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Side Bets and Proposition Bets Add a Lot of Pepper to Online Gaming
In any good glossary of gambling or betting terms you’ll find the term proposition bets or prop bets. In some online casino games, a prop bet will be allowed as a side bet. Before we get into side bets in some of the games at Everygame Casino, let’s look more closely at what a prop bet might be in real life.
I Bet You
Even as young kids, we often had a conversation something like this: “I bet da Bears will win the Super Bowl this year“. This kind of “bet” is not a bet for money; it is a bet for pride and football acumen! Kids find it totally natural to bet on something the outcome of which they have no power to influence. Adults do this also but adults also understand gambling and betting in matters where they may be able to influence the outcome.
Starting a business is a perfect example of taking a gamble that you can influence the outcome of. We even have terms that reflect this such as “gamble on yourself”. We bet on many things: investments and deciding to relocate or to change jobs are just a few of many such “bets”. No one thinks of these as a proposition bet because even if we don’t benefit as much as we had hoped we would from the “gamble,” we can always get out and start again.
A true proposition bet comes and goes in an instant and it is that instant that you can’t control. If you say that it will thunder within the next five seconds, it either will or it won’t and after five seconds pass by, you’ll know if you were right or wrong. This sort of bet doesn’t mean much in real life since even if you say that it will thunder within the next five seconds you’re unlikely to find someone who will take you up on the claim and actually put money on the outcome.
Prop Bets Should Be Innocent Fun
There are two aspects to prop bets that influence the fun factor involved in making them: the attitude of the bettors and the amount of money involved. When a trainer or owner of a thoroughbred racehorse bets thousands of dollars on a race, they are not in any way shape or form making a proposition bet. They have invested a great deal of time and money getting the horse to the race and are confident enough of winning the race that they are willing to risk a large bet on the outcome.
In the bleachers at Wrigley Field (baseball) in Chicago, many spectators would make prop bets throughout the game. A play was even written about this practice! The bets were on, for example, whether the next pitch would be a ball or a strike, whether the batter would swing or not, if the batter swung would the ball go fair or foul, would he swing and miss, would he hit the ball in the air or on the ground.
These and many more bets like them are prop bets!
Baseball lends itself well to prop bets because there is a pause between pitches. American football is similar in that there is a pause between plays but baseball is far richer than football in the scope and number of prop bets people might make.
Hockey and basketball don’t lend themselves well to prop bets. They move too fast to make your bets in between.
Side Bets at Everygame Casino
We have finally reached the point of talking about the many side bets and prop bets gamers can make at Everygame Casino.
Side Bets and Proposition Bets in Blackjack
Two of the most standard bets in blackjack are actually prop bets of a sort. When a player gets a pair, she or he has the option to split the cards. This causes one hand to turn into two hands and doubles the player’s bet. It is types of prop bet simply because it adds a layer of risk the outcome of which the player has relatively little chance to influence.
Doubling down is a more classic type of prop bet. When a player doubles down, he or she doubles their bet and gets one card. The card won’t immediately reveal the outcome of the bet unless the player doubled down with 12 or more points—a bet that no one recommends—and busts. Otherwise, the player waits until the dealer plays her cards and then the outcome reveals itself.
Insurance is another type of prop bet in blackjack. If the dealer is showing an ace, the dealer may offer insurance to all other players. For those players who accept insurance, it returns their original bet to them if the blackjack does indeed have blackjack.
Super 21
This is a form of blackjack with several prop bets built into the rules. For example, there are special payouts for five-card hands, and for five-card and six-card 21’s. The possibility of getting a very big return for getting a five-card hand tempts many gamers into taking a card on a hand they might otherwise have stood pat with.
So, these payouts create a sort of side bet or prop bet.
Caribbean Poker
We offer several Caribbean poker variations that each has type of prop bet and a side bet.
Caribbean Hold’em
In this variation of Hold’em, there’s no bluffing! That alone makes it a lot more fun for players who love poker but definitely do not love bluffing or being bluffed! In Caribbean Hold’em the player gets two cards face up, the dealer also gets two cards but her cards are face down, and then the first three community cards are played: the flop.
At this point the player has to either fold or double her or his bet. This creates a type of prop bet. If the player folds, she loses her original bet. If she stays in the hand, she has to double her bet.
Finally, the last two community cards are dealt. If the dealer qualifies with a minimum of a pair of fours, the hand goes to a showdown. If the dealer doesn’t qualify, you win your ante bet and the second bet is a push. In the showdown, if the dealer wins he wins both of your bets, if you have the better hand, you win both of your bets, and if both you and the dealer have the same hand it’s a push.
Caribbean Hold’em also has a progressive jackpot and like all progressive jackpots, you have to make an extra bet to qualify to win it. In Caribbean Hold’em, the extra bet is a side bet that is earmarked exclusively for the progressive jackpot.
By making the side bet, you also qualify to win if you get a flush or better.
Caribbean Stud Poker
This is another game in which you have to add to your bet to continue and the dealer needs a minimum hand to qualify. Caribbean Stud also has a progressive jackpot.
Both Caribbean Poker variations have the same basic elements of an extra bet on the player’s part to continue and a side bet on the progressive jackpot.
What is the Attraction of Prop Bets and Side Bets?
The basic answer is that everyone makes prop bets as a regular feature of everyday life so there is no real reason to avoid similar bets in the online casino.
Side bets are a different story. When we make a side bet in order to win a progressive jackpot, we do in fact palace an extra burden on our gaming. So, we always say at Everygame Casino Red that you should be very careful of making side bets, especially in pursuit of a progressive jackpot.
That doesn’t mean that you should never bet on a progressive jackpot; it means that you should exercise proper caution when you make side bets. It is similar to the idea of going out for a walk in the Coronavirus era. We have to get some exercise and some fresh air but we should also take proper precautions such as keeping a safe distance away from others and wearing a mask.
Let’s conclude by saying that staying healthy during the pandemic is not a side bet or a proposition bet; it is a responsible set of behaviors we hope everyone exercises so we can all return to good health and safe activity soon!
