• How Does Handicap Betting Work In Football Betting
• How Does Handicap Betting Work In American Football
• How Does Online Betting Work
• How Does Handicap Betting Work In Football Work

A handicap is a system of betting which basically tries to level the playing field in games that appear to be a bit one-sided. It’s a popular type of betting across a variety of sports, from football, rugby and NFL.

How Does Handicap Betting Work In Football Betting

• Handicap football betting involves making the perceived difference in quality between the two teams redundant in terms of a bet. Essentially, it levels out the playing field when there is an overwhelming favourite in a football match. In terms of football.
• The handicap market is where you bet on a team that begins the game with a disadvantage (or handicap) and needs to score more goals in order to beat the opposition. Alternatively the opposition is given a.

Handicap betting in football. While handicap bets are available in a wide array of sports, their most common application is found in football betting, due to the large number of events you can place handicap bets on. You can place handicap bets on the final result of the game, on yellow cards, corners, the number of goals scored by each.

What is a Handicap bet?

Why would a bookmaker set a handicap? If you are looking at a football match of Manchester United v Rotherham in the FA Cup, for example, you would assume the Red Devils would be very strong odds-on favourites to win the game. There would be little value in backing them to win outright.

However, if Manchester United were backed at a -1 handicap, that involves them winning the game still. In the handicap scenario of -1, United would be trailing by a virtual 0-1 scoreline at kick-off. That’s the condition that the handicap sets.

So think of a handicap as a virtual deficit for a favourite. The reverse of that is backing the underdogs at +1 which means in order for the bet to win, they would have to lose by no more than one goal.

How does a Handicap bet work?

A handicap bet will be presented with the team involved along with either a – (minus) or + (plus) numerical value next to it. For example Manchester United -1 handicap, but this number can actually be anything. A bookmaker will present plenty of different handicap options for a single game.

If United started the match in the virtual position of being 0-1 down at kick off, the minimum they would have to do to win the game from there is score two unanswered goals. In reality the score on the day would be United 2-0, with the handicap that’s a 2-1 win.

That means the -1 United handicap bet won. What happens if, in the example above if United were to win by a one-goal margin? Well if they had won 1-0, in accordance to the handicap the result would be 1-1. That causes the bet to not win because the handicap of -1 wasn’t covered.

You will see a wider variety of handicap margins in Rugby, because of the points scoring system in rugby matches. Here you will see something like a -6 handicap, requiring that backed team to win the match starting from a negative six points difference.

What is a 3-way and 2-way Handicap?

A 2-way handicap is backing a handicap selection in a match where the bookmaker has only options on either team winning. This ignores a draw as an outcome. However, if the result causes a draw with the handicap, the stake is refunded.

2-Way Handicap example

Gloucester 4/9 to win with a -6 point handicap

Harlequins 7/4 to win with a + 6 handicap

A 3-way handicap brings in that option of being able to back a draw as a handicap option. In the below example, the Draw is set at that +6 margin, which means that if Gloucester won 30-24, you add on the +6 handicap for Harlequins and the match is a draw. If you had backed the Handicap Draw, it would have won.

3-Way Handicap example

Gloucester are 4/9 to win with a -6 point handicap.

Harlequins are 7/4 to win with a +6 point advantage.

The draw is 22/1 +6 points.

Types of Handicap bets

The regular handicap is the one as described above, where you have the option of backing a team either to overcome a minus handicap or defend a positive handicap in a match to win the fixture.

Alternative handicaps add in half points in rugby matches, for example. So you may see Gloucester -7.5 handicap. That half point eliminates the possibility of a draw, so Gloucester would have to win by at least eight points for the bet to be successful.

You can also do a split handicap. This is when your stake can be split over two different handicap options, such 0 and -0.5 in one bet. It’s a useful option available on games where there isn’t much quality difference between the participating teams and could, therefore, be a close match. In this instance, if the game produced a draw, the 0 handicap part would be refunded, the -0.5 wasn’t covered so would be lost.

