Asian Handicap Betting Explained: What is It and How Does It Work?

Asian handicap is a popular type of betting in the Far East and Asian regions. Even though it is less popular in Europe and North American markets, this has been changing in recent times. Any professional gambler will tend to orient towards the Asian handicap betting as it is likely to provide more value than other types of betting systems – especially in terms of football.

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Asian Handicap Example

Betting Asian handicap style involves backing a team just like in the case of a 1X2 market. The major difference in this case is that the handicap refers to the number of goals that a team will start the game with. Bookmakers alter this number depending on the strength of a team coming into the game.

Punters will be seeing numbers like Arsenal -1 or Stoke City +1.5 as the options when it comes to betting. It is quite possible for these numbers to appear overwhelming straight away. Yet, the bookmaker is simply expressing the odds in the form of goals.

How Does Asian Handicap Work?

The negative and positive signs is used to denote the strength of a team coming into the match. As per the Asian handicap rules, the favourite team will be denoted by a negative sign while the number that goes along with this sign represents the number of goals that they are expected to begin with. In the above case, Arsenal are expected to start the game as favourites with a goal down.

The positive sign, meanwhile, is used to show the underdog status for a team. In this case, Stoke City are expected to start the game as underdogs and they go into the game with the lead of one and half goals. Our Asian Handicap betting strategy will show you what to do in this case.

The punter now has to back any one of the teams. For a success in the bet, the punter can back the favourite team to score more than the handicap figure. They can also back the underdog to concede less than the handicap figures.

Full Goal Asian Handicap

Asian handicap meaning of full goals is the use of a whole number in order to denote the handicap. It is the system where the underdog is given a whole number in order to denote the head start, while the favourite can also be provided in a similar whole number to the disadvantage that they would start with.

This type of betting system has three potential outcomes. Thus, a player can win a bet, lose a bet, or get the stake returned. In order to explain the full goal Asian handicap, let us take the case of two evenly matched teams in the form of Tottenham and Everton. A bookmaker will show -1/+1 as the Asian handicap betting numbers for a meeting between the two teams. This effectively means that Tottenham are the favourites with a one goal disadvantage, while Everton come into the match with a one goal advantage.

The odds for the -1 Asian handicap Tottenham win has been placed at 1.9. In order to win the bet, Tottenham will have to win the game by more than a goal. The stake would be returned if Tottenham did not score over or under one goal, but came up with the exact single goal. A punter would lose the bet if Everton won the game by any margin, and no betting strategy would help him.

Consider that the odds for a +1 Asian handicap Everton win is at 2.4. In such an instance, the punter will lose money only if Everton lose by more than two goals. Even a win or draw for Everton will be able to provide a profit for the punter. The stake would be returned if the losing margin is one goal.

One of the biggest advantages of this betting system is that the stake is returned under one of the scenarios. There is low risk than a 1X2 market as the punter would have been out of the pocket even if Everton had lost the game in a 1X2 market.

Level-Ball Asian Handicap

This is the system where a bookmaker offers a zero as the Asian handicap betting figure. In other forms, a team would be given a number with a positive or negative sign. Here, the bookmaker will provide a zero to indicate a level-ball Asian handicap. It is essentially a ‘draw no bet’ betting odd from the bookmaker. This happens to be a much safer option for the punter whereby they would get a payout if the backed team manages a win - it's just how Asian handicap rules work. However, there will be a refund if a draw is the outcome of the game. The team’s loss would also result in a lost stake.

Asian handicap guide will effectively place this betting system as something that does not give a goal advantage to both teams.

Half and Quarter Goals

A new punter may be overwhelmed by the sheer amount of numbers in this regard, but half and quarter goals are not as confusing as they seem. This betting system is effectively similar to the goals over/under market whereby bookmakers provide the option to back goals that are not whole numbers.

The idea is to prevent the possibility of a tie, where a bookmaker will have to refund the stake. There are three intervals between two whole numbers. In the case of a -1 and -2 Asian handicap betting numbers, the three intervals are: (-1.25), (-1.5), and (-1.75).

The presence of these intervals is to lower the risk as supposed to betting Asian handicap on whole numbers. Let us assume that a bookmaker is offering +0.75 on Stoke City at 15/2. If a punter makes a bet of £10, the stake will be split up into two – £5 for Stoke City +0.5 and £5 for Stoke City +1. Essentially, this has just split the bet to covers the markets either side of the handicap.

If Stoke City lost the game, the £5 on the +0.5 will not pay. However, the punter stands to receive a refund if Stoke City’s loss is not by more than a goal. There will be a complete loss if Stoke City lost the game by two goals. Even though the returns would be lower in this Asian handicap betting strategy, it safeguards one portion of the stake.

The half and quarter goals work on a similar level with regard to the 0.25 numbers.

For a newcomer, the Asian handicap betting strategy may seem confusing with too many numbers. Yet, it is a great concept that could also safeguard the stake if the punter manages to stay awake for the best scenarios. One should also compare odds on the Asian handicap markets.