Player's Stories

"Make money while you play!!! Up to $40/Hr++++"
By Rick Skog

Sounds good, right? Well it can be. Or it can be a total disaster. I am of course referring to propping, specifically online. For anyone who is unfamiliar with the term, a proposition player or "prop" is a poker player who employed by a card room (either brick & mortar or online) to start new games and to keep shorthanded games going. A prop player uses his own bankroll and is paid by the card room in a variety of ways. Brick & mortar props are generally paid an hourly wage, while online props tend to be paid on a "per hand" basis or by rake rebate.

Please note that there is a major difference between a prop and a "shill". A shill is a player who is also employed by the card room, but a shill does not use his own bankroll, nor is he allowed to keep any of his winnings. Shills are generally paid small hourly wages and are there for one purpose: to give action. Props are vital to growing card rooms because they start new games and stay in games that are very shorthanded, keeping these games from breaking up. This is particularly important for new online sites that NEED to have tables running in order to attract and keep new players. As a prop you are also responsible to keep the mood of the table light and fun. I have seen several props fired for berating customers, foul language, and general rudeness. If you cannot take a bad beat in stride without mouthing off in the chat window, then propping is not for you.

There are several prop management companies in business, nearly all of them actively looking for new proposition players. While it is true that nearly anyone CAN be an online prop (the only real requirements are a computer, an internet connection, and a bankroll), not everyone SHOULD be a prop. If you are uncomfortable playing shorthanded you should not be a prop. If you have trouble playing multiple tables, you should not be a prop. If you lack sufficient bankroll to handle swings until payday, you definitely should not be a prop. Props are usually ineligible for many of the promotions and deposit bonuses that regular customers enjoy, and are generally required to leave full tables in order to make room for customers. Most importantly, props sacrifice what many solid players feel is their main key to winning: Table selection. You must sit where they tell you to sit. As a prop, you will be required to stay in touch with your shift manager through one of the online messenger services (Yahoo, AIM, or MSN) The shift manager will often request that you change tables or start a new table, or just simply leave a table when it is full. A common line among props: "The shift manager made me leave just when the game was getting good!"

Pay for proposition players runs the gamut from a few dollars a week all the way up to what would be considered a well-paying full time job. An example of a pay scale for a company I worked for earlier this year:

Table limit:	Per Hand(Under 2k hands/week)	Per Hand (over 2k hands/week)
$1/$2	$0.08	$0.10
$2/$4	$0.10	$0.12
$3/$6	$0.12	$0.14
$4/$8	$0.14	$0.16
$5/$10 & up	$0.18	$0.20

So, if I played 4,000 hands in a given week (fairly easy to do playing multiple tables) the pay might look something like this:

• 1500 hands at $2/$4 = $180
• 1600 hands at $3/$6 = $224
• 900 hands at $5/10 = $180

Total weekly earnings: $584. Not bad for about 20 hours playing 3 tables. There were some props that were able to make well over $1,000/week with this company.

There were also many who lost their entire bankrolls in a matter of weeks. One gentleman that I worked with got into a terrible losing cycle when bought into the site for $1,000, lost it all in less than a week playing $5/$10, was paid $700 several days later, lost it all in 2 days, was paid $400 several days later, and so on. He managed to last about 5 weeks and hasn't been heard from since. This is a story that is all too common. A member of the management team for one of the leading prop providers told me that the average online prop works for only about eight weeks. He also mentioned that he gets dozens of requests for "payday loans" from his props on a weekly basis.

Obviously being an online prop player is not for everyone, but if you consider yourself to be a good shorthanded player, you are adept at playing multiple tables, and you have the required time and bankroll it can be a fun way to make some money. If you are a proven winning player then it is just extra money. If you are a break-even player, prop pay may put you into the black. If you are a losing player, well you probably haven't read this far anyway.

Thanks for reading!