For some betting enthusiasts, simply betting on the winner of a game isn’t enough. They need a type of bet which can take more things into consideration, like recent form, difference in squad value and the size of the win.

1. How Sports Betting Works
2. How Does Basketball Spread Betting Work
3. How Does Basketball Handicap Betting Work
4. How Does Basketball Betting Work
5. How Do Basketball Betting Lines Work
6. How Do Basketball Betting Work

For these specific cases, handicap betting has been born. These bets first appeared in Asia, especially in the Hong Kong and Indonesian markets, but quickly grew in popularity in the 21st century.

Nowadays, any brick-and-mortar or online betting site offers many handicap bets (simple, split, Asian) on a multitude of sports, the most popular being basketball, hockey and, of course, football. Handicap bets may seem complicated but are simple to understand. Let’s find out below!

Best betting sites for Handicap betting

How Does The Point Spread Work? When wagering against the spread, you bet on the team that will cover the betting line, and not necessarily win the game. Obviously, by taking the favorite, a bettor believes that a team will not only win the game but also win the game by a certain number of points to cover the betting line. Handicap Betting is a bet in which the bookmaker equips the house-high favorite with a fictitious lead. In basketball, this is done by adding a certain amount of points to the weaker side. At the end of the match, the points will be added to the match outcome. In some cases, the normal betting markets of 3-way bets can be used as well.

Handicap betting explained

Handicap betting takes the form and value of a team in consideration more so than regular betting and can be applied to any sports. Simply put, a team can have a positive or negative “handicap” attached to their name.

How Sports Betting Works

Let’s take an example from basketball first: If you look at a betting slip for a game between the Lakers and the Clippers, you have the option of betting on the home side, the away side, or on a draw.

When looking at handicap bets, you might see something like Lakers -4,5, or Clippers +6,5. This only means that the teams start the game (for you bet) with the positive or negative score attached to them. In the case of the first bet, the match no longer starts at 0 – 0 for the Lakers, but at -4,5 – 0.

If they game ends 98-92, your bet is a winner, because the Lakers’ score (98) minus their initial handicap (-4,5) is still greater than the Clippers score (92). If the Lakers won 95-92, your bet would be a loser, because 95-4,5 < 92. Easy to understand, isn’t it?

Handicap betting in football

While handicap bets are available in a wide array of sports, their most common application is found in football betting, due to the large number of events you can place handicap bets on. You can place handicap bets on the final result of the game, on yellow cards, corners, the number of goals scored by each them – the possibilities are almost endless.

Handicap betting is a great way to take advantage of the in-depth knowledge you gain when you analyze a team for long periods of time, like half a season. These bets can also mirror some very common choices, like double chance bets or over/under bets, usually at better odds – because lots of bettors don’t understand how handicap bets work.

Types of Handicap betting

In football, there are three main handicap betting types: simple, split and Asian.

How Does Basketball Spread Betting Work

Simple Handicap (or European Handicap) is easiest to understand. It only gives you round numbers to deal with. Let’s take a modern example: Liverpool will play Tottenham in the next round of the Premier League, on 11.02. The basic odds for the game are 2,15 for a home win, 3,40 for a draw and 3,30 for an away win. The European Handicap bets for the same game work in the following way: Each team is given a handicap, either positive or negative.

For example, for a -2 handicap for Liverpool, the odds for the above scenarios are the following: Home win: 8.50, draw 6,00 and away win 1,20. This simply means that Liverpool start the game with -2 goals. If they win with this handicap, you win 8.50 times your initial wager, and the rest are self-explanatory. On the other hand, the odds for Liverpool +1 are 1,34 – 4.75 – 6.50 respectively.

Asian Handicap introduces some different concepts, since the handicaps aren’t always round numbers. Let’s take the same game as an example. We can place a Liverpool -1,5 bet, which means Liverpool start the game with -1,5 goals. If they win by two goals, the bet is won – if they win by one goal, draw or lose the game, the bet is lost – very straightforward until here.

For Asian Handicap, the trickier bets are -1 and -1,25. Liverpool -1, in this case, mean that Liverpool start the game with a -1 goal handicap, but if they win by just one goal, you get your money back. No win, no lose, just a refund.

This is a great way to bet on favourite teams against smaller ones since they tend to win their games with at least a few goals. The main difference between European and Asian handicaps is this one: For European Handicap, a -1 bet means the team has to win by two goals or more. For Asian Handicap, the team can win by a single goal, and you can get your money back.

A -1,25 bet is called a Split Handicap bet, and can be presented in another form as well: -1, -1,5. Essentially, your bet is split into two bets: a -1 bet and a -1,5 bet. If Liverpool wins by a single goal, you get half your money back (the -1 half) and lose the other half (-1,5). These split handicap bets are a great way to reduce risk when going for a big bet, like -2,25 or similar. They are not as widely used by betting enthusiasts, but still, present some interest.

These same rules are applied for other categories as well. For yellow cards, Liverpool -1,5 means that Liverpool have to concede with 2 yellow cards more than Tottenham for your bet to be a winner. -1,5 for goal scored means that Liverpool needs to score at least 2 goals.

Examples

How Does Basketball Handicap Betting Work

Now that we’ve clarified how handicap betting works let’s take a look at a few real live examples from next weekend’s games. The Premier League gives us a clash between Burnley and Chelsea, one the away team should be winning. The odds for this away win are pretty small – 1,40, but we might be able to take advantage of the game using handicap bets.

A Chelsea -1,5 bet, which has very good chances of succeeding, has odds around 2,10 at most bookies – and the Blues should win this game by two goals. On the other hand, if you think Burnley will play well defensively and not concede a lot, a Burnley +2,25 (split handicap) bet has odds around 1,40 – a good thing to consider since