What is Asian Handicap?

Starting it short, Asian Handicap is way of betting on the outcome of football games where the options to choose from are reduced from 3 to 2. Many sites will tell you that the draw is "eliminated" which is just wrong, really you can`t bet exactly and only on draw but draw can mean profit or loss depending on the handicap so it features equally as any other possible outcome. For many reasons Asian Handicap is confirmed as the best and most paying way to bet on football games:

- Obviously it is easier to decide between two than three possible options. Other sources say that AH "increases the mathematical chances of winning on a single bet from 33.3% to 50%" which is another nonsense, with all respect to Maths Chelsea always have at least 70% chance to beat Stoke City on Stamford Bridge but here comes the matter about odds;
- AH means better payout. In fixed odds (1X2) betting the standard odds payout is up to 92-93%, in Asian Handicap 97-98%. This is huge difference allowing experienced punters to find value easier and gain much better returns in the long run. Same with bet trading, because of the reduced profit margin odds can form an arbitrage much faster and more often than the 3-way market;
- AH brings the beauty of flexible and balanced betting. On the fixed odds market punters are often tied to bet either on big favorites at the expense of miserable return or try long shots on big underdogs, odds are huge but it`s not clear when we can have a winner. In Asian Handicap we can bet on any team in any game at both quite decent odds and roughly 50% chance to have our bet winning which eases a lot the money management and the fluent turnover.

How it works?

"Handicap" (same as "spread" in the American sports) means a fictive head start given to one of the teams (by default the underdog) - virtually leading the game by 0.25 goal, 0.5 goal, 0.75 goal , 1 goal, 1.5 goal, etc. The punter must either back the favorite to beat this handicap or the underdog to hold it. The default handicap could be also 0 goals (level ball) when both teams are estimated as more or less equal. It looks abstract at first glance but not hard to comprehend. The Asian Handicap bet is settled by adding the handicap to the actual result of the game. For example if Wigan have received 0.5 goal advantage against Blackburn (Wigan +0.5) and the game ends with a draw, the bet on Wigan wins by half a goal. Bets on Blackburn are winning if Rovers just win no matter with what result, that simple. When we have -1.5 handicap the favorite must win the game at least by 2 goals margin, otherwise the underdog (+1.5) is winning by half or more goals. For 0, 1 and 2 goals handicap the bet result could be a virtual draw and in this case all stakes are refunded. For example if Man United are set one goal down to Middlesbrough and they win exactly by 1 goal, the Asian Handicap result is draw and all bets are settled as void.

In fact many Asian Handicap lines cover exactly the same thing as other betting options - no need to mention what -0.5 means, the 0 goals handicap is equal to "Draw No Bet", +0.5 is same as backing the underdog at "Double Chance", -1.5 is same as Euro Handicap (0:1). Odds are usually higher though as we underlined one of the main advantages of AH betting.

Before going further it is very important to note that in live (in-play) betting Asian Handicap bets apply only to the remaining time of the game and NOT to the whole 90 minutes. Anyway be sure to check the bookmakers rules first.

Resource: Complete Asian Handicap results table

Split (quarter ball) handicaps

We got the base of Asian Handicap betting which is certainly not hard to be figured out. The only challenge in AH comes with the so-called "split" handicaps because lines like -0.25 or +1.75 look weird and confusing. Lacking a clear standard to display split handicaps doesn`t help, various bookies and sites use different formats to show one and the same thing so you can see 0.75 as "3/4" or "0.5, 1" ; 1.25 as "1 1/4" or "1, 1.5" etc. Not a problem though once we get the idea.
Now this is the key - note that 0.25 is average value between 0 and 0.5, 0.75 is average between 0.5 and 1, 1.25 is average between 1 and 1.5. Most bookies give a hint in the way they display handicaps like 0, 0.5 or 0.5, 1. In these cases the bet is virtually split in two separate handicap bets. For example, if you bet 10 EUR on -0.75 (-0.5, -1) goal handicap in fact you bet 5 EUR on -0.5 and 5 EUR on -1 goal handicap. If your team wins by 2-1, half of your bet (5 EUR) is winning with the given odds (that going for the -0.5 handicap) and the other half of your stake will be refunded.
One more example - lets say we bet 50 EUR on Torino +0.25 (0, +0.5) against Parma, odds 1.80. If Torino wins, it is clear that we will take 90 EUR. If the game ends with a draw, half of our stake is winning (25 EUR x 1.80 = 45 EUR) and the remaining 25 EUR are refunded, overall we get back 70 EUR. On the opposite, if we bet on Parma -0.25 (0, -0.5) and the game result is draw, half of our bet (-0.5) will be lost and the other half (25 EUR) will be refunded.

Asian goal lines

Asian goal lines (betting on the total number of goals scored in a game) are quite alike the classic under / over bets but here you can find more different lines as 1.75 goals, 2.25 goals etc. which work with the same idea as split handicaps. Just something that must be mentioned, in live betting unlike Asian Handicap goal lines apply to the whole 90 minutes.

Now, once we know what is Asian Handicap you may like to find where to bet, check our bookmakers page.