What is Asian Handicap?
Asian Handicap is one of the newest varieties of bets offered by online bookmakers, which have been gaining popularity in recent years. The concept of handicapping is nothing new–one team or player gets a “false advantage” over its opponent. In Asian handicap, this “advantage” is expressed in terms of quarters and halves rather than whole numbers.
Another difference is that Asian handicap eliminates ties as a possibility in the match. This way, the probability of success increases from 33 to 50 percent. It’s hard to say whether this is more of a bonus for bookmakers or clients. After all, many bettors also win from it. Companies can’t afford to fall behind, and little by little this option will be available on every site – that’s for sure! Otherwise, bookmakers can also reduce risk with this option by balancing how much they can bet on each match. This could be helpful for big events. However, it’s a fact that betting companies earn large amounts from this market unlike standard games on sign boards.
History of Asian handicap
Joe Soumares Smith, a journalist from Indonesia, invented the term “Asian handicap” 18 years ago. He had been asked by the bookmaker Joe Fan to invent a term for the local term “Han Chen,” who is actually the father of Asian handicap.
What are its variants?
The Asian handicap is a type of bet available mainly for football matches in which there is a high probability of a tie. The Asian handicap eliminates the possibility of a tie by giving one team a lead of up to two goals over the other team. Asian handicaps can range from 0.25 to 3 goals.
Examples of Handicap
When you bet on a handicap, each contender takes part of the wager. If you bet £1000 on a 1.75 handicap, for example, then in reality you are betting about half that amount on each contender. This way you can win or lose some money but still end up with your original stake if all bets are cancelled out.
An example is a match between Manchester City and New Castle. You have a handicap in favour of New Castle of +1.0 and +1.5. You bet £100, which is split into two bets: 50 pounds on New Castle winning with less than a goal, and another 50 pounds on New Castle winning with less than 1.5 goals. If Manchester City wins 1-0, then half of your bet will be restored because there was a tie; New Castle lost precisely by one goal. The other half will win because there were only 1.5 goals scored against them–not enough to pass the handicap line of 1.5 goals that you placed money on.”
In Asian handicap betting, there can be ties. In this case, the wager is returned to the client and it is not counted as a win or loss.