💡 What does +1.5 Handicap mean in Asian Betting?

You are giving the team you've bet on a 1.5 goal start at the beginning of the game. The only way your bet can lose is if your team loses the game by two or more goals.

💡 Why do people like Asian Handicap betting so much?

With only two options, the bookmaker’s profit margin is reduced compared to the standard win/lose/draw market. Therefore, you get better value for your bet.

💡 Is it better to bet on the plus or minus handicap

It depends on the game you are betting on. Betting on either gives you better value in matches where the game is expected to be one-sided. So, if you think a team is going to win by a multiple-goal margin, then the -1.5 handicap is the right choice. If you think an underdog will manage to get a draw or only suffer a 1-goal defeat, the +1.5 is the correct option.

What is an Asian Handicap +1.5 / -1.5 Bet?

Last update at 27 June, 2025⏲️ Reading time: 5 minutes

Asian Handicap betting is a very popular betting system. It aims to allow you to either bet on a team that is a favourite with better odds because you have given them a handicap that they must overturn, or to bet on an outsider at shorter odds because they are getting an advantage. Once the match has finished, the handicap is applied to the final score, and then that score is the result for the purpose of the bet. So if your team scores three goals and you have bet on them at +1.5, this will mean their final tally will be 4.5 goals.

This article focuses on the +1.5/-1.5 Asian Handicap market, one of the Asian Handicap markets that features a half-point handicap. This type of market means there is no possible way the game can end in a draw, and so with only two outcomes ( win or lose ) you will get better value on your bet compared to the win/lose/draw market.

What it means to bet with handicap +1.5/-1.5

What does -1.5 Asian Handicap Mean?

The -1.5 option means that you are betting on the team to win, but giving them a 1.5-goal handicap that they must overturn. It is similar to point spread betting, popular in American sports, where you not only bet on the team to win but also bet on how many points they will win by. Now, as it's impossible to score .5 goals, this effectively means that for your bet to be successful, the team will need to win by two clear goals.

As mentioned earlier, there are only two possible outcomes, regardless of the final score, when you bet on a team at -1.5 Asian handicap. By this, we mean there is no way for the game to end in a draw.

Check out the table below, which should make it 100% clear what we mean by this.

Your team wins by 2 or more goals, then the bet wins.
Your team wins by 1 goal, then the bet loses.
Your team draws, then the bet loses.
Your team loses, then the bet loses

-1.5 bet	Win by 2 clear goals	Win
	Win by 1 goal	Lose
	Draw	Lose
	Any loss	Lose

What does +1.5 Asian Handicap Mean?

With the +1.5 side of the market, the bet isn't a handicap; instead, it is effectively a head start or bonus added at the end of the game. Instead of getting a 1.5 goal disadvantage, the team starts with a 1.5 goal advantage. This means you can afford for your team to lose the game by one goal, but if they lose by two goals, then your bet will lose.

So again, there are only two possible outcomes when you bet on a team at +1.5 Asian handicap. Explained in the table below

Your team wins, the bet wins.
Your team draws, the bet wins.
Your team loses by 1 goal, the bet wins.
Your team loses by 2 or more goals, the bet loses.

+1.5 bet	Any win	Win
	Draw	Win
	Lose by 1 goal	Win
	Lose by 2+ goals	lose

Outcomes for Asian handicap -1.5 / +1.5 Examples

So, below is an example of how the Asian handicap market can give you very different odds compared to the standard win/lose/draw market. We have taken a Spanish La Liga game between Barcelona and Mallorca. Barcelona are firm favourites to win, priced at 1.25, the draw being 8.0, and Mallorca are long shots at 16.0.

However, in the Asian Handicap market, odds are very different. Mallorca odds are much shorter, and although still favourites, Barcelona's odds are much longer.

The odds that the bookmakers are offering on the -1.5/+1.5 Asian handicap market were

Barcelona -1.5 @ 1.74
Mallorca +1.5 @ 2.42

Let's say we were to place a 10 bet on each of the outcomes above

Match Result	Barcelona -1.5 bet	Mallorca +1.5 bet
Barcelona win by 2+ Goals	7.40	-10
Barcelona win by 1 goal	-10	14.20
Any Draw	-10	14.20
Any Mallorca win	-10	14.20

The odds used in this example were from a betting exchange so close to true odds.

Asian Handicap Calculator -1.5

Currency settings: GBP

Selection

Select the team you believe will win the match. This choice is crucial for calculating potential winnings.

Odds

Used to determine the total return for every $1 bet, including the amount of money risked.

Stake

The amount of money risked or invested on a bet. Stake can also be called a wager.

GBP

Asian Handicap

Asian Handicap adjusts odds based on team strengths. Choose from -4 to 4. Lower values favor the team with lesser strength, higher values favor the stronger team.

Home Team Score

Away Team Score

Result

Payout

Profit

Asian Handicap Calculator +1.5

Currency settings: GBP

Selection

Select the team you believe will win the match. This choice is crucial for calculating potential winnings.

Odds

Used to determine the total return for every $1 bet, including the amount of money risked.

Stake

The amount of money risked or invested on a bet. Stake can also be called a wager.

GBP

Asian Handicap

Asian Handicap adjusts odds based on team strengths. Choose from -4 to 4. Lower values favor the team with lesser strength, higher values favor the stronger team.

Home Team Score

Away Team Score

Result

Payout

Profit

Where can I place Asian Handicap +/- 1.5 bets?

No matter what market you are betting on it’s always best to check out a few different sites and compare odds on the same market. You will find some sites tend to have better odds on certain markets than others and just because one site has the best odds for this market another site may have better odds for another. For the data below we looked at the odds and margins for the 1.5 Asian Handicap market for a UK Premier League game between Everton and Ipswich.

Everton -1.5	Ipswich +1.5	Welcome Offer
2.51	1.59	100% Deposit Match
2.51	1.59	100% Deposit Match
2.44	1.59	100% Deposit Match
2.45	1.55	100% Deposit Match
2.35	1.54	100% Deposit Match

Asian handicap betting conclusion

Spending time learning how the various Asian handicaps work is strongly advised. Some of the rules may seem complicated at first, but once you have a working knowledge of how they all work, it will allow you to place bets that you might not have been able to place in the past.

The +1.5/-1.5 market is one of the easier markets to understand. Remember that the 1.5 stands for two goals really, and that means if you bet on the -1.5, you must win the game by two clear goals, and if you bet on the +1.5, you must not lose the game by two clear goals.

FAQ. Frequently Asked Questions

You are giving the team you've bet on a 1.5 goal start at the beginning of the game. The only way your bet can lose is if your team loses the game by two or more goals.
With only two options, the bookmaker’s profit margin is reduced compared to the standard win/lose/draw market. Therefore, you get better value for your bet.
It depends on the game you are betting on. Betting on either gives you better value in matches where the game is expected to be one-sided. So, if you think a team is going to win by a multiple-goal margin, then the -1.5 handicap is the right choice. If you think an underdog will manage to get a draw or only suffer a 1-goal defeat, the +1.5 is the correct option.