The Ultimate Guide to Football Betting Handicap
Confused about the handicap in football betting? Sportsboom breaks it down for you with another detailed guide.
Credit: Sporting News
The football match winner market, also known as 1x2 or match odds, is the most popular market to bet on in football. But extremely one-sided matches don’t make for particularly appealing betting heats, which is where handicap betting on football comes into play.
Next up we’ll look at what a handicap in football betting is, why people play handicap markets, and the different types of handicap markets out there.
We’ll also point you in the direction of the best football betting sites out there, whether that’s for handicap betting or any of the other most popular football markets to bet on.
What is handicap betting in football?
It’s a way of artificially making any game of football, whether a close or one-sided one in terms of the match odds, into an even contest by penalising the favourite with a goal (or part of a goal) handicap. And in the process, giving the outsider an advantage. This is done by giving the outsider a head-start of a goal, or part of one.
The first part to explaining football handicap betting is understanding that the handicaps applied to both teams are simply a reflection of the match-winner odds.
In a 2-way handicap, a 1.36 (4/11) favourite would be given a handicap of -1.5 goals, while a 1.73 favourite (8/11) favourite would have a handicap of -0.5 goals.
A 3.6 (13/5) outsider would be given a +0.5 handicap, while a 6.5 (11/2) outsider would get a +2-handicap awarded to them.
Example of football handicap betting
Let’s say that Liverpool are playing Chelsea in the Premier League. Liverpool are 2.05 (21/20) with Chelsea 3.75 (11/4) and the draw 3.8 (11/4).
Converting those odds into 3-way handicap when betting on football would give us the following handicaps, with the odds in brackets, followed by an explanation of what’s needed for that bet to win.
Bet 1: Liverpool -1 (3.5) – Liverpool must win by 2 goals or more.
Bet 2: Chelsea + 1 (1.8) – Chelsea must win or draw.
Bet 3: Handicap Draw -1 (3.75) – Liverpool must win by exactly 1 goal.
The next step in explaining a handicap football bet is understanding what happens once the match score is known.
Quite simply: you apply the handicaps to the final score to see which one of the three is the winner.
Let’s say the match ended 2-1 to Liverpool. Applying the handicaps…
Bet 1: Liverpool -1 (3.5) – Bet loses.
Bet 2: Chelsea + 1 (1.8) – Bet loses.
Bet 3: Handicap Draw -1 (3.75) – Bet wins at 3.75. Applying the handicap by adding a goal to the -1-handicap draw means this one is the winner.
Now let’s say the match ended 2-0 to Liverpool:
Bet 1: Liverpool -1 (3.5) – Bet wins at 3.5. If you apply the two-goal margin that Liverpool won by (2-0) to the handicap, the two-goal win margin overcomes the -1 handicap.
Bet 2: Chelsea + 1 (1.8) – Bet loses.
Bet 3: Handicap Draw -1 (3.75) – Bet loses.
Now let’s say the match ends in a 1-1 draw.
Bet 1: Liverpool -1 (3.5) – Bet loses.
Bet 2: Chelsea + 1 (1.8) – Bet wins at 1.8. If you add a Chelsea goal (+1) to the 1-1 scoreline, this is the winning bet. It would also be the case if Chelsea actually won the match.
Bet 3: Handicap Draw -1 (3.75) – Bet loses.
Why people use football handicaps
Here are some of the reasons why handicap betting is popular.
• Punters who don’t like betting at long or short odds can bet on handicaps at very close to even money.
• If you have a feeling that an underdog is about to over-perform in a game, you can take them with a handicap and have a winning bet, even if they lose.
• If you think a hot favourite will win convincingly but don’t want to bet on the straight win at short odds, you can get bigger odds by betting on them with a handicap, winning as long as they do overcome the handicap.
Types of handicap betting
In the example above, where there were three handicaps and only one is a winner, this is what’s known as a European handicap.
Asian Handicap betting
With handicap football betting, there’s also an Asian Handicap, where there are two options for each handicap. For example in Liverpool v Chelsea.
Chelsea + 0.5 (odds of 1.9)- You win if Chelsea draw, or win.
Liverpool – 0.5 (1.9) – You win if Liverpool win by any scoreline.
Even though there’s no such thing as half a goal in football, if you add or subtract the half-goal to the final score, one of the two bets will win.
But that’s not always the case. An Asian Handicap market often has several different ‘lines’; each of those lines is a different handicap, with the odds reflecting that.
Let’s say that this time the Asian Handicap is:
Liverpool -1 (2.6)- You need Liverpool to win by two goals or more.
Liverpool +1 (1.6)- You need Liverpool to draw or win.
If the match ended 1-0 to Liverpool, the Liverpool -1 bet would be a ‘push’ meaning that your bet draws with the handicap and you just get your stake back.
Bookings and corners
Betting on football handicaps doesn’t just revolve around goals and the final score. You can apply the handicap system to corners and cards as well and it works exactly the same way.
For example:
Liverpool -1.5 corners (odds of 2.6)
Liverpool + 1.5 corners (odds of 1.6)
Liverpool -0.5 cards (odds of 1.8)
Liverpool +0.5 cards (odds of 2.1)
Instead of applying the final score to the goal handicaps, you apply the number of corners and cards to the relevant corners and cards handicaps, once the match is over, to see which bets won or lost.
What is handicap league betting?
At the start of a season, the bookie will rank the 20 teams in the league- for example in the Premier League- from best to worst. Or to look at it another way: from the team most likely to win the league. to the one least likely.
Each team will then be given a handicap. A favourite like Manchester City might be given a handicap of -38 points, whereas a relegation-threatened side like Luton might be given a +44 point handicap.
At the end of the season, you take the number of points they finished with and apply the handicap.
Manchester City – Finished with 80 points. Deduct the 38 points from the handicap and you get: 42 points.
Luton- Finished with 35 points. Add the 44 points from the handicap and you get: 79 points.
Whichever team ends up with the most points after applying the handicap to their league points tally, is the winner in the market.
James has been writing about cricket, football and tennis betting for the best part of 20 years for some of the biggest operators, websites and publications in the industry. Heroes and heroines include Paul Scholes, Chris DiMarco, Anastasia Myskina, Richard Gasquet, Nat-Sciver Brunt and Kumar Sangakarra.