strong fixed matches
strong fixed matches
Date: 01/12/2020
League: England Premier League
Match: Tuzla City – Velež Mostar
Pick: 2 (away win)
Odd 3.20
Result: 1:3
Handicap/Asian Handicap
Everything we’ve covered so far is relatively straightforward. Handicap betting is where things start to get a little more complicated. You should be able to understand this easily enough if you’re used to betting on the major US sports though, as it’s essentially the same as betting point spreads.
The driving force with handicap wagers is that the teams are awarded extra goals or deducted goals for the purposes of the betting. Most bookmakers allow you to choose how many goals are awarded or deducted, and offer different odds depending on your choice.
This is another wager that makes more sense with an example, so here’s how the handicap market might look for the Tottenham versus Norwich game.
There are three distinct options to choose from here. Tottenham are the clear favorite, so the options on that team all involve deducting goals. Norwich are the underdog, so the options on that team all involve awarding extra goals. This is standard practice, but some bookmakers do offer handicap markets where the favorites are awarded goals and the underdogs are deducted goals.
Let’s say you decided to go with Tottenham (-1) on this game. Tottenham would have to win by at least two goals for your wager to win, as they’re going to be deducted a goal. So if they actually won 2-1, the result would technically be 1-1 for the purposes of the betting. This is a draw, so you lose the wager. If Tottenham won 3-1, though, then the result is 2-1 after the handicap is applied. So you’d win the wager.
A bet on Tottenham (-2), would need Tottenham to win by three or more goals. A bet on Tottenham (-3), would need Tottenham to win by four or more goals. Please note that the more goals that are deducted, the less likely it is that a wager is going to win. This is why the odds get greater accordingly.
When wagering on the underdog for the handicap, the opposite rules apply. A bet on Norwich (+1) then only needs Norwich to draw the game. If the actual result was 1-1, then the result with the handicap applied would be 1-2. This is a victory for Norwich, so the wager would be successful. With a bet on Norwich (+2), Norwich could lose by a single goal and you’d still be successful. With a bet on Norwich (+3), Norwich could lose by two goals and you’d still be successful. Obviously if they bettered those results (i.e. won the game without the handicap goals), then you’d be successful too.
Handicap betting is a good way to manage risk versus reward when betting on soccer games. You can choose selections that are more likely to be correct but come with lower odds, or you can choose that selections that are less likely to be correct but come with higher odds.
There’s another form of handicap betting for soccer too, called the Asian Handicap. This is somewhat more complex. We won’t go into depth here, as we cover this form of betting in detail on the following page. We also cover some specific strategies for the Asian Handicap too. Bet and win.
