BETTING ADVICE - Asian Handicaps are an alternative way of betting on football matches. Explained simply, Asian handicaps eliminate the possibility of a draw so that you can only win or lose your bet. One team is given a part of a goal as a start so that there cannot be a draw for the purposes of the Asian handicap bet.Asian handicaps can be split into two different types: where the handicap consists of a part 1/2 goal start, or any part of a 1/4 start.
Firstly, the part of a half goal start. Let us take an example from Dec 21 2009, the match between Wigan and Bolton in the English Premier League. On the Asian handicap, Bolton were +0.5. This means that Bolton had been given half a goal start. Therefore, if you backed Bolton on the Asian handicap with £100 at 10/11 you would have won your bet as long as the actual match result was a draw or a Bolton win. Your winnings would have been your stake (100) multiplied by the odds (10/11), giving you a return of £191 (100 stake + 91 winnings). To lose the Asian handicap bet, Wigan had to win by only one goal, and you would have lost your entire stake (£100).
Secondly, there is Asian handicap betting where one team receives a start which consists partly of a quarter goal start. Take the Birmingham vs Chelsea match in the Premier League on Dec 26 2009. Birmingham could be backed at +0.75. In these circumstances, you win only half of what you could have won if your bet wins, or you lose only half your stake if your bet loses. These special rules come into play when the following handicaps are used in the Asian handicap: 0.25, 0.75, 1.25, 1.75 or 2.25, and so on. So in the case of Birmingham vs Chelsea, if you had bet on Birmingham at +0.75 and the match was a draw or Birmingham win you would have won your stake (100) multiplied by the odds (10/11), and this figure (91) would have been divided by two (40.5), meaning your total return would be 140.5 (original stake 100 plus winnings of 40.5). If you had bet on Birmingham but Chelsea had instead won the match, then you would have lost only half your original stake (100/2 = 50).
It is possible to bet an Asian handicap where one team gets a start which is a full number i.e. one goals start, two goals start etc. So if you back a team with a one goal start, and the other team win one - nil, you would get your stake money back as you have 'drawn' the match on the Asian handicap. However, most bookmakers do not off this bet as the whole point of the Asian handicap is to eliminate the possibility of a draw!
Is that clear? Read through the examples again if you are unsure. Trust us when we say it is easy to get the hang of once you have been through it a few times - it is not as complicated as it might first appear.
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