Prop Bets Explained

Remember back in the day, when you and your buddy were watching the NBA finals, having a discussion about Jordan and Bird or Magic Johnson? Who is better, who will score more points, who will get the next rebound? Now, saying “wanna bet” takes on a whole new reality with Prop or Side bets.

Props bets are just another form of wagering that you can do in-game but they do not affect the outcome of the game. For example, you can bet on how many balls or strikes the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner, Blake Snell of the Tampa Bay Rays. These bets are not connected with the outcome of the game itself.  These types of wagers are what really make the experience of the sports apps come to life. Proposition Bets and are also sometimes called side bets or exotic bets and for good reason.

Prop Bet Definition and Kinds

Prop Bet – A wager within the game that does not necessarily influence the outcome of the game.

NFL, NBA and MLB bettors are prop-crazy and a majority of their bets are now side bets. The idea with prop bets is to offer a huge range of bets based on just about anything besides the outcome of the game.

Team and Player Performance Props

One of the most interesting bets are the ones tied to performance of a player or team. these side bets correlate directly to how the player or team performs statistically. They are easy to track and easy to read the handicaps.

How many three-point shots will Kevin Durant make?

Over 2.5

Under 2.5

In this example, notice how the prop takes the form of a traditional game total wager. This is a really simple wager to understand – if you think he will make three or more 3’s tonight, take the over. If you think he will make less, take the under

Yes/No Props 

Super Bowl, March Madness and other tournament series might take the form of Yes/No props. These are also easy to read and understand. You are picking yes something will happen or No something will not happen.

Lets look at prop bets Super Bowl LIII 

The New England Patriots vs the L.A. Rams

Will there be overtime?

Yes +800

No -1100

So the + is the underdog result  and the – is the favorite result.

If you bet “Yes, there will be over time” and they go into overtime, your $100 wager would pay $800. 

If you bet “No, there will not be overtime” and they do not go into overtime, your $1100 wager would pay $100. 

Clearly, the odds are against the game going into overtime.

Alternate Lines Props

So looking at Super Bowl LIII still the normal spread was listed on PointsBet and William Hill 

Patriots as -2.5 point  (Favorite in Super Bowl LIII)

Here’s what this Alternate line prop look like:

• Patriots -4.5: +210

• Patriots -8.5: +400

• Patriots -11.5: +550

• Patriots -17.5: +120

NFL Prop Bets NFL

So what are some of the most common forms of side bets for NFL games and do all sites offer every prop bet I could imagine? Well No, not every site is created equally and some offer a better selection of props than others. Our guilds on each online sportsbook actually lists a majority of the NFL proposition wagers you will find on each site. There are literally 100s of these and our IT tech wizard / living algorithm cruncher  Piotr has pulled out half of his hair memorizing lists of these things and cross referencing them with each sportsbook. 

• DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
• MOST RECEIVING YARDS – REGULAR SEASON
• PLAYER TO WIN MVP – REGULAR SEASON
• OFFENSIVE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
• MOST PASSING YARDS – REGULAR SEASON
• MOST RUSHING YARDS – REGULAR SEASON
• FIRST TEAM TO SCORE
• ALTERNATE SPREAD
• ALTERNATE OVER/UNDER
• TEAM WITH MOST PUNTS

Here is an example of 14 pages of props bets from Super Bowl LIII

NBA Prop Bets NBA

So as we have seen these prop bets can take the form of a stat for a player or team but as we will see these “Exotic Bets” can take many forms from whether or not the Proformer Drake will come to a game or if Jordans name is mentioned more than 20 times.

• Will Kevin Durant play during NBA Finals?
• Will Stephen Curry record a triple-double during the NBA Finals?
• Highest scoring game by any player
• Will Drake not attend any Finals game at Toronto?
• MVP 
• Who does the first petty thing of the Finals
• Something bounces off of Javale McGee’s head during a game
• Michael Jordan’s name gets mentioned more than 20 times during the Finals
• Total times Donald Trump tweets during the game?
• Will Trump congratulate winning team via Twitter by midnight?

MLB Prop Bets MLB

Prop bets are very specific wagers on a particular occurrence. Sometimes called “exotic” bets. For example:

• Red Sox getting a home run in the second inning 
• A hitter getting three strikes in the third inning
• What player will hit the most home runs all season?
• What hitting rate will the Yankees get in the whole series?”
• How many bases will the Yankees take over Red Sox in a third inning?
• Will Ichiro get a hit?
• Mookie Betts  get more bases than Aaron Judge?
• Which team will get a first run in a game?
• Total runs scored within the first 4 innings.

Super Bowl Prop Bets Sheet

You can find many downloadable prop sheets for the super bowl and play along at home. What is the best Super Bowl prop sheet. You need to decide for yourself. Below you can see an example of what a prop sheet might look like.

How do I place a Prop Bet?

Placing a prop bet is just as easy as placing a normal bet. Here is an example from Pointsbet, one of the best websites for NBA basketball betting. This is about the 2019 NBA draft:

So I just clicked on the first one and there was a drop down menu with clearly listed odds. (see our ODDS guide)

Simply click on your choice and choose how much to wager.

It could not be simpler. 

Prop Bets, Side bets, exotic bets or whatever you want to call them, make regular boring games super exciting and super exciting games edge of your seat worthy. These kinds of bets and wagers adds so many layers to the sports betting and gambling world that It is absolutely mind blowing to think about.

Remember back in the day, when you and your buddy were having a discussion about Jordan and Bird or Magic Johnson? Now saying “wanna bet” takes on a whole new reality. People love these kinds of bets and the statistics back it up, 25% of all first time betters will make a prop bet. You can avoid costly and timely mistakes by listening to our teams wisdom. We have thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of days experience in gaming and online sportsbook.