Prop betting is short for "proposition" betting, and it is exactly that - you bet on the outcome of a proposition. Or, seen another way, someone makes you a proposition and you place a bet on whether or not you agree with it. It's the most natural form of betting, and is essentially no different from a bet among friends on anything imaginable.

In a formal betting environment, such betting on the 2006 Soccer World Cup, proposition betting would typically cover elements of the games that are not the central ones to the game. A typical proposition bet would be on the result of the pre-match coin toss, or who will score the most goals in a game, during the pool stages, and for the whole tournament. Another would be who will make the first score, or who will score last. The obvious candidates are the strikers for the opening match between Germany and Costa Rica.

This is what one could call the tamer side of proposition betting. Top professional poker players at the recent World Series of Poker indulged in some highly publicized proposition betting while not playing poker. International television networks broadcast coverage of players like final table finalist Mike Matusow, playing various prop bet games against each other.

This is a hybrid form of prop betting, where the players place money in a pool and try to beat each other at various games like card tossing, with the winner claiming the pot. High stakes prop betting is a rarefied world where the pressure of playing for huge sums of money is the main challenge in itself. Top high stakes gamblers will often play against top professional golfers for huge sums of money, and regularly beat them. One would think that the professionals would clean up, but they are not used to playing with such vast sums of their own money at stake on each hole, and literally buckle under the pressure. The experienced prop bettors are used to it, and invariably win the games and the money.

This year's Soccer World Cup will have hundreds of proposition bets available. Some present serious opportunity to make money, and others are just for fun.

Ryan is the editor of Online Gambling Insider. For detailed Soccer World Cup Betting coverage and loads of useful online gambling information, visit http://www.online-gambling-insider.com