What’s the difference between handicap and Asian handicap betting?  

Football remains one of the most popular sports to bet on across the UK and sees punters regularly placing wagers on matches from leagues like the English Premier League, La Liga, and Bundesliga. However, it’s key to fully understand how to bet on football before diving in so you can do so responsibly. 

Although tracking down the latest football betting tips and learning basic betting terminology are good examples of this, finding out about the different types of wagers you can place is also worthwhile. This helps to bring real variety into your betting and ensures you have more markets to pick from.  

Handicap and Asian handicap are two similar bets to make on the beautiful game. As any decent explanation of Asian handicap betting shows though, they are subtly different.  

But what are these types of football wagers and how do they differ?  

Handicap betting in sport 

Handicap betting has been around in sports for a long time and is seen at all the top sportsbooks. It’s a type of bet that aims to level up the playing field between teams or players of different abilities. Handicap bets give the less fancied team an advantage before play starts and the favourite a disadvantage to overcome. This helps to make the game more even and can lead to more attractive odds. 

But how does this bet work in practice? Let’s take a game from the 23/24 English Premier League season between Liverpool and Ipswich. It’s fair to say that Liverpool would be favourites in this match and Ipswich the underdogs. 

Handicap bets could therefore see Liverpool start with -1 goals in the market and Ipswich with +2 goals. This would mean that Liverpool would need to win by 2 or more goals for a bet on them to pay out. Ipswich would just need to avoid losing by more than one goal or win the game for the bet on them to pay out.  

What is Asian handicap betting in football?  

Asian handicap betting works in a similar way to standard handicap wagering and has the same goal. It also exists to even up the contest you plan to bet on by giving teams an advantage or disadvantage before play starts in competitions like the UEFA Champions League

As with standard handicap betting, this would see favourite teams start with a disadvantage to overcome and the underdogs with an advantage to help them out. This type of bet originated in Asia (hence the name) but soon spread to Western betting markets. It’s now common to see some Asian handicap bets available to make at most sportsbooks.  

What’s the difference between handicap and Asian handicap betting?  

If you bet on football and are thinking of using either type of wager, you must know the difference. This will help you select the best one to use for the match you plan to get involved with.  

The main difference is that Asian handicap betting eliminates the possibility of a draw, whereas standard handicap bets don’t. This means that only two outcomes are possible with an Asian handicap bet but there are three in normal handicap wagers. 

If we were to place a bet on Manchester City to beat Southampton on the Asian handicap market, for example, at -2 and they won 2-0, your stake would be refunded—even though it would technically be classed as a draw for handicap betting purposes (-2 plus 2 = 0). If you had placed the same bet on a normal handicap market, however, you would lose the bet.  

The other major difference lies in the odds that each type of handicap bet comes with. Asian handicap wagers, for example, can offer half goal or quarter goal handicaps, whereas normal handicap markets tend to stick to whole numbers.   

What should football bettors use, handicap or Asian handicap bets?  

As with most things in the betting world, this is mostly down to personal choice and what you are betting on. Some people can find Asian handicap picks too complex to wrap their head around and prefer to stick to standard handicap bets.  

This is perfectly fine and a good approach, rather than getting involved with markets you don’t really understand. There also tend to be more standard handicap markets at sportsbooks online than there are Asian ones. 

However, lots of football bettors like Asian handicap betting for the reduced risk it brings. As only two outcomes are possible and draws see your stake returned, it offers less risk than normal handicap betting. If you think that there’s a chance your bet could end up as a draw, Asian markets offer a nice safety net.  

Handicap and Asian handicap betting: an overview  

Both of these bets aim to level up the playing field in sports like football and give bettors new ways to engage with the game. It’s key to understand how both work before using them though, and also the crucial ways in which they differ. Our guide above is a handy way to do this and tells you all you need to know about each bet.  

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