If you have ever done any football (or soccer in the United States and Canada) betting you have most likely heard the term Asian handicap, but you may have not known exactly what it was. Asian handicap is a gambling term for football betting that is used to basically describe spread betting for the sport. This type of betting has dramatically gained popularity over the past few years.
Before the Asian handicap came about and was widely accepted, football betting was a lot trickier. The sport of football often can end in a tie and this is not good when it comes to betting. When a tie would happen in the game the bettors who placed a wager on either team would lose, since a tie is a completely different outcome than one of the teams winning. So, there could be three different outcomes when it came to a football game, which meant that you had three different possibilities to chose from and consider.
The Asian handicap has eliminated the third outcome of a tie between the two teams by establishing a spread for the game. The spread can range from one quarter goal to up to several goals depending on the teams that are playing and what the odds are. With the Asian handicap the tie outcome is eliminated by establishing the handicap and forcing a winner for the game. So even if the two teams end the game at 2-2, in the football betting world, depending on the point spread, one team will have won the game.
The bookies or bookmakers establish the spread before the game in such a way that makes it possible for 50/50 odds for each of the teams winning. They have even been known to make the spread a quarter goal to get the handicap as close as possible to the 50/50 mark.
So, let's say that Liverpool and Everton have a game this week. The bookies will establish the Asian handicap before the bets are taken. Once the handicap is established it works with the final score of the game. So, if Everton is not quite as good as Liverpool, they may give Everton a 1.5 goal spread. This basically means that Everton starts the game at 1.5 versus Liverpool's 0. So, if the final score of the game ended up being Everton 2 and Liverpool 3, in the betting world, Everton won the game, since it would be Everton 3.5 and Liverpool 3. Let's say that the teams tied at 2 goals each. Well, with the Asian handicap you would not have to worry about the tie outcome, as Everton would actually have 3.5 goals to Liverpool's 2 goals.
When you bet on football using the Asian handicap it is still important to compare odds and do your research on the teams. Not every spread will be the same. The spreads are based off the team's ability and current record. This is why it is still important to do your own comparison on which team may still win even with the handicap.
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