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What is Handicap Betting?
Handicap betting is generally used to bet when there is a team that is a clear favorite to win playing a lesser team. The handicap adds either points or goals to give a head start to one team, meaning that it becomes easier for them to win and in turn lowers the odds of the bet, making the odds on both teams more similar.
In this article, we will look over different types of handicap bet and explain how they work By the time you have finished reading you should have a full understanding of exactly what they mean, and how to best use them as some of your day-to-day bets.
Asian Handicaps
As the name suggests, Asian handicaps originated in the Asian continent and are generally used in football but they can also be applied to some other sports. The handicap itself is set to eliminate (or at least reduce) the advantage one team has, making the outcomes closer to evens. A handicap is applied with the use of the plus (+) and minus (-) symbols. As a rule the minus is assigned to the team that is the favourite, and a plus is assigned to the team being assigned the handicap advantage.
Each handicap option is known as a line, and for Asian Handicaps there are a large number of these generally increasing in increments of 0.25 from the starting point of zero. The exact returns for these types of bets is quite complex to work out so we have made a handy calculator to help you work things out on this site here.
The table below runs through some of the basic Asian handicaps to give you an overview of how the different options including decimals works:
| Asian Handicap | Amount of head start given | Example Real Score | Handicap Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| +1 (AH) | One goal | Draw 1 – 1 | Won 2 -1 |
| +2 (AH) | Two goals | Lost 1 -2 | Won 3 – 2 |
| +3 (AH) | Three goals | Lost 1 -3 | Won 4 – 3 |
| +4 (AH) | Four goals | Lost 0 – 3 | Won 4 – 3 |
Because it is an Asian handicap if the goal difference is the same as the handicap you would receive your money back.
An example of an Asian Handicap bet
Here I’m going to use one of the most popular Asian handicaps the +/- 1.5 to look at this in a bit more detail. (The 1.5 goal advantage is applied to the lesser team before kick off so it eliminates any chance of a stake back from this wager)
In terms of the match itself you are imagining the match starts as Man City 0 West Ham 1.5. The odds are Manchester City @1.90 vs West Ham Utd @2.00.
You are betting 100 on Manchester City-1.5 Asian Handicap. To win your bet, you need Man City to win with two or more goals difference:
- If Man City wins with two goals or more, you win the bet. Your profit will be 90.
- If Man City wins with a goal difference of one (For example Man City win 2:1), the match result is a draw, or West Ham wins, then you lose your 100 stake.
Let’s suppose you bet 100 on West Ham +1.5 Asian Handicap. To win your bet, you need West Ham to win, draw, or lose with a goal difference of fewer than one:
- If West Ham win, draw, or they lose with just a one goal difference (1-0, 2-1), you win the bet. Your profit will be 100.
- If Man City wins with a two or more goal difference, then you lose your 100 stake.
European Handicaps
In the same way that Asian handicaps originated in Asia, European handicaps came originally from European betting. Much like an Asian handicap, the European handicap applies an imaginary head start for one team before kick-off. Where it differs is whole numbers are used and there are no fractions, and importantly when the European handicap is exactly met the bet loses rather than being returned.
The table below shows the European Handicap outcomes:
| European Handicap | Amount of head start given | Example Real Score | Handicap Score |
|---|---|---|---|
| +1 (EH) | One goal | Draw 1 – 1 | Won 2 -1 |
| +2 (EH) | Two goals | Lost 1 -2 | Won 3 – 2 |
| +3 (EH) | Three goals | Lost 1 -3 | Won 4 – 3 |
| +4 (EH) | Four goals | Lost 0 – 3 | Won 4 – 3 |
So as you can see it appears to be exactly the same but as we mentioned before there is one very important difference. Because it is a European Hancicap if the goal difference is exactly the same as the handicap the bet loses.
An example of a European Handicap bet
Let’s run through a quick bet with a European Handicap in place to see how that works in practice using another example:
Let’s say that Liverpool are playing against Everton and you place a bet of 100 on a European Handicap bet for Liverpool with a -1 handicap. As before this means that minus one is subtracted from Liverpool’s score, so if you bet on them to win you would need them to win by 2 goals or more to win the bet.
- If Liverpool wins by only one goal then the match would be counted as a draw after the handicap is applied and so you lose your 100 stake.
- If the scores finish level then actually after the Handicap is added Everton would win by one goal (so again you lose your 100 stake).
- If West Ham win by any score, then they would count as the winning team with the handicap score giving them an extra goal to whatever they already won by.
- The only way you can avoid losing your stake and win the bet is if Liverpool wins by a clear two goals, so that even after having one in effect taken away they are still ahead.
Positive Handicaps +
Positive handicaps are simply the amount that is added to the team that are the underdogs. This amount is added to the team’s final score at the end of the match,
Negative Handicaps –
Negative handicaps are represented by the minus sign and are assigned to the team (the favourites) which means they must score more than this handicap to finish with a win.
Zero Handicaps
A handicap with a value of 0 is only applied to Asian Handicaps. A zero handicap does not give any advantage to either team. In this type of Asian handicap, in the event of a draw the bet is returned. It does not exist as such in European Handicap markets but an equivalent bet would be “Draw No Bet”.
Conclusion
Both Asian and European Handicaps are a great way to back a team you feel will win a match comfortably. Although we have concentrated on football in this article it can be applied to Rugby, American Football, or Basketball in the same way with a points advantage or disadvantage applied to a given team in the same manner.
Usually used by more experienced gamblers, once you understand the concept, you can use this to your advantage alongside your own sporting knowledge of teams’ performances to increase your odds in one-sided matches and add extra returns to your bets.
