Proposition bets (Also known simply as “prop bets”) add fun and intrigue to the betting action that surrounds Major League Baseball. Sure, you can bet on winners of individual games, as well as division and wild card winners at the season’s end – and the winners of the pennants and the World Series. However, player propositions in baseball betting are a way to make each at-bat and each pitch interesting.
Here’s a Look at Betting on Player Propositions
A proposition bet (also known as a prop bet) is very specific. It involves a bet on a particular event happening, such as the Washington Nationals hitting a triple in the third inning or Giancarlo Stanton getting a home run in his third at-bat. Most of the professional sports have opportunities for prop bets, but baseball is particularly rife with them, because the game offers so many different individual events in a single game.
Just like best on a game’s outcome, proposition betting can be profitable if you are disciplined and wait for a line that seems unbelievably favorable to you. Most online sports books generate their own proposition bets and post them for bettors. This means that different books have different bets available, giving you a lot of variety. The best strategy is to look at different bets to find the odds that are most suitable to what you think is going to happen. You’ll be more informed if you read things such as current player news, injury lists, team replacements and other types of information. If you are looking for an alternative to betting on game outcomes, then proposition bets for players in baseball can be a welcome form of entertainment.
Common Player Prop Bets in Baseball Betting
You can bet on the number of hits a player will get in a game, or the number of runs he will score, or the number of runs he will bet in. This normally takes the form of an over/under proposition. Here’s an example: if you think Yasiel Puig will hit a home run in a game, and the over/under on home runs for Puig in that game is 0 1/2, then you would want to take the over. If you think Robinson Chirinos will strike out at least twice in a game, and the over/under is 2 1/2, you might want to think carefully as the line is right in the middle of your projected margin. You might take the Puig bet instead.
You can also bet on wagers that have players competing with one another. In other words, let’s say that the Dodgers and playing the Giants, and Clayton Kershaw is starting for the Dodgers against Madison Bumgarner, who’s pitching for San Francisco. You could place a player prop bet as to which starting pitcher will strike out more hitters, which starting pitcher will last longer in the game, which will give up the most earned runs, and so forth.
So how does this work? Let’s say you want to bet on the number of hits that Alex Rodriguez will get in a game. The over/under is set at 2.5, and the odds for under are -140 while the odds for over are +120. This means that the book is offering less of a payout for 0, 1 or 2 hits than he is for 3 or more hits. You choose the side you want. You will find that the books set the juice a little higher on prop bets because they often turn out to be easier to beat.
