What is Asian Handicap Betting in Soccer — Explained

What Is an Asian Handicap In Soccer Betting?

As you dive deeper into betting and the different offerings, you will notice some uncommon terms that may not make sense to you initially.

One of those terms is Asian handicap. Asian handicaps, which originated in Indonesia, are used for betting soccer and are a great method to minimize risk.

It is essentially the spread for soccer games, similar to the puck line in NHL or run line in MLB. Instead of having the three standard options of Team A winning, Team B winning or the match ending in a tie, you are able to bet on how many goals a team wins or loses by.  

As a quick example (we will go into a more in-depth example below), say you place a $100 bet on Team A at -1.75. This means that you are putting $50 on Team A -1.5, and $50 on Team A -2:

• If Team A wins by 3 goals, you win -1.5 and win -2.
• If Team A wins by 2 goals, you win -1.5 and push -2.
• If Team A wins by just 1 goal or doesn’t win, you lose -1.5 and lose -2.

Compare this to if you were to just bet $100 on Team A -2:

• If Team A wins by 3 goals, you win -2.
• If Team A wins by 2 goals, you push -2.
• If Team A wins by just 1 goal or doesn’t win, you lose -2.

As you can see, the value is in the -1.5 of the Asian handicap bet. Instead of just a push, you will win some money for essentially the same bet. In the same scenario with a standard bet, you would lose all your money if you didn’t hit your bet exactly. With Asian handicaps, you have a little wiggle room to either win a very small amount of money or lose significantly less than the entirety of the bet you placed.  

Asian Handicap Examples

Even with examples, Asian handicap bets still may be tough to fully grasp, so here is another example to help make this a little easier to understand:

Manchester United against Atletico Madrid has the following options: pk, 0.25, 0.5 and 0.75.

Pk is pretty self-explanatory, you are betting whether or not the respective team wins outright.  Now since these are all spreads less than one, they are a bit more complicated. The table below has a great breakdown of what each of these bets means and the associated outcomes of those.

What is a 1.5 Asian Handicap?

This method of betting is a bit more complex than a typical spread. For 1.5 bets, there are two bets you can take – +1.5 or -1.5.

Say you bet on a team at a +1.5 odds, your bet is safer (and likely higher odds) than a typical spread because there are three ways you can win. At +1.5, your bet wins if your chosen team wins, draws, or loses by one goal. Should they lose by two or more, your bet would unfortunately lose.

Similarly, -1.5 is used for betting on favorites. This one, however, acts more like a typical sports betting spread. The only way your team can win a bet at -1.5 is if they win the match by two or more goals. Since you are betting the favorite, you are not afforded the luxury of winning off a draw.

Betting on the Asian Handicap, particularly on underdogs, is a safer way to bet than picking that team to win outright. With three possible winning results, using the Asian Handicap is a great idea for soccer bettors.

How Asian Handicap Bets Work

As you can see in the table above, there are a couple of ways that you can have a partial win, but similarly, also ways to have a partial loss.

Let’s say we bet $100 on Atletico Madrid +0.25 (+105). This means that you are rooting for at least a draw and hoping that Madrid can win the match outright. When you put the $100 down, the money gets split across two bets: You have $50 on the draw at +105 and $50 on Atletico Madrid winning the match at +105.

• If Atletico Madrid and Manchester United draw: You win one $50 bet at +105 (bet $50, pays $102.50), and you lose your other $50 on Atletico Madrid winning outright. You profit $2.50 in this scenario.
• If Atletico Madrid wins the match outright: You win both your bets, profiting $105 ($52.5 from Madrid winning outright, $52.5 for beating the draw).
• If Manchester United wins the match outright: You lose both your bets, losing $100 (loss of $50 on the tie, loss of $50 from losing outright).

On the flip side, if you were to bet $100 on Manchester United -0.25 (-130), you are hoping that they win by 1 or more goals to maximize profit, but you will not lose as much if they end up tying. You have $50 on the draw at -130 and $50 on Manchester United winning the match at -130.

• If Atletico Madrid and Manchester United draw: You win the $50 bet on the tie at -130 (profit $38.50), and you lose your other $50 on Manchester United winning outright. You end up losing $11.50 in this scenario.
• If Manchester United wins the match outright: You win both your bets, profiting $77 ($38.5 from Manchester United winning outright, $38.5 for beating the draw).
• If Atletico Madrid wins the match outright: You lose both your bets, losing $100 (loss of $50 on the tie, loss of $50 from losing outright).

Advantages of Asian Handicap Betting

Asian handicap bets spread your bet on multiple outcomes, allowing you to minimize your risk by pushing on a bet and getting some money back in a situation where you would lose all your money in a regular win/lose/draw bet. Although you are minimizing your risk, the odds definitely reflect the decrease in risk.

Is Betting the Asian Handicap a Good Bet?

Like many other bets, Asian handicap bets have their benefits and weaknesses. Some people really enjoy betting on Asian handicaps because you are essentially eliminating some risk with this method.

You essentially have two chances to win and can either make a very small profit or lose significantly less in situations where you would normally lose everything you put in. Soccer is generally a low-scoring game, so Asian handicap bets can be used in your favor here as well.

Check out also: Soccer prop betting guide.