Guide to the Best Player Props Bets

The best player props bets are those that have some risk but aren’t based on a stroke of luck. Skill-based player props are one of the best ways to see profit as a sports bettor. Thankfully, every league for every sport has player props available at leading sportsbooks.

In this guide, we’ll show you all the types of player props you can place, as well as tell you how to find them. Plus, we offer some valuable tips for beginner and intermediate bettors looking to maximize their success with player props.

What Are Player Props?

How to Find the Best Player Props

What Sports are the Best for Player Props

Tips for Betting on Player Props

What Are Player Props?

Player props, short for proposition bets, are a type of wager you can make in sports betting that focus on the performance of individual athletes during a game. These bets typically don’t affect the final outcome, but rather hinge on specific statistical achievements by a player.

Player props are often formatted as “over/under” where you bet on whether a player will exceed or fall below a certain statistical mark. Other prop bets can be yes/no wagers on whether a player will score a touchdown or hit a home run.

Stat-Based Props

These are the most common and involve betting on a player’s final tally in a specific category like points scored. There are also more specific props for each individual sports, like:

Rebounds and Assists (basketball)
Passing or Rushing Yards, Interception, Yards, Field Goal (football)
Strikeouts, Walks, and Earned Runs Allowed (baseball)

Yes/No Props

These are simpler bets on whether a player will achieve a certain feat. They aren’t as dependent on stats as the previous props, but they can still be profitable if you find the right wager. Some popular wagers include whether a player will:

Will score a touchdown? (football)
Hit a home run? (baseball)
Record a double-double (points + rebounds)? (basketball)

Comparisons

Prop bets can involve comparing two players’ performances in the same game. These wagers are more akin to moneyline wagers, with bets on two different players. These props can be skill-based, but do require a bit of luck to pull off. Some examples would be:

Who will throw more passing yards (QB A vs QB B)?
Who will score more points (Player A vs Player B)?
Who will run the most bases (Player A vs. Player B)?

Other Categories

Sportsbooks can get creative with props that go beyond basic stats. These kinds of player props are often entirely based on luck, so be cautious when considering them. Here are some examples:

First or last basket scorer (basketball)
Who will win the MVP award? (available for many sports)
Will player X receive a penalty? (hockey)

How to Find the Best Player Props

With thousands of pro athletes across dozens of sports, how can you choose the best player props? You could spend hours staring at your computer looking for your big break, or you could employ some of the following tactics that have helped our handicappers place winning bets.

Identify Unique Player Opportunities

In addition to checking out player stats, you should also keep an eye on any record-breaking opportunities. For example, Yoshinobu Yamamoto of the Dodgers is the top pick to break the 1984 rookie strikeout record set by Doc Gooden. Similarly, Jhoan Duran is one of the fastest pitchers of our time, and he’s getting close to beating the 105.8 mph pitch thrown by Aroldis Chapman in 2010.

Staying up to date on these kinds of records can give you an edge. If a player is within a few points of breaking a record, chances are they are really going to give the next game their all. Even if you’re not betting on the record to be broken, betting on that player’s performance is still a great chance to come out on top.

Be Aware of Game Conditions and Injuries

Certain weather conditions can really impact the outcome of the game, as well as each player’s performance. For sports like football, soccer, and racing, the weather can make or break a player’s chance to outperform expectations. Rainy or snowy conditions make it more difficult to play, and increase the risk of injury.

For sports that are played indoors, you should watch closely for injury reports before and after each game. Steph Curry might have a knock-out game, but strain his knee or ankle in the process, making future wagers on his performance risky.

Read Professional Picks

When you have a medical question, you consult a professional for the best information, right? Well, sports betting follows the same principles. One of the best ways to make profitable player props wagers is to read picks from professional handicappers. These folks spend their days pouring over player statistics and identifying the best possible wagers that sportsbooks have listed.

Signing up for a pro pick service is a surefire way to start making money with player props. While you might pay a fee for this service, smart bettors justify the cost as the insight is invaluable for profit-focused opportunists.

What Sports are the Best for Player Prop Wagers?

