3-Way Handicap bets – A beginner’s Guide

How does a 3-Way Handicap work? (Real examples)

As we said earlier, the  3-Way Handicap works by applying an advantage or disadvantage to a team's score. The handicap is applied at the end of the game, and the bet is settled based on the new scoreline. There are three possible outcomes to the match, which are shown below.

Here are a few examples of how a result could be changed by the handicap placed.

Home win

Crystal Palace are playing Liverpool in the English Community Sheid

• Liverpool (-1) - Crystal Palace (+1)

Liverpool is a strong favourite, so the minus handicap would be applied to them. In this case, it's a -1 deduction from their score at the end of the game.

So let's say the final result is

• Liverpool 2 - 0 Crystal Palace.

When the -1 handicap is applied, Liverpool's score is reduced by one.

So the scoreline used to settle the bet would be.

• Liverpool 1 - 0 Crystal Palace.

In this example, if you had placed a bet on Liverpool at (-1), your bet would settle as a win, as they still won the game after the handicap.

Away win

Using the same game but a slightly different market, we will now examine the +2/-2 option.

• Liverpool (-2) - Crystal Palace (+2)
  This time, we will examine the Crystal Palace option, which involves adding two goals to the Crystal Palace score.

Let's say the final result is

• Liverpool 2 - 1 Crystal Palace.
  When the +2 Handicap is applied, the Crystal Palace score increases by two.

So the scoreline used to settle the bet would be

• Liverpool 2 - 3 Crystal Palace.
  In this example, the result of the game has changed completely, and instead of a home win, the handicap has meant that the bet would be settled as an away win.

Draw

Finally, we will look at the +3/-3 option.

• Liverpool (-3) - Crystal Palace (+3)

This time, we will look at the Liverpool side of the bet.

Let's say the final result is

• Liverpool 3 - 0 Crystal Palace.

When the -3 Handicap is applied, Liverpool's score is reduced by three

So the scoreline used to settle the bet would be

• Liverpool 0 - 0 Crystal Palace

Which would mean that the result of the game is now a draw.

Remember always to gamble responsibly

Most important when betting online is that you gamble responsibly. Gambling should always be fun, and you should think of it as a hobby and something you do for entertainment purposes. It should be something you do with spare funds, with money you can afford to lose.

Any decent betting site will have a Responsible Gambling section, which will contain not only advice on staying safe while gambling but will also have a number of tools which you can activate which will help you keep your gambling responsible.

One of the best tips that you can do yourself to help stay in control is to keep a record of the amount you deposit into gambling sites and a record of how your results have gone. This should help you keep track of your spending and keep in control of your bankroll.