What is a handicap in betting

A handicap is a bet in a bookmaker’s office on the advantage of a team. Such bets can be placed in all sports, starting with traditional football, hockey, and basketball. You can place handicaps with all legal Ukrainian bookmakers.

We will tell you how this type of bet differs from other sports betting options in bookmakers. We will talk about the symbols used by bookmakers. We will give examples of handicapping bets in Ukrainian bookmakers for different sports disciplines. We will give advice on when to bet on the team’s advantage to maximise your profit and increase your chances of winning.

What is a handicap

In a bookmaker’s office, a handicap is a clear advantage of one team over another, or vice versa, a lag in some indicators. The winning team must maintain its advantage, and the losing team must win back. If these conditions are met, the bet wins.

When placing a bet on the handicap, a bettor should take into account the possible change in the final result of the match. In football, you can bet on the goal advantage, in basketball, on points, in tennis, on games or sets, etc. Handicap is one of the main bets available at bookmakers, so good companies offer it for every event.

Designation

In bookmakers, bets on the outcome can be denoted as follows: F1(X) or F2(X). F1 and F2 are the designations of the team or opponent on whose advantage the bet is placed. (X) is the value of the handicap for the selected opponent or team.

The parentheses indicate an integer starting from zero or a fraction – 1.56, 3.5, etc. If there is 0 in the brackets, the bet amount may be returned.

When marking a head start, the signs “+” or “-” are used, which mean the following:

• “+” – shows that the bet will win even if the team concedes a certain number of goals, pucks, points, etc.
• “-” means that the team must win with a crushing score to win the bet.

Examples of bets

Example 1: Vbet offers a basketball match Chicago Bulls – Detroit Pistons. For the first team, F1(-9.5). So, for this bet to become a winning one, the Chicago Bulls must win by 10 points.

For Detroit Pistons, F1(+9.5) points. For this bet to become a winning one, Detroit Pistons must maintain their advantage or lose to the opponent by no more than 9 points.

Example 2: In the bookmaker Favbet , you can bet on the Europa League football match Milan-Roma. The bookmaker offers 10 bets on the handicap in this match.

For example, in the second option, Milan is F1(-2.5), and Roma is O2(+2.5). So, if you bet on Milan, it must beat the opponent by 3 goals. For a bet on Roma to work, the team must maintain its advantage by 3 goals or lose by a maximum of 2 goals.

Handicap (0)

If the opponents have roughly equal chances of winning, the bookmaker may offer the option of betting on F(0), or with another integer. If you make such a bet and the match ends in a draw, the bookmaker will refund your bet. If the side you bet on wins, you will be credited with the winnings.

When to bet on a head start

Some bookmakers offer bets on the over/under in certain time periods. This is where analytics can help you navigate. For example, based on past results, a team may have an active attacking period in the last 5-10 minutes of a match. In a game between a favourite and an underdog, the second half is often more productive – closer to the end of the match, the underdog makes mistakes and loses ground.

If you are sure that a certain team will win, you should choose a minus option for it. This is especially true if one team shows a much better result than the other. By choosing a win with a difference, you can win at much higher odds if your team really has the potential for a blowout win.

If you see that the advantages of a certain team are overestimated and the odds of its victory are low, you should take F(+X). In this case, even if the team loses, you have a chance to win.

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