Handicaps are an interesting aspect of sports betting to look at and understand. One of the best variations of handicap betting for football is the Asian Handicap options that will crop up at certain bookmakers who operate it. The Asian Handicap creates scenarios where the “push” is avoided, which essentially is you suffering a loss because you didn’t cover a handicap but tied it.
For example, if you had backed a Manchester United -1 handicap for the match and they won by a one-goal margin (which levelled the score in terms of the handicap being in place), then you would have lost. You didn’t cover the handicap as you needed United to have won by at least two goals. If you had done a -1 Asian Handicap on United and they would have won by a one-goal margin, you would have gotten a stake refund.
Value
So there is a tremendous amount of appeal and comparative value in looking at Asian Handicap options as opposed to just regular handicap. It gives you more coverage by essentially eliminating the draw in the match outcome.
Half Handicaps
You have probably seen an example of this such as in over/under 2.5 goals for a game. Why that half goal? Teams can only score whole goals so you will never find yourself in a push situation with an over/under 2.5 goals option like this. The game either ends with 0, 1 or 2 goals to create and Under win, or it ends with at least three to create an Over win.
Split Asian Handicap (Quarters)
But Asian Handicap betting can take things a little further with Split Handicaps or Quarter Handicaps. So let’s take a look at how this works.
Anytime that you see a quarter fraction as an option, that is a Split Handicap, such as a -1.25 or a + 1.75 which are a couple of common examples of this. What you have here is two different handicap options behind combined to make one handicap. That is what creates the split handicap as the bet is split over two options.
So, for example, a -1.25 handicap is a split between a -1.0 and a -1.5 handicap. Although you just strike a single bet if you picked the -1.25 Asian handicap, you are essentially playing half of your wager on the -1.0 and the other half on -1.5 option. So by looking at the outcome of a match, you can see how this falls into place.
Split Handicap on a Favourite
Manchester United -1.25 Asian Handicap
(remember the -1.0 and the -1.5 split the stake)
If Manchester United draw the bet loses
If Manchester United lose the bet loses
If Manchester United win by a single goal then the -1.0 option gets covered because as far as that goes, the match was drawn, so you get half of your stake back. But the other half of the stake is lost because United didn’t cover the -1.5 part of the bet.
If Manchester United win by two goals then they would have covered both the -1.0 and the -1.5 options so you would have taken a full win.
Split Handicap on an Underdog
Birmingham +1.75 Asian Handicap
(this will be a +1.50 and a +2.00 handicap)
If Birmingham win you win
If Birmingham draw you win
If Birmingham lose by one goal you win because you have covered them at +1.50 and at +2.00
If Birmingham lose by two goals, the half stake on +1.50 loses but the half stake on the +2.00 rewards with a stake refund
If Birmingham lost by three or more goals you lose
Don’t be overwhelmed
So if you take a moment and look at it, even though things on the surface may look a bit confusing with all the fractions floating around, it’s a pretty straightforward system. When thinking about Split Handicaps you are basically spreading your stake across two different handicap options (a whole and a half). The difference between the whole and the half is the quarter.
Asian Handicap Outcomes
There are only the five different things that can happen from handicap betting. You are going to win, lose, get a stake refund, pick up a half win/half stake refund or you will suffer a half lose/half refund. So there is a great deal of coverage to all of this and it is again why we value Asian Handicap betting so much.
Summary
Split handicaps do offer a nice bit of middle-ground on those Asian Handicap markets and they are not as complicated as they look. It is another good feature of Asian Handicap betting and it is well worth taking a bit of time to learn.
The best way to start is just by practicing with options without even playing with money. Then gradually start placing small stakes when you start to get a little more comfortable with it. Just ease yourself into it and by taking your time and looking at the options regularly, you will raise your familiarity and comfort levels with it.
That is, in turn, will lead you to recognise good opportunities when they come along and even lead you towards your own Asian Handicap betting strategies. The final tip is to use a reputable betting site that runs the systems and not all online betting sites offer Asian Handicap betting.
