Definition
A proposition bet is a special type of wager that may or may not involve sports betting. Various topics such as politics, entertainment, court cases, etc., may be used. Sportsbooks add these bets to their program to attract new people to the sports betting genre. Odds are determined by oddsmakers and lines function as they would on regular sports wagers.
Sport propositions
Sports propositions are added by the sportsbook to entice more action into their sportsbook. An example, might include,
will Barry Bonds hit a home run today? Yes –130
No +110
Another sports proposition might involve a total team’s total score. For example if the overall total is 9 for a baseball game, one team’s total score over / under might be 4.5. There are basically two types of proposition bets to consider: team propositions and player propositions. The example above (team over / under) can be considered under the team proposition section. The question of whether Barry Bonds will hit a home run can be classified under player propositions. Regularly, propositions bets have some of the worst juice imparted on them by the sportsbooks.
Non-sporting propositions
A new feature of offshore sportsbooks have been to include non-sporting propositions to their arsenal of betting lines. In Las Vegas and Atlantic City, lawmakers have decided that only sporting events can be gambled on, thus, only offshore, internet sportsbooks have the ability to post non-sporting event lines. A relatively recent government-type proposition bet involved the United States presidency: in the 2004 United States presidential elections, bodog.com put up a line that asked who will win the U.S. presidency. The question was put forth as,
Who will win the U.S. presidency?
George W. Bush -140
John Kerry +125
The limit for the event was $500, as per bodog’s normal proposition maximums. Other propositions include questions regarding how many children Britney Spears will have, will Michael Jackson be convicted, etc. The plethora of possible proposition bets is indefinite. It is, then, up to the gambler, to limit one’s self and have self control.
Summary
In closing, proposition bets are placed by the sportsbooks to increase action in their respective sportsbooks. Some propositions are sports related, such as asking whether certain situations will occur. There are two types of sports propositions: these are team propositions and player propositions. These types of propositions are sometimes correlated with the full game line. Some others are non-sports related, including proposition bets regarding politics, entertainment, legal issues, etc.