Handicap is one of the most well-known betting markets. It is most commonly used in football, the favorite sport among Brazilians when it comes to betting, but it can also be found in other sports, such as basketball.

Basically, this market represents a fictitious goal differential between two teams, applied at the start of the match. The big advantage here is that the strategy will allow you to have more control over your risk management in sports betting.

This market can be much more interesting and profitable than traditional names, such as 1×2.

Two ways to use Handicap are to give a disadvantage to the favorite team, increasing the odds of its victory, or to give an advantage to the unfavorite team, decreasing the odds for its victory.

Understanding this mechanism makes all the difference, as it is possible to “manipulate” the odds using the Handicap.

In this guide, we will explain the concept of the two sub-markets, as well as the best bookmakers to explore them.

1. What is European Handicap?

In the European Handicap, you either win everything or you lose everything, with no return of the amount invested. In the 1X2 betting scheme (Win/Draw/Win), the possibilities are as follows:

Now, see a practical example of how to use this market.

In the match between Barcelona and Valencia, Barça has the highest probability of victory, which is why the odds are 1.47. We all know that the team with Messi, Suárez and Griezmann playing at home is usually deadly! With this in mind, you can apply a disadvantage of -5 goals to Barcelona from the start of the match.

Note that the odds for Barça to win have increased to an incredible 23.00! But don’t be fooled. It’s as if the game started with Valencia winning by 5 goals. For Barcelona to win, they need to win by 6 goals!

If you bet R$10 on this Handicap, with these odds, you could receive a total amount of R$230! On the other hand, the probability of Barcelona scoring 6 goals and not conceding any will always be lower.

Now, suppose that in the game between Barcelona and Valencia, you bet on the Handicap “Draw, Barcelona (+1)”.

What would this mean? The interpretation to make here is that you would be betting on the case where Barcelona starts winning by 1 goal, and ends up drawing the match.

This outcome is less likely, because if Barcelona started the game winning 1-0, they would most likely turn that advantage into a victory. Therefore, for you to win this bet, Valencia would have to win by 1 goal.

Betting on something like “Barcelona (+1)” would mean betting on the scenario where Barcelona start the game winning by one goal and actually end the game consolidating that victory. As you would expect, the odds for this would be quite low, as it would be a very likely outcome.

Where to bet on European Handicap?

2. Asian Handicap

There are 3 Asian Handicap lines: negative, positive and null. As the name suggests, a negative Asian Handicap is one that takes away goals from a team.

The idea is the same as in the Barcelona case presented above. When you identify a team that is far superior and great at beating opponents, you can use a negative line.

In the case of the positive line, the idea is to add a goal advantage to a team. It is often used to unbalance evenly matched games.

You can add +1 goal to one of the teams (usually the weaker one), which means that they can even draw the match for you to win your bet. Even if they lose by one goal, you still wouldn’t lose out. You would receive the amount you bet back.

Finally, the Asian Handicap No Bet is similar to the Draw No Bet market . In other words: with a 0 Handicap, a draw means the bet is returned. In this case, the bet is only lost if the team you bet on loses.

It should be noted that this Asian Handicap line does not appear in most events. It is common in very balanced matches.

Football classics often feature this market, especially if there is a slightly superior team playing on the opposing field.

Asian Handicap Results Table

Below you will find 2 tables to answer all your questions about the Asian Handicap. The first one shows how your bet would proceed based on certain results, if you focused on the Asian Handicap with a zero line and a negative line.

The second one, which you can see below, has the same null line and the positive line :

This table alone, however, does not work miracles. Let’s continue with some examples so you can understand everything properly.

Asian Handicap 0.75

We analyze a 2021 Champions League clash between Paris St. Germain and Real Madrid.

Let’s say you place a R$100 bet on Real winning. You could get a total of R$320 if the bet is successful.

But what if I want to use a positive Asian Handicap line and give the Merengues a +0.75 advantage? In this scenario, Zidane’s team would be more likely to win !

This way, Real’s odds drop to 1.65 with a possible gain of R$165.00. This is because Real starts the match with an advantage of 0.75 goals.

Let’s see what happens for some possible results of this game, when you bet R$100 on the “Real Madrid (+0.75)” Handicap:

• If Real wins or draws the game, you win the bet;
• If PSG wins by one goal, you lose half of your bet and receive R$50 back;
• If PSG wins by two or more goals, you lose your bet completely.

Finally, let’s take an example of a bet using the Asian handicap no line.

Note that Real Madrid’s odds go from 3.20 to 2.20 if you use the zero line of this Handicap. This is easy to understand. A victory for the Merengues makes your bet a winner, obviously.

But if there is a draw, you will get your money back! The bet using the No Line will only be lost if Real Madrid loses the match.

Where to bet on Asian Handicap?

Conclusion

When you’re just starting out betting, it’s normal to want to avoid handicap markets. At first, they can be confusing! However, as you’ve seen in this article, they’re not that difficult to understand.

To make sure you’re comfortable with this concept and its application to sports betting, let’s go over what we’ve covered in this guide:

• Handicap means giving an advantage or a disadvantage to a team;
• Adding or removing goals from a team changes its final odds;
• There are two types of Handicap: European and Asian;
• The European , the simplest version, allows you to bet on a draw, but does not provide a financial return in the event of a losing bet;
• The Asian has 3 lines, does not allow betting on a draw, but provides financial returns in some cases of loss or partial victory of the bet.

And what are the advantages of Handicap? They are clear, as it gives you much more flexibility to “manipulate” the odds, especially in tournaments like the World Cup in Qatar, which are very unpredictable. This allows you to create a bet that you consider to be valuable!