Prop betting sites

What a prop costs

A prop is a bet on something inside a game rather than its result: a player's points, the first team to score, the number of strikeouts. The props guide covers how they're made, and what is a prop bet answers the basic question.

The thing to know before choosing a book is the price. A side at -110 each way carries a cut of about 4.5 percent. A prop dealt at -115 each way carries about 6.5 percent, and you need to win 53.49 percent of those bets just to break even. Some books deal props at -120 or worse. Open the same prop at two books and compare the price on both sides, not only on the side you want. A book that is wider on props than its rivals will be wider all season.

Limits tell you how sure the book is

Prop limits are a fraction of the side limit, because a book can't price hundreds of props a game as well as it prices one spread, and it knows a bettor who has studied one team can beat it. I'd have kept them low too. It's also why the soft numbers are mostly in the props. The book's answer is the limit: low to start, and lower for a player who keeps winning. The limits page explains how that works.

Settlement rules

Props are where the house rules matter most, and where I've seen the most arguments over a ticket. A player prop on someone who doesn't play is usually voided, but not always. Overtime may or may not count. A stat corrected after the game may or may not change the result. Read the rules before the bet, and the house rules page lists what most books do.

Reading the list

The list below shows the books we've reviewed whose sites say they deal props, A to Z. A book whose review doesn't say is left out. Each row quotes the props line from its review.

Your side of it

The prop menu is where a book makes it easiest to bet more. I'd pick a few props I know something about, shop the price, and keep them at the same 1 or 2 percent of the bankroll as any other bet. Stacking them into a same-game parlay multiplies the cut as well as the payout.