browns – Steelers to have the 1st Field Goals @ -106
• Lakers @ Suns – LeBron James Over 24.5 points @ -114

As you can notice, these are the bets where you can use knowledge and skills against the bookmakers. For example, you know Elliott has had a couple of stellar performances for Dallas Cowboys in the last few weeks, you take a look at his match-up, the Cowboys’ game plan for the contest against the Vikings, and many more different factors which may well affect his showing on the evening. The same applies to the other three bets in the aforementioned example.

Now, apart from the prop bets for a single affair, you can back future prop bets for all major leagues in the United States. Here are some examples:

• NBA – Giannis Antetokounmpo to win the MVP award @ +250
• NHL – Boston Bruins to win the Stanley Cup 2019/20 @ +700
• NFL – Cincinnati Bengals to go 0-16 for the season @ +650

You can make the entire season much more exciting with these long-term bets. Your knowledge does play a role, but plenty of luck is also included. For example, Patrick Mahomes was a massive favorite for the NFL MVP award before the season began, but he suffered an injury early on.

Even though prop bets do not belong to the main (basic) betting options, it is fairly easy to find them with most sports bookmakers. As soon as you select the desired sport, you will usually see the betting options above the list of matches for the particular week. Prop bets will always be among these options. Most sportsbooks differentiate “Team Props” and “Player Props”.

From there on, you should just select the desired pick, click on the odds and the bet will appear in the bet slip on the right side of the main page or the app.

There are plenty of variations in terms of pop betting payouts. The “yes or no” (the most common) bets are usually paid at -110 odds on each side. These include player and team props for an individual game (James to score more than 24.5 points in the match). You should thus wager $110 to yield a $100 profit. We can compare the payout to that of a standard totals/point spread line.

The payout is much bigger in long-term bets which is understandable because of plenty of variations that are possible throughout the season. Boston Bruins, who are the main title contenders, are priced up at attractive +700 to win the Stanley Cup.

Knowing the difference between fun and skill bets is the key to staying profitable with this type of betting.