Is Prop Betting Good for Poker?

It's fun but are the outragous bets good for poker?Some say it makes the poker community look like a bunch of desperate gamblers(i dont agree)However that perception is out there and growing.

Erm... much of the poker community is made up of degenerate gamblers. There's just no way around that. Personally I think crazy prop bets at least make us look like we have a sense of fun about it.

OzExorcist said:

Erm... much of the poker community is made up of degenerate gamblers. There's just no way around that. Personally I think crazy prop bets at least make us look like we have a sense of fun about it.

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Isn't that the truth

Helps my local cash game. We have a couple of guys that will randomly choose 2 cards from the deck and if they win a hand with that hand the other guy owes him $20. Also they'll have bets on all red or black boards but only if the river is dealt. Leads to some interesting action.

Not for me but to each his own.

Prop bet is only good if u have a ton of money. that's y Pro have so much fun with it.I know a poor guy like me wouldn't have no fun spending that extra money on crazy bets. But it is interesting to watch and hear on T.V

Jillychemung said:

Helps my local cash game. We have a couple of guys that will randomly choose 2 cards from the deck and if they win a hand with that hand the other guy owes him $20. Also they'll have bets on all red or black boards but only if the river is dealt. Leads to some interesting action.

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Yeah, this can change the table dynamics immensely. Say you have a bet on reds and you have two red cards in your hand - you definitely want to raise And if you have black cards in your hand, even if they're not very good cards, you want to at least get a flop out there.

Also, when I play with a friend of mine, we have a prop bet about 2-7. Whoever makes a bluff with it, wins the prop. It definitely leads to a lot of second guessing and I have lost a lot of stacks trying to bluff him with 2-7.

Makes the game a lot more interesting, IMO.

_dogmeat said:

It definitely leads to a lot of second guessing and I have lost a lot of stacks trying to bluff him with 2-7.

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this is why prop betting is awful if your taking the game seriously.

_dogmeat said:

Also, when I play with a friend of mine, we have a prop bet about 2-7. Whoever makes a bluff with it, wins the prop. It definitely leads to a lot of second guessing and I have lost a lot of stacks trying to bluff him with 2-7.

Makes the game a lot more interesting, IMO.

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What if you hit with it? Does it not count?


We play the 72 in our home games too. I once squeeze shoved(they only had about 60BBs) with 72 and got 2 callers. I was pretty sure they were gonna fold but no, they called and I flopped a boat and took down the bounty from every player at the table. Fun game. I like how it gets people wondering if someone has it or not and how much action it creates.

brank said:

What if you hit with it? Does it not count?


We play the 72 in our home games too. I once squeeze shoved(they only had about 60BBs) with 72 and got 2 callers. I was pretty sure they were gonna fold but no, they called and I flopped a boat and took down the bounty from every player at the table. Fun game. I like how it gets people wondering if someone has it or not and how much action it creates.

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We're playing it only if it is a bluff, so, because a lot of the times when you have 7-2 and your opp has 5-3, f.e., you raise and he folds. That's not a bluff

Also, if he folds when I bluff him with 7-2 on the river, f.e., I only collect the bounty if 7-2 is not the best hand Hope it makes sense

I think it CAN make the game pretty entertaining. If controlled and kept off the table.
I will prop-bet when I play in my local league on Thursdays, but only if it doesn't affect the game.
All red/all black boards are a naturally occurring phenomenon, I think its a bit of fun to bet a few quid with someone about them falling all one colour.
I will have a bet with someone about the football if its on in the background, or if we play early matches on Saturdays and 'deal or no deal' is on, there is one guy who'll bet on the contestants box being red or blue inside - opponents choice. I'll usually have a tenner on that with him.

What I disagree with is propping someone about betting a certain hand every time you're dealt it (7-2off?) or saying "I'll shove every time I have Ace Clubs, you shove every time you're dealt Ace Hearts" etc like I see happen from time to time.
That sort of betting is bad for the game and turns a decent set-up into a crap shoot.

I see why the pro's do it...a minor wsop tourney with $300,000 first place isn't going to hold a multi millionaire like Negraneu or Ivey's attention like it would when they were coming up in the game. They are just playing for appearances, and maybe the glory of snatching another bracelet, since their sponsorships will pay as much as the prize money regardless of where they bust out.
Prop betting on 'amount of bracelets won' for a SIGNIFICANT amount of money kicks off their interest and forces them to bring their 'A' game.

Prop betting like that filtering down to lower stake games with players who don't have millions to throw around can only be a bad thing. Prop betting for us 'normal folk' should be saved for the sports bar IMO.

OzExorcist said:

Erm... much of the poker community is made up of degenerate gamblers. There's just no way around that. Personally I think crazy prop bets at least make us look like we have a sense of fun about it.

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This is what I was gonna say.

Can't avoid having gamblers in the poker community & fun is what gambling is all about.

Prop betting

In a macro sense, prop betting is probably bad for the poker economy if it takes money away from the poker pool.

For example Ashton loses his bet, he still has to pay his bills - so he probably has to take money from his online poker accts.

Good Luck at the tables,

t

I think too many people are worrying about what is and isn't "good" for poker.

TeUnit said:

In a macro sense, prop betting is probably bad for the poker economy if it takes money away from the poker pool.

For example Ashton loses his bet, he still has to pay his bills - so he probably has to take money from his online poker accts.

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That's a valid point - to an extent I think it's a close to a zero sum game though because most of the big bets you hear about are made with other poker players so the money mostly just moves from account to account rather than out of the poker economy all together. Plus if someone wins a big prop bet against a non-poker player that actually brings money into poker.

whats bad about the 7 2 prop is when its in effect usually all the players at the table are so aware of it that every time theres a big raise, c-bet, 3-bet, or any major action its always in the back of their minds so sometimes it can be tough to pull off

To me prop betting is kinda like baseball. I love playing baseball and was pretty talented in my younger years, BUT watching baseball on TV bores me to tears. I wanna be involved.

Same for prop betting on TV shows; it bores me to death when the pros keep grabbing a notebook and paper to keep up with their prop bets, just play poker on TV PLEASE!!!!!

NO_Fluff said:

Same for prop betting on TV shows; it bores me to death when the pros keep grabbing a notebook and paper to keep up with their prop bets, just play poker on TV PLEASE!!!!!

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Yeah, I'm with you on that. Annoys me to hell.

But let me give you the following example. In season 6 of PAD they had a prop on whether the flop will come red or black (at least 2 of the same suit). They had a $50K bet on that.

Durrr had taken red. He looks down to his hand and sees Kx of diamonds. Now, usually, since he's taken red, he should at least raise to try and take it down PF, since there is less chance the flop will come red with two red cards in his hand. And he knows the other guys know he would have probably raised if he had 2 red cards in his hand.

So he just called.

And the flop came with two diamonds. And he stacked Illary who also had 2 diamonds, but with a J.

And this, IMO, is what poker is all about. Outwitting your opponents in every way possible.