The most popular way of betting on soccer in Asia differs a bit from the traditional "1x2" here in Europe.
There are only two possible selections in Asian handicap betting, home team win or away team win. Asian Handicap betting thus eliminates the draw option used in traditional bets here in Europe (1x2).
The greater the difference in ability between the teams involved in the match, the more goals you would expect the favourite to win by and the bigger the handicap will be. The underdogs will therefore be given a head start, a handicap, (of 0.5, 1 ball, etc.) by the favourite.
If you back the favourite in a match, they have to overcome the handicap imposed upon them. The Handicap for the more favoured team will be a (-) value, denoting the number of goals they have to give away.
If you back the outsider in a match, they have to keep the lead which the handicap will have given them. The Handicap for the less favoured team will be a (+) value, denoting the number of goals start they have.
Take an example: Chelsea are playing at home to Liverpool, and are the favourites to win in the 90 minute betting. To make this match an even contest, Chelsea are handicapped by half a goal.
Chelsea then have to win by at least 1-0 to win the bet, while Liverpool win with any other result.
Note that the handicap is only added or deducted from the score of the team that you bet on, not both.
In a more even match than in the example above, we may want to use a handicap in between half balls (such as a 0.5 ball), and so a handicap of 0,+0.5 can be used. The best way to understand this type of handicap is to imagine you have two separate bets with your stake being split equally between the two handicaps (0 and 0.5 in this case)
Thus with a handicap of 0,+0.5, half your stake will be at a 0 ball handicap, and half at a 0.5 ball handicap.
