Soccer is the world’s most popular sport, both among sports fans and among sports bettors. It’s played on all continents, including, believe it or not, Antarctica. It’s also included in betting offers of almost all sportsbooks in the world. All of those bookmakers cover soccer betting markets like the match-winner and goals, but some also deal with soccer prop bets.
Although it’s true that not all sportsbooks cover soccer props, it’s also true that their number is increasing all the time. Why? The reason is simple really – soccer proposition bets are super-fun! Same as any other type of prop bets, soccer props also let you get creative.
To understand how you can use your creativity to turn your soccer passion into a money-making venture, you need to learn more about these types of bets. First things first, let’s learn what soccer props are.
What Are Soccer Props?
The chance is that you’ve already come across some soccer props. However, you might not have even noticed them. The reason could be that they are often called other names. It all depends on the sportsbook, really.
Some sportsbooks call them soccer prop bets or soccer props, or something along those lines. The word ‘prop’ in this instance, comes from ‘proposition’ so you might even come across the term soccer proposition bets in some sportsbooks.
Other bookmakers may refer to these types of bets as special soccer bets or novelty soccer bets. Some even use the term exotic soccer bets for these wagers.
Whatever the name, these bets let you wager your money on things that aren’t related to what’s going on the pitch. At least not directly.
How Do Soccer Prop Bets Work?
Generally speaking, soccer prop bets aren’t focused on what’s written on the scoreboard. Which team wins the game is not something that should concern you if you decide to bet soccer props.
Soccer prop bets can be focused on anything else that’s not covered by commonly used betting markets. Soccer props are all those bets which you aren’t going to find in the section for match-winner betting, goals O/U, half time betting, etc.
Instead, they belong to the category of bet markets which aren’t too frequently used. Still, the fact that some other markets are more popular than soccer props does not make them any less interesting. Actually, it’s just the opposite – soccer prop bets are arguably the most interesting types of wagers in the ‘beautiful game’.
Examples of Soccer Proposition Bets
Due to the fact that soccer prop bets can be literally anything that doesn’t belong to mainstream wagers, defining them is not that easy. Instead, explaining soccer props is best done though the use of examples.
That’s exactly what we’re going to do next. We’re going to provide you with examples of some of the most interesting soccer proposition bets, starting with those focused on the players.
Soccer Player Props
These are the soccer props that are focused on the performance of an individual player over the course of one game. To see what we’re talking about, check out some examples:
- Cristiano Ronaldo to score a hat-trick
- Lionel Messi to score a goal from a free-kick
- Virgil van Dijk to score an own goal
- Sergio Ramos to get a red card
- Harry Maguire to commit a foul in the box, leading to a penalty
These are just some of the examples of player-based props, but, hopefully, you get the picture.
Goals Props
Goal props aren’t focused on the number of goals, at least not in the same way as goals Over/Under market. Instead, they focus on interesting things surrounding those goals.
To understand what we’re talking about, check out the following examples:
- Total number of goals to be an odd number
- Total number of goals to be an even number
- Someone to score an own goal during the game
- VAR to disallow at least one goal in the game
- Goal to be scored via a header
As you can see, these bets don’t depend on the outcome of the match. They also have absolutely nothing to do with more common types of bets, e.g. match-winner, Asian handicap, etc.
Corner/Foul/Card Props
You can also make prop bets on things specific to soccer, such as corners, fouls, and cards. Some examples include the following:
- Corner kick to lead to a goal
- Goal to be scored directly from corner
- N’golo Kante to commit most fouls in the game
- No red cards in the match
- Player to get a straight red card
As you can see, these are the bets found in soccer due to the specific rules of this sport.
Miscellaneous Soccer Bets
There are also some soccer props that can’t be categorized. Some of those include the following:
- Mohamad Salah to wear a headband in the game
- Referee to slip and fall at least once in the match
- Neymar to go straight to the locker-room after the game
- Jose Mourinho not to shake hands with the opposition manager after the match
- Sergio Aguero to do a sliding goal celebration
As you can see from these examples, a soccer prop bet can be practically anything that comes to mind.
How to Make a Soccer Prop Bet?
Most online bookmakers that deal with soccer props let their team of oddsmakers come up with these types of bets. The more creative they are, the more interesting their prop bets are going to be.
However, there are some bookmakers that let the bettors assume this role. This way, the players get to come up with their own prop bet ideas.
How it works is that if you have some cool idea in your mind, you can pitch it to the sportsbook. Depending on the bookmaker, you might be able to propose a bet directly on the website. In other cases, it’s done via social media platforms like Twitter or Facebook.
If their team of oddsmakers likes it, they’re going to offer the odds for your prop bet. If you’re okay with the odds they’ve given you, all that’s left is to make a bet.