Katrina Griffiths
Senior editor
Published on: October 28, 2026
Futures and prop bets explained: what you’re betting on and what it costs
Futures are bets you place now on something the season decides later, like who lifts the Stanley Cup or who wins the MVP. Props go the other way and zoom in on one game: how many shots a particular player gets, say, or whether anyone scores in the first period. The final score doesn’t matter to a prop at all.
People like both for the same reason. They give you something to cheer for beyond a simple win or loss. What gets less attention is the price. Sportsbooks generally take a bigger cut on futures and props than on a straight bet on tonight’s winner, and you can work out how much bigger with nothing more than the odds on the screen.
How futures bets work
The common futures markets are championship winners (Stanley Cup, Grey Cup, Super Bowl), conference and division winners, season awards like MVP or a scoring title, and season totals, where you take the over or under on a team’s wins or points.
Prices move all season, but your ticket is locked at the price you took. Say you back the Oilers at +800 in October and by March they’ve shortened to +250. If they go on to win it, you’re paid at +800, so $50 returns $400 in winnings plus the $50 you bet. Getting in before everyone else noticed is the whole attraction.
Of course, a lot can go wrong between October and June. One bad injury in November and the ticket in your account might as well be blank. And there’s no taking it back.
Your money sits there for months
The stake comes out of your balance as soon as the bet is accepted. Place $50 on the Cup in October and you won’t see it again, win or lose, until June. You can’t use it for anything else in the meantime, and nobody’s paying you interest on it.
Turning futures odds into a percentage
Big plus numbers are hard to judge by feel. Turning them into a percentage helps. For a plus price, divide 100 by the odds plus 100. (Our guide to sports betting odds covers minus prices and the basics of reading a board.)
| Odds | A $10 bet wins | Implied probability |
|---|---|---|
| +100 | $10 | 50% |
| +300 | $30 | 25% |
| +900 | $90 | 10% |
| +2500 | $250 | 3.85% |
| +5000 | $500 | 1.96% |
A team at +2500, then, is one the book gives a little under a 4% chance, and that’s after it has trimmed the price to build in its own margin.
Why futures usually cost more than game lines
On an ordinary game line, both sides are often priced at -110. Each of those works out to 52.38%, so the pair adds up to 104.76%. The 4.76% over 100 is the sportsbook’s margin. In practice, a -110 bet costs you about 4.5% of your stake over the long run.
A futures market is built the same way, just with dozens of outcomes instead of two. The book shaves a little off every team’s price, and across a whole league those small shavings add up. If you convert every price in a Stanley Cup winner market to a percentage and add them together, the total will typically sit well above 100%, and usually much further above it than a game line does.
It only takes a couple of minutes to check this yourself, and the number tells you a lot. The higher the total, the more you’re paying. If a market adds up to 130%, for instance, you’re giving up close to a quarter of your stake on average. That’s a long way from 4.5%. Long-shot prices also tend to vary more from one sportsbook to the next than game lines do, which makes comparing two or three books before you bet more worthwhile here than almost anywhere else.
Cash out and hedging
Plenty of sportsbooks will offer to cash out a futures bet before it’s settled. The offer is worked out from the current odds with a margin taken off, so you’ll normally get less than the ticket is worth at that moment. That can still be the right call if you want out. Just know you’re paying for it.
Hedging is the do-it-yourself version: you bet against your own pick later on, for example by backing the other team in the final. Done right, it locks in a result either way. The cost is that you pay the book’s margin a second time.
House rules to read before you bet
Most futures are “all bets action”. If your player gets hurt or your team loses its best skater for the season, the bet normally stands and the money stays with the book. Awards and scoring titles can also end in a tie, and books typically settle those with a dead-heat rule that cuts your payout in proportion to how many winners there are. Some season totals only count if a minimum number of games gets played.
None of this is standard across the industry. Each sportsbook writes its own version, so read the rules page for the one you’re using.
How prop bets work
Props are bets on what happens inside a single game. Player props cover individual numbers, such as a hockey player’s shots on goal, points or goals, a quarterback’s passing yards or a pitcher’s strikeouts. Game props cover the game itself, such as which team scores first, the total goals in the first period or whether it goes to overtime.
Most props are over/under lines set on a half number, so there’s no tie. With a shots line of 2.5, taking the over means you need 3. Two shots loses, and so does a quiet night where the player barely touches the puck.
Why props carry a bigger margin
The main game lines are where most of the money goes, and sportsbooks keep the margin on them fairly tight. Props are a much bigger menu, often dozens per game, and books tend to build more margin into each one.
Take a shots prop priced at -120 on both the over and the under. Each side works out to 54.55%, and together they come to 109.09%. If the bet is really a coin flip, you’re paying about 8.3% of your stake on average, close to double what a -110 game line costs.
What happens if the player doesn’t play
If a player doesn’t take part in the game at all, most sportsbooks void props on that player and return your stake. If they play even briefly and then get hurt, the bet generally stands, and an over on someone who left after five minutes is almost always a loser. The exact wording varies, and it’s on the book’s rules page.
Props in same-game parlays
Props are the building blocks of same-game parlays, where several outcomes from one game go on a single ticket. Every leg brings its own margin, and books price the combinations with extra care. Our post on parlay betting and the real house edge shows how fast that stacks up.
Futures and props side by side
| Futures | Props | |
|---|---|---|
| Settled | Weeks or months later | During or right after the game |
| Where the margin hides | Spread across every outcome in the market | Built into both sides of each line |
| Biggest risk | Injuries and slumps after you’ve bet, with your money locked up | Player rules, and stacking props into parlays |
| Check first | Total implied probability of the market, “all bets action” and dead-heat rules | The price on both sides, and the did-not-play rule |
Betting on futures and props in Alberta
On most sportsbooks you’ll find futures and props in their own tabs, either under the league or inside an individual game. Before you bet, check that the sportsbook is registered with AGLC, and give its house rules a quick read. The void, dead-heat and settlement rules are all in there, and they’re the details people tend to find out about only after a bet has settled. Our sports betting guide has more on picking a sportsbook.
Once a futures bet is placed it drops out of sight, so it’s easy to keep adding more without realising how much is tied up. Keep a running total, and set a deposit limit that makes sense for the whole season, not just this week.
Futures and prop bets FAQ
Can I cancel a futures bet?
No. Once the sportsbook accepts it, the bet stands. Some books will offer a cash out instead, but that’s a fresh price with a margin built in, not a refund.
Are futures ever good value?
Sometimes, if you get a price before the market moves and the book isn’t taking too much off the whole market. The only way to know is to add the market up, and futures margins tend to be wider than on game lines.
What happens to a prop if the player gets injured during the game?
At most sportsbooks the bet stands once the player has taken part in the game, so an over will usually lose. If they don’t play at all, the prop is normally voided.
Conclusion
Futures give you a reason to follow a whole season, and props give you one for a single game. You pay a little extra for both. Before you bet, turn the odds into a percentage, add up the whole market if it’s a futures bet, and check what the house rules say about injuries and ties. If one book’s numbers look worse than another’s, go with the better price or leave it. And keep futures stakes small enough that you won’t miss the money while it sits there until the end of the season.
You must be 18 or older to gamble online in Alberta. If gambling is causing problems for you or someone you know, the Alberta Health Services Addiction Helpline is open 24/7 on 1-866-332-2322, and GameSense, AGLC’s responsible gambling program, has free tools and advisors.
