The Handicap market is a way to level the playing field between two teams by applying a virtual advantage or disadvantage before the match begins. There are two main types: Asian Handicap and European Handicap.
Asian Handicap
In the Asian Handicap, you can only bet on one of the teams to win. There’s no draw option available.
This market uses both whole and decimal values, such as 0, 0.25, 0.5, 0.75, 1.0, and so on.
There are five possible outcomes for an Asian Handicap bet:
- Winning bet
- Half-win
- Stake refunded
- Half-loss
- Losing bet
Because of these variations, Asian Handicap offers more flexibility for bettors.
European Handicap
In the European Handicap, you can bet on either team to win or on a draw — even when the handicap is applied. This type of market uses only whole numbers (e.g., -1, -2, +1, +2, etc.) and there is no refund in case of a draw.
Practical example
Let’s say you placed a bet on “Handicap - Full Time Result - Flamengo -2”.
This means that Flamengo must win the match even with a 2-goal disadvantage. The minus sign “-” indicates this handicap.
If the final score is Flamengo 3 x 0, the 2-goal handicap is applied as follows:
- Adjusted result: 3 (Flamengo goals) - 2 (handicap) = 1–0 for Flamengo
In this case, even after applying the handicap, Flamengo still wins — so your bet is considered a winning one.
Remember: Regardless of how you calculate it, what matters is that the adjusted final result must favor the team you placed your bet on.