Technology Prop Betting: Bodog Gets the Apple Bug

READ MORE: Apple, Bodog, Prop Betting

Ominpresent sportsbook Bodog is apparently trying to allign itself with billion-dollar companies instead of toiling in mere political and entertainment prop betting obscurity. Bodog has odds on what will be unveiled at Apple’s press conference on October 12th, which has tech geeks all frothy with anticipation. So far, the heavy favorites are a video iPod at 3/2, iPod upgrades at 2/1, and updated versions of Mac and Powerbook at 2/1. Longshot odds go to an OSX for the PC at 9/1, which sadly, we have no idea what that means. Aren’t we at the stage where Apple can make a talking robot that does houshold chores? Weren’t those things supposed to be in every home by like 1994?
What Will Apple Unveil At Its Press Event On October 12th? [Bodog]
Apple Expected to Unveil Video-Enable iPod [AP]

Event Betting: Rock the Casbah

READ MORE: Event Betting, Oil Prices, Prop Betting

And pretty soon, we will all be forced to roam with weirdo caravans and live like savages off the land…

Prop via Bodog:

Will the price of oil hit $70+ US per barrel before the end of 2005?

Yes -120

No -110

Non Sports Event Betting [Bodog]

Prop Betting: Everything’s Better With Money On The Line

READ MORE: Event Betting, Howard Lederer, Huck Seed, Poker, Prop Betting, Titanic Thompson

The mantra here at Oddjack World Headquarters is, “Life is better when you’ve got a few bucks on it.” We certainly can’t stress that enough. Whether it’s an Over/Under line set on when the pizza’s getting here, or an out-of-the-blue challenge to name ten Bill Murray movies in chronological order, there isn’t much going on around here that doesn’t end with a couple crumpled dollar bills changing hands at the end.

We’re small potatoes though. Vegas gamblers, specifically poker players, like to shake up the doldrums of their daily wagering by finding some outside action wherever they can get it. These sorts of bets are called “proposition wagers,” and this article by Michael Kaplan from the Cigar Aficionado archives details some of the craziest bets you’ve ever heard. Kaplan quotes Howard Lederer on the topic:

“You’re trying to figure things out when you make the bets,” says Lederer, agreeing that the most impressive props tend to fall into three categories: self-improvement, feats of athletic prowess and goofy things that nobody would normally want to do (one gambler, for instance, spent 48 straight hours in the Vegas go-go bar Crazy Horse, Too). “The fact that nobody has yet figured out whether or not these things can be done is what makes the bets interesting. And it’s the satisfaction of winning a bet that makes you want to do it.”

Huck Seed seems to be the heir to Titanic Thompson’s throne as the latter-day King of the Prop bets. From performing a standing backflip to a challenge to play 72 holes of golf on a scorchingly hot day, Huck gets his action and generally beats the odds.

Our favorite prop from the article, however, was a challenge to John Hennigan to live in Des Moines, Iowa for six weeks. We couldn’t last very long either, there’s only so much Olive Garden one man can take.

All Bets Are On [Cigar Aficionado]
Previously: Our Patron Saint, The Greatest Gambler of All-Time [Oddjack]

Our Patron Saint, The Greatest Gambler Of All-Time

READ MORE: Gambling, Horse Racing, Poker, Prop Betting, Titanic Thompson

Ever seen Guys and Dolls? Yeah, we haven’t either. But incorrigible gambling author Damon Runyon wrote the story from which the musical was based, and big-time gambler “Sky Masterson” had a real life model - Titanic Thompson.

Thompson was a golf hustler, pool shark, poker ace, card sharp, dice-setter, and most notably a proposition bettor. Anything he could do to exploit an edge, he would. Cheating, lying, hustling - anything at all - so long as he could find that edge. In what was probably his most storied prop, he was challenged to hit a golf ball five hundred yards. Of course, hitting the ball in the dead of winter onto iced-over Lake Erie gave the ball a little extra roll, and earned him a nice payday.

Still, nothing beats a little bad luck, even when the fix is in. We’ll let Michael James from Barstool Sports tell the story:

But my favorite Titanic Thompson bet was the one he made at a Tijuana race track on an 8-1 long shot named Nellie A. Believing in a sure thing, Thompson fixed the race by paying off every jockey in the field and threatening to place a sniper near the finish line to shoot at any horse that crossed the line before Nellie A. Everything was going to plan with Nellie A leading by 150 yards as they headed for home when, suddenly, the horse pulled up with a broken leg. The jockeys, fearing for the lives, tried to rein their horses in but there was nothing they could do to keep them from crossing the wire and Thompson, despite his best efforts, lost his fixed race.

What’s there not to love about this guy? Horses, golf, prop bets, and poker. You can take Jimmy “The Greek” Snyder, Stuey Ungar, and Minnesota Fats, put them in that Jeff Goldblum The Fly chamber, flip the switch, and you’re still not getting half the gambler Titanic Thompson was.*

*This message paid for by the Oddjack for Titanic Thompson in Today’s Poll Committee. No animals were harmed in the making of this post. Member, FDIC.

Greatest Moments In Gambling History [Barstool Sports]
Review of The Unsinkable Titanic Thompson [Jetcafe]
The propositional calculus [Snarkout]