How Does Handicap Betting Work In American Football

A level handicap is when the bookmaker can’t really see any noticeable difference in the quality of the two teams, so may offer both starting at a level 0 handicap. So basically then it’s a matter of picking the winning team. This is essentially the same as Draw No bet as if the game is drawn, the stake is refunded.

Winning example of a Handicap bet in football

Going back to our FA Cup example of Manchester United v Rotherham, here are some handicap options.

In the match outright, Manchester United are 8/13 odds-on favourites, the draw at 3/1 and Rotherham at 21/4. So take a look at the handicap options:

The full list of handicap options would be a lot bigger. But you can see how the odds shift to be more favourable in backing United. As a punter you expect Man Utd to win, but that 8/13 outright winner odds does not have great appeal. Backing the same scenario of still expecting Manchester United to win, but by at least a two-goal margin, a Man Utd -1 handicap is better value at 7/5.

Note that the scoreline in the game doesn’t matter. It could be 6-2 to Man Utd, or 2-0 or 3-1, as long as their margin of victory was by at least two goals, the handicap bet of -1 would win.

Losing example of a Handicap bet in rugby

A top rugby Premiership clash between Saracens and Exeter would present punters with a tough call in such a tight game. Exeter are away from home but they are top of the league and have great form behind them. But Saracens are a formidable team on home soil.

After weighing up the options you think that Exeter could easily defend a +6 point handicap for 10/11 odds. That means that Exeter could lose the match and your bet would still win, as long as they didn’t lose by a margin of more than six points.

For example if they lost 21-19 on the pitch, add on their six points from the handicap and they are the match winners.

In the game however, Exeter give a good account of themselves, but in the end, they are no match for the power of Saracens. Saracens outscore Exeter 21-12 in the game, a difference in favour of Saracens of nine points.

If you added the virtual +6 points awarded to Exeter through the handicap to their physical score in the match of 12, 12+6 = 18 which is three points short of them avoiding defeat. The handicap result would be 21-18 in favour of Saracens.

Handicap betting strategy

Focusing on football betting, you will be able to track how well a team is covering handicaps throughout the course of season. For example, you could study Liverpool’s home form and determine how often they are beating teams from the bottom half of the table by more than a one-goal margin.

Next time Liverpool are at home against a lower ranked team, it could be worth pushing the handicap margin on the Reds.

How to place a Handicap bet on bet365?

There are different ways to look at rugby handicap betting at bet365. If you visit their rugby section you will see under the Main menu, key markets for things like Game betting 3-way, Alternative Handicap 2-Way and Alternative Handicap 3-Way.

For example, if you click Game Betting 3-way, this will bring up a list of the main handicap options for upcoming games from different leagues. That means it’s easy to grab a few different handicap options from a variety of games.

If you want to focus on one game and its handicap options, browse to an individual game. You will see a grid of options for the handicap and the respective odds.

For some betting enthusiasts, simply betting on the winner of a game isn’t enough. They need a type of bet which can take more things into consideration, like recent form, difference in squad value and the size of the win.

For these specific cases, handicap betting has been born. These bets first appeared in Asia, especially in the Hong Kong and Indonesian markets, but quickly grew in popularity in the 21st century.

Nowadays, any brick-and-mortar or online betting site offers many handicap bets (simple, split, Asian) on a multitude of sports, the most popular being basketball, hockey and, of course, football. Handicap bets may seem complicated but are simple to understand. Let’s find out below!

Best betting sites for Handicap betting

Handicap betting explained

Handicap betting takes the form and value of a team in consideration more so than regular betting and can be applied to any sports. Simply put, a team can have a positive or negative “handicap” attached to their name.

Let’s take an example from basketball first: If you look at a betting slip for a game between the Lakers and the Clippers, you have the option of betting on the home side, the away side, or on a draw.

When looking at handicap bets, you might see something like Lakers -4,5, or Clippers +6,5. This only means that the teams start the game (for you bet) with the positive or negative score attached to them. In the case of the first bet, the match no longer starts at 0 – 0 for the Lakers, but at -4,5 – 0.

