Handicap Betting

Bet types - Handicap bets

Many sports contests are unequal contents, which would normally result in odds that are so short that they are unattractive to most punters. Handicap bets are like a standard bet, but the teams are given a handicap head start to even up the game for betting purposes, and to avoid the game ending in a draw.

The underdog will be given a head start of a particular number of points, and the favourite will be handicapped by the same number of points. If the favourite has a handicap of -2.5, for example, it must beat the underdog by three or more to win the bet. A minus sign indicates points are given to the other side, while a plus sign indicates that points are to be received.

An example of this could be in a football match:

Manchester City v Arsenal
Manchester City +0.5 4/9
Arsenal -0.5 6/5

The team on the left of the pairing is always the home team, therefore in this example Manchester City are the home team. In this example, Arsenal are the favourite by 0.5 (half) a goal, and therefore must win the game by 1 goal or more to win the bet. A draw is not an option. If the match is tied at the end of the 90 minutes, all bets on the underdog (Manchester City) would win because of the 0.5 goal advantage.