Asian Handicap Odds

Below we have an Asian Handicap Tutorial, or if you are already comfortable with Asian Handicap Betting here is a list of all current markets on the site.

Asian Handicap Markets

Asian Handicap Tutorial

The easiest way we think about Asian Odds is that one team is given a start over the other side. It's a bit like letting your younger brother have a 5 goal lead to begin with in backyard soccer.

So let's say Arsenal is given a 0.5 start against Manchester United. If you bet on Manchester United, then you will only win if Manchester United win by more than 0.5 goal - i.e., by 1 or more goals. Since Arsenal starts with a 0.5 lead, you only need the match to be drawn - or Arsenal to win - in order for a bet on Arsenal to win.

As another example, if Italy were given 1.5 goal start against England, then a winning bet on England would require England to win by 2 or more gaols. A bet on Italy would win if England won by 1 goal, the match is drawn, or Italy win the match. It is easy to see how the introduction of ½ goal starts has eliminated the possibility of draws.

With Asian Handicap Betting, not every bet is a winning or losing bet. Sometimes there is a "push" where you get your money back (watch out for Sportsbooks that take a commission out of your returned stake). The "push" can only occur when the handicap start is a whole number, i.e, 0, 1, 2, 3 etc. So if the handicap is set at 0, and the teams draw the match, then a push occurs.

As another example, if Arsenal is given a 1 goal start against Man Utd, and Man Utd win 1-0 (or 2-1 or 3-2), then every bet is a push.

Sometimes, your SportsBook might create what, in effect, is two bets out of the one Asian Handicap Line. They do this by offering ¼, ¾, 1¼ (etc) lines. To work out what the two different bets actually are, you simply subtract ¼ from the line to get the first handicap, and add ¼ to the line to get the second handicap. For example, if Arsenal were given a 0.25 start against Man Utd, then that is effectively one bet on a 0 handicap (0.25 - ¼), and one bet on a 0.5 handicap (0.25 + ¼)

For ¼ handicaps, half of your stake is applied to each bet in order to work out your winnings. So if one bet wins, you receive half your stake multiplied by the odds. If both bets win, you receive your full stake multiplied by the odds. If either of the bets is a push, you receive half your stake back for that bet.

Below is a table that shows the various formats of displaying the Asian Handicap Lines, and what they mean. Keep in mind that any Asian Handicap with a ¼ or ¾ line in it, means there are effectively two bets. You must subtract ¼ to get the first bet, and add ¼ to get the second bet.