How do Asian handicaps differ from European handicaps?

A handicap (or spread) is a type of bet that evens up the chances of both players or teams winning a specific event. Handicaps work by giving one player or side an advantage, say giving the Denver Broncos a six-point advantage over the Kansas City Chiefs in NFL or Tottenham Hotspur a one-goal lead over Manchester City in the Premier League.

Whereas some Asian handicaps use half or quarter numbers, European handicaps only use whole numbers. This means that some Asian handicap bets eliminate the possibility of draws (or ties) in sports like Soccer and the NHL, while European handicap bets permit them. In Asian handicaps that employ whole numbers, theoretical draws will be possible, such as a team with a -1 handicap winning 2-1. These theoretical draws are known as a push and in these scenarios, no winner is declared and all bettors will get their initial stake returned.

But in an Asian handicap using half numbers, Tottenham Hotspur could receive a 1.5-goal lead over Manchester City, resulting in a handicap that looks like:

Manchester City (-1.5) - Tottenham Hotspur (+1.5).

If a bettor wagers on Manchester City, they would have to win by at least a two-goal margin, such as 2-0, 3-1, 3-0, 4-2, etc. However, if the bettors puts money on Tottenham Hotspur, any draw or even a one-goal defeat will result in a winning bet, including 1-0, 1-1, 1-2, 2-1, 2-2, etc. Due to the half-goal advantage and disadvantage given to the teams, there’s no way for the match to end in a draw using this type of Asian handicap.

Remember that Asian handicaps use quarter numbers too. For instance, let’s imagine the Over/Under on goals scored by Manchester City versus Tottenham Hotspur are:

Over 2.25 goals/Under 2.25 goals

By betting $100 on “Over 2.25 goals”, it’s essentially like placing two separate bets.

These bets will works out as half of your money ($50) on “Over 2.0” and the other $50 on “Over 2.5”. The average of the two bets being 2.25, which is the target number of goals.

So if a bettor wagers on Over 2.25 goals, to fully win the bet, Manchester City need to score three or more goals. If Manchester City only score two goals, the bet is considered as half lost or a half loss in Asian handicap betting. That’s because Manchester City will have matched, but not surpassed, the "$50 on Over 2.0" portion of bet. In this case, that $50, i.e., half the bettor’s initial stake will be returned to the their account.

The other "$50 on Over 2.5", will be a loss for the bettor as Manchester City did not match nor surpass the required 2.5 goals.

Alternatively, a half win is only possible when betting the Over where the line ends in .75 or when betting the Under where the line ends in .25. For example, betting $100 on the Over on 2.75 total goals.

Again, betting the Over on 2.75 is like placing two best, $50 on Over 2.5 and $50 on Over 3.0

So if Manchester City win 2-1, i.e., three total goals, $50 of the bettor’s stake (on Over 2.5) wins, while the other $50 (on Over 3,0) is returned, resulting in a half win.

Discover more by reading our how handicap betting works article.