What is Asian Handicap? Sports Betting For Beginners
Let’s say Liverpool play against Leyton Orient in the FA Cup. Liverpool are clear favorites, and you are looking to place a bet on them to advance to the next round. However, when you find out that the odds on a home win is only 1.1, you are reconsidering your initial decision.
In games where there is a clear favorite, the odds might be unfavorable. Therefore, bookmakers offer a handicap in order to create desirable bets on both the favorite and the underdog.
In the example above, the odds book could look something like this:
Liverpool -1.5 (1.90) | Leyton Orient +1.5 (2.10)
When determining the outcome of your bet, 1.5 points will either be added to Leyton’s score or subtracted from Liverpool’s. If the final score turns out to be Liverpool 2–0 Leyton Orient, a bet placed on Liverpool will result in a win. If the final score is 1–0, the bet on Liverpool is lost.
Full, Half and Quarter Goal Handicaps:
The Asian handicap can be divided into three categories, depending on its value. The full goal handicap consists of only whole numbers, for example +1, +2 or +3. This means that a draw is still possible, and in this case, your stake will be returned.
The half goal handicap could look like +0.5, +1.5, +2.5 etc. This eliminates the possibility of a draw and reduces the number of possible outcomes from three to two.
The quarter goal handicap is nothing but a mix between the full and half goal handicaps. Let’s take an example of +1.25. In this case, your money is split in two: One-half goes to a bet with the handicap of +1. The other half goes to a bet of +1.5.
With the quarter goal handicap, your bet can end in more ways than two. Consider a handicap of either -0.25 or +0.25, and the following results:
You placed a bet on handicap +0.25, and the game ends in a draw. Half of your bet(placed on handicap 0) is lost, while the other half(placed on +0.5) is a win. This is known as a half win. In the opposite case where a handicap of -0.25 is followed by a draw, your bet would result in a half lose.
In another example, consider the handicaps of -0.75 and +0.75:
This time, the half win is achieved if you place a bet with handicap -0.75, and your team wins by 1 (The half on -1 is lost. The half on -0.5 is won). The half lose comes into play if you place a bet with handicap +0.75, and your team lose by 1 (Half on +1 is won, half on +0.5 is lost).
Originally published at blog.tradematesports.com.
