Wsop Prop Bets
The 2018 World Series of Poker is underway in Las Vegas. OddsShark takes a look at some of the proposition betting – “prop bets” – on the different action that occurs during the tournament. When it comes to betting on poker tournaments at the sportsbooks, you can do the simple thing and wager just on the outcome of an event. Back when online sportsbooks offered WSOP prop bets, the easiest money you could make all year was Bovada Sportsbook's 'Will there be a multiple bracelet winner?' It seemed like every year this bet opened with odds of -120 on Yes. They started to get smart and open at -140, but the Yes bet. The World Series of Poker is less than a week away, with Event 1, the $500 Casino Employees No-Limit Hold'em tournament, set to begin on Sunday, May 27. As always, Bodog Sportsbook and Racebook and Bovada are opening up markets to bet on, and if you think you can predict turnouts for events, bracelet and money winners, you can win big on the WSOP without ever stepping foot in Las Vegas.
If this year was the 'Year of the Pro' at the World Series of Poker then last year was probably the 'Year of the Prop Bet'. Not only had Erick Lindgren won the now infamous golfing bet where he shot under 100 four times with no caddy in a blistering Las Vegas summer heat, but the Big Game pros all revitalised interest in tournament poker by betting on whether each other could win a bracelet.
But that isn't to say that the year of the pro has been prop bet free, in fact, if anything the prop bets may have been a pivotal factor in the year or the pro, with the additional money wagered providing that extra motivation to snag gold. Today we are documenting our top five prop bets from the 2008 WSOP:
Mike Matusow's Weight Loss Bet
Last year Ted Forrest bet Mike that he couldn't lose 60lb in one year, dropping from Mikes generous 241lbs to 181lbs. On Wednesday June 3rd a much skinnier, gaunt, calmer Matusow appeared in front of the Pokernews camera crew to prove he had done just that, weighing in at 179lbs, two pounds under target.
Mikey had been training every day, running up to 8 miles a day and towards the end living on a diet of lemonade, cayenne pepper and maple syrup. Mike won $100,000 from Forrest and vowed never to get out of shape again by striking up several more prop bets where he can never go over 185lbs again. Shifting the weight has obviously done Mike the world of good; he won a bracelet this year and cashed in the main event.
Greenstein the Guitar Hero
Every wondered what a middle aged professional poker player does with their spare time, with all that money and nothing to do with it? Perhaps the unlikeliest prop bet of the WSOP and maybe the highest stakes, once again with Phil Ivey having to pay out at the end of it. Barry Greenstein has apparently won $500,000 from Ivey not at the poker table, or golf course, or pool table....but on Guitar Hero. He recently posted on a popular poker forum:
'I just finished a long term bet with Phil Ivey in which he bet me $500,000 I could not get five stars on Dragonforce's 'Through the Fire and the Flames' on Expert difficulty. Today, that bet ended when I scored 567,000 on it, easily breaking the barrier.I had other money on with other people the side, but Phil was the main person involved in this. I will take any amount of action on further Guitar Hero III bets.
Daniel Negreanu's Bracelet Side Bet
Just like Eli Elezra last year, Daniel Negreanu ensures he will win a bracelet by setting up a prop bet that guarantees more than the winners prize. This year Daniel bet with fellow legend of the game Phil Ivey on each other winning a bracelet, for every bracelet won the other player would have to pay out $200,000. Negreanu won the $2k Limit Hold'em event for around $200,000 and immediately had that purse doubled by Mr Ivey.
Phil Ivey's Bracelet Side Bet
For every winner there has to be a loser and that is not a word we are used to associating with Phil Ivey. The most feared player of all time has had a terrible year at the WSOP which has only been made worse by the rumours that Ivey has over $2 million in prop bets, backing himself to win a bracelet this year. He has already had to pay Negreanu for his bracelet win and also is reported to have up to $500,000 with Eli Elezra, who himself won over $750,000 betting in himself last year.
Phil Laak Incognito
We have no idea what category this falls into; was it a forfeit for losing a bet or was it an attempt to win a bet? Either way, the words 'I bet you' must have been somehow linked to this next stunt. The usually not very camera shy Laak appeared to be missing in action on his day one of the main event, with several forums and media crews asking 'just where is Phil? At the same time a few players at table 33 of the Amazon room were wondering just who the old man was in Phil's seat.