Player props are pretty widespread, and since every league has their all-star players, it can be challenging to identify which are the best to invest in.

Leagues like the NFL, MLS, and NBA have plenty of player props for the quarterbacks and forward players, but not as large a selection for the less-important players. NHL player props focus on the frequent goalscorers and the goalies, while the MLB has plenty of lines on pitchers and heavy hitters.

Mixed martial arts sports like Bellator and UFC don’t have great player odds because there are only two players in each matchup. Betting on one player is pretty much just a moneyline. While some sportsbooks offer over/unders on rounds and whatnot, those aren’t as granular as player props on a team-based sport.

When to Bet Player Props?

Obviously, you can wager on players at any time during the season. But one of the best times to place player props is during the playoffs and finals of any league.

For example, during the Super Bowl or Stanley Cup, you’ll find far more player props on the top players than you would during the regular season. Granted, you won’t have odds on players from teams that haven’t taken it the whole way, but sportsbooks amp up coverage during the biggest sporting events.

Consider betting on players during the following events:

Super Bowl
Stanley Cup
March Madness
Division finals
Conference championships
World Cup
NBA Finals
World Series

Best Player Props Today

Tips for Betting on Player Props

Using player props is one of the easiest ways to make some money from sports betting. However, winning is not a sure-fire thing, even if the probability of success is high. The best bettors follow these tips to maximize their returns from player props:

Don’t Always Rely on the Stars

The playmakers in any sport have a lot of pressure on them to perform above and beyond every game. Sometimes, they come in clutch, but other times they falter. While the top players usually have a lot more props on them than their colleagues, it’s not always a good idea to rely on exclusively all-stars.

The support players are often a bit more consistent, and the odds on their props are not as heavily priced as the top players. Take a look at some of the key players on your favorite team, and see which one has had the most consistent record for points, assists, etc. Consistency is often better than fame when it comes to player props, so use this to your advantage.

Read the News and Social Media

We touched on this earlier, but reading the sports news and following players on social media is key to placing informed bets. You could go so far as to set up alerts on your phone for whenever new articles are published that talk about your favorite players. This way, you’re always up-to-date on their condition.

One example is Ja Morant of the Memphis Grizzlies. He was suspended on two separate occasions for a firearm-related incident, and there’s no doubt that his absence impacted both the Grizzlies as a whole and his season stats. While not every player will have such scandals as Morant, you can still cash in on this kind of info if you’re faster than the sportsbooks publishing their updated odds.

Set a Betting Budget

Every good gambler knows that the first rule of sports betting is to set a budget and stick to it. When you’re in the green, you feel on top of the world, but that feeling doesn’t last forever. Make sure that before you start placing player props, you know how much you have to spend, and what your average bet size will be.

One good way to execute this is to identify roughly how many props and/or other wagers you want to place in a week, month, or even year. Then, think about what makes sense to wager on each.

Will you be betting on the favorite? If so, your budget might need to be a bit higher, as it takes more money to win when you’re betting on minus odds. Once you decide roughly what your wagers will be, you can work backward. For example, if you want to place $5 player props on each of the Eagles’ games in a season, you’d need $85 in your bankroll.

Utilize Over/Unders for Players

Over/Under props for players are some of the most popular. You can wager on things like total points, time played, free throws, and more. These wagers are more skill-based because you have to know how to analyze player stats and see trends.

While betting on a prop like “Will player X be given a penalty?” can be profitable, it relies more on luck than anything else. You should avoid placing multiple props like this at a time, since your chances of success decrease. Instead, spend some time looking at historical data and make an informed over/under wager on a specific player.

Player Prop Picks and More

There you have it folks, a comprehensive guide to using player props wagers to your advantage. The key tips to follow when starting your betting journey using props is to search for underdog or unique opportunities, keep your ear to the ground by signing up for news and social media alerts, and consider using a professional pick service.

At Scores & Stats, our handicappers are hard at work picking the best player props for almost every game of the season, and they’re on a roll. You can get access to all their betting data with our premium subscription, so you can start placing your player props with confidence today.