If they game ends 98-92, your bet is a winner, because the Lakers’ score (98) minus their initial handicap (-4,5) is still greater than the Clippers score (92). If the Lakers won 95-92, your bet would be a loser, because 95-4,5 < 92. Easy to understand, isn’t it?

Handicap betting in football

While handicap bets are available in a wide array of sports, their most common application is found in football betting, due to the large number of events you can place handicap bets on. You can place handicap bets on the final result of the game, on yellow cards, corners, the number of goals scored by each them – the possibilities are almost endless.

Handicap betting is a great way to take advantage of the in-depth knowledge you gain when you analyze a team for long periods of time, like half a season. These bets can also mirror some very common choices, like double chance bets or over/under bets, usually at better odds – because lots of bettors don’t understand how handicap bets work.

Types of Handicap betting

In football, there are three main handicap betting types: simple, split and Asian.

Simple Handicap (or European Handicap) is easiest to understand. It only gives you round numbers to deal with. Let’s take a modern example: Liverpool will play Tottenham in the next round of the Premier League, on 11.02. The basic odds for the game are 2,15 for a home win, 3,40 for a draw and 3,30 for an away win. The European Handicap bets for the same game work in the following way: Each team is given a handicap, either positive or negative.

How Does Online Betting Work

For example, for a -2 handicap for Liverpool, the odds for the above scenarios are the following: Home win: 8.50, draw 6,00 and away win 1,20. This simply means that Liverpool start the game with -2 goals. If they win with this handicap, you win 8.50 times your initial wager, and the rest are self-explanatory. On the other hand, the odds for Liverpool +1 are 1,34 – 4.75 – 6.50 respectively.

Asian Handicap introduces some different concepts, since the handicaps aren’t always round numbers. Let’s take the same game as an example. We can place a Liverpool -1,5 bet, which means Liverpool start the game with -1,5 goals. If they win by two goals, the bet is won – if they win by one goal, draw or lose the game, the bet is lost – very straightforward until here.

For Asian Handicap, the trickier bets are -1 and -1,25. Liverpool -1, in this case, mean that Liverpool start the game with a -1 goal handicap, but if they win by just one goal, you get your money back. No win, no lose, just a refund.

This is a great way to bet on favourite teams against smaller ones since they tend to win their games with at least a few goals. The main difference between European and Asian handicaps is this one: For European Handicap, a -1 bet means the team has to win by two goals or more. For Asian Handicap, the team can win by a single goal, and you can get your money back.

A -1,25 bet is called a Split Handicap bet, and can be presented in another form as well: -1, -1,5. Essentially, your bet is split into two bets: a -1 bet and a -1,5 bet. If Liverpool wins by a single goal, you get half your money back (the -1 half) and lose the other half (-1,5). These split handicap bets are a great way to reduce risk when going for a big bet, like -2,25 or similar. They are not as widely used by betting enthusiasts, but still, present some interest.

These same rules are applied for other categories as well. For yellow cards, Liverpool -1,5 means that Liverpool have to concede with 2 yellow cards more than Tottenham for your bet to be a winner. -1,5 for goal scored means that Liverpool needs to score at least 2 goals.

Examples

Now that we’ve clarified how handicap betting works let’s take a look at a few real live examples from next weekend’s games. The Premier League gives us a clash between Burnley and Chelsea, one the away team should be winning. The odds for this away win are pretty small – 1,40, but we might be able to take advantage of the game using handicap bets.

A Chelsea -1,5 bet, which has very good chances of succeeding, has odds around 2,10 at most bookies – and the Blues should win this game by two goals. On the other hand, if you think Burnley will play well defensively and not concede a lot, a Burnley +2,25 (split handicap) bet has odds around 1,40 – a good thing to consider since Chelsea might also lack motivation.

Another example comes from Bournemouth – Manchester City. An away win has the same small 1,40 odds, but going City -1 gives odds at around 1,80. If they win by a single goal, you get your money back – which is a good thing, considering that City need to win.

That being said, we hope you now understand European and Asian Handicaps and are ready to use these bets in real market conditions. As always, take good care when analyzing your games, and be inspired!

How Does Handicap Betting Work In Football Work

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