It turns out Mr Laak, for whatever reason, had elected to don a latex mask and wig and his grandfathers best slacks and play the whole event in disguise. The normally motor mouthed Laak just sat very quietly until he eventually bust out on day one. Whether he won whatever the bet was remains to be seen, but it was certainly the craziest moment of the WSOP this year, even though few people actually saw it.
Tags
Prop BetsWSOPRelated Tournaments
World Series of Poker
The world’s biggest poker event is underway. The 2019 World Series of Poker ( WSOP ) began last May 29, 2019, and will run until July 16, 2019. The venue is, as it has been since 2005, the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada.
This year’s WSOP is special because it is the 50th edition of the tournament. To celebrate its 50th year, there will be a $50,000 No Limit Hold’em event, the Big 50, a $500 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event with a guaranteed $5 million prize pool and $1 million for the winner. A short deck tournament will also be held for the first time as is a tournament for past WSOP bracelet winners.
Those are just some of the newest events added to the WSOP, which has seen the number of individual tournaments grow steadily since its inception in 1970. This year, there are a total of 89 bracelet events. ( Every event awards its winner a signature WSOP gold bracelet ). But despite the new events added, the highlight of the WSOP is still the $10,000 buy-in Main Event which is the biggest poker tournament of the year and offers a prize pool that reaches tens of millions of American dollars. The biggest-ever WSOP Main Event took place in 2012 with Jamie Gold walking away with $12 million as first prize.
With the WSOP Main Event, it’s not only the poker players who can make money out of the tournament. You can, too, because as the Super Bowl of poker, there are so many bet markets available for the WSOP Main Event. We went to bet-maker Bovada and checked out their poker betting odds. Here are some WSOP Main Event bets which we liked and which we believe are going to cash in. These bets were taken from Bovada as of 6/6/19:
- Over 7,850.5 -135
- Under 7,850.50 -105
Despite online poker slowing downs since the early 2000s, the Main Event has always retained its massive field. And why not? The WSOP Main Event is the richest poker tournament in the world and it just keeps on getting bigger.’
From 7,221 in 2017, the Main Event attracted a total of 7,874 players, making it the second biggest of all-time. The 2006 Main Event stands as the biggest ever thanks to the influx of online players that year. Will this year’s Main Event surpass last year’s mammoth field? It’s always difficult to say but considering that that poker has been trending up over the past year, I think there is a good chance that it’s going to exceed 7,850 entries.
Also, the organizers have ‘tweaked” this year’s Main Event, which could lead to more entries. This year, players will have more time to get in on the action this year as registration has been extended to the start of play on Day 2, which is noontime. There is also a slight increase in chips from 60,000 instead of 50,000 and the utilization of the Big Blind Ante to streamline play are likely going to entice more players to join. Sin City is going to have a wide assortment of poker tournaments on tap this year and all the extra tournaments could feed into the attendance in the Main Event as well.
Prediction: Over 7850.5
Will a Female Win An “Open” Event?
- Yes +300
- No -500
The WSOP is hosting 89 events this year and if the female population continue to make up around 4% of the field, I think there will be at least one. Kristen Bicknell and Maria Ho are on a roll coming to the WSOP so these females are for sure drawing as live as they have in recent years. I would say that there will be two ladies heads up for gold including the Ladies event and yes there will be at least one open event won by a female.
Prediction: Yes
- Yes +550
- No -1000
The only time that there was a woman on the Final Table was more than two decades ago when Barbara Enright won $114,180 for the 5th place back in 1995. But remember that the entrants were 273 back then. Although no woman made it last year despite the mammoth 7,874 total that battled it out, the number for the ladies is expected to increase further in this year’s Main Event. Although history says no, I think it’s due time that we see another female in the Final Table. Who knows, there could be two this year.
Prediction: Yes
2019 Main Event Winner’s Birthplace?
- USA -200
- Europe +300
- Canada +650
- Central or South America +1600
- Australia +2000
- Others +1600
Only five non-Americans have won the Main Event since 2000. Since 2010, only three winners were non-American, the last one was Martin Jacobson in 2014.
Prediction: USA
How Many American-born Players Will Be in the Final Table?
- Over 5.5 -120
- Under 5.5 -120
There were six Americans in last year’s Final table. There were five Americans in the November Nine in 2017, 2016 and 2015.
Prediction: Under 5.5
- 29 or older -135
- 28 or younger -105
John Cynn in 2018 and Qui Nguyen in 2016 were over 30 years old when they won at the Final Table. But although two out of the last three Main Event winners were over 29 years old, there were no other above-29 winners since at least since 2010.
Prediction: 28 years or younger
Wsop Prop Bets
