Football Betting - Handicap Markets

Handicap betting is where a bookmaker assigns a goal margin (handicap) to the teams to represent their chances of winning. Handicap betting has become a popular market to bet on as you can increase the odds of the teams you want to bet on.

How does Handicap betting work?

In order for your handicap bet to win you must cover the goals set by the bookmaker for your selection.

For example, If Manchester City were facing Norwich. The regular market would have Man City has heavy favourites and therefore the odds on them to win would be very short. This is where handicap bets can provide you with better odds. The bookmakers may offer you the chance to select the handicap placed on a team. This might be -1, -2, -3 goals and so on.

If you thought Manchester City were going to win convincingly you might want to back them with -2 goals to start with. This means they would need to win the match by more than 2 goals in order for your bet to win. If the result was 3-0 to Manchester City your bet would be classed as a winner, however if they only won 2-0, as you selected them to start with -2 goals the game would be deemed a 0-0 draw and you would not win. As you bet on Manchester City -2 goals your odds would have been significantly higher than the straightforward win market and this is what makes it a popular market to bet on.

You can of course place a bet on the flip side of the handicap. This is where you are betting on a team to win whilst giving them an advantage to start with. Using the above scenario again, you may want to back Norwich to win starting with +3 goals. Unlike the minus goals market, when you add goals to a team their odds will become shorter. For this bet to win, you need Norwich to either win the game outright or not lose by more than 2 goals. If the game finished 2-0 to Manchester City your bet would be a winner as you selected Norwich to start with a 3-goal advantage.

BettorMind Advice

Staking – Whilst handicap markets are very popular to bet on, you should always consider the stakes you use as you are adding more risk as the team you bet on is required to score a certain number of goals to win. If you are betting on a team -2 or -3 goals it is a good idea to start with smaller stakes to get a feel for the market you are betting on.

Track results – This is really important as you can start to get a feel for teams who do well when betting on handicap markets. If a team has been on a good record of scoring plenty of goals, you might want to consider them for a handicap bet. Whereas a team who are been struggling to score goals may put you off placing a handicap on them to win.

Handicap betting is very popular and can add entertainment to games in which might ordinarily be very one sided. With that being said be sure to check out the advice on how to bet on these markets above as well as all of our other content at BettorMind.