An exciting thing about prop bets is that they can involve both punters’ pure luck and their betting skills. Props are getting really big in sports betting and this should not come as a surprise, since they have come in to fill market gaps and “propose” a fun and exciting way of wagering at the same time. And this is why prop bets are in fact everywhere and there are literally no betting sites or bookmakers in Germany, and in the entire world of course, that are missing this enormous trend on prop bets.
That said, it is really important to understand that prop bets are not only addressing the novice, inexperienced bettors who want to test their luck but they are also addressing the more experienced or professional bettors who have an edge in predicting some results that are not necessarily tied to the outcome of the match.
Who is prop betting for?
In a simple and straightforward manner, prop betting is for everyone. For the ones who treat sports betting more like gambling and for the ones that may not be able to predict who is going to be the winter of a game, but they have some valuable info on how a player is going to perform. So, for those punters, prop bets are the answer to what they are looking for – enabling them to wager on non-outcome-related occurrences.
Skill prop bets and Fun prop bets
Consider the Bundesliga final with Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund fighting for the title. As a bettor you have absolutely no edge in effectively predicting one or the other as the winner and so you have no reason to place an outright bet. But you know that Sadio Mane is going to thrive and shine and he will definitely score at least one goal. Well, this is it. You can bet on Mane’s performance, without having to interfere with the final score at all!
Consider another example, where you are so immersed with the game between Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles at the Super Bowl and you are so tensed and stressed about the outcome that you really want to decompress yourself doing something fun. You decide to place a prop bet on the coin toss so as to make things lighter and also divert your attention and your anxiety over waiting for the big final to begin and play out.
In both situations, bettors use prop bets to meet a need. And this is exactly the thing that prop bets do. Regardless of whether prop betting requires skills or not, sportsbooks and betting websites offer them in order to give bettors a more consistent experience. Just make sure that you always have in mind both the margin of the bookmaker but also the taxation that applies to the winnings.
In fact, bookmakers distinguish between luck-based prop bets and skill-based prop bets. In the first case, the propositions involve things like how long the Anthem on the Super Bowl will last or what color the juice shower is going to be at the end of the game. These are fun prop bets which typically require no skills in order to predict the winning side of the bet.
In the second case, prop bets involve actual leverage of the betting, analytical and predictive skills of punters because they involve the forecast of some kind of result, regardless if this result is not related directly to the outcome of the event itself. Betting on who will be the first scorer in a given match, for instance, can be a data-driven choice and it should be a data-driven choice or an informed decision, if one wants to take it seriously.
An important thing to consider
Overall, understanding the difference between fun prop bets and skill prop bets is critical because even though they both address a particular need of bettors, they should be treated differently. Prop bets that are based on pure luck – where you really can’t tell whether one result is more likely to occur than the other- should be seen more as a fun, light way to entertain yourself. They can’t be part of your overall betting strategy because you really can’t expect profit making in the long run.
On the other hand, prop bets that require an educated decision and choice on your part – the bets that are driven by your experience or knowledge – are the way to go when you want to incorporate propositions in your long-term strategy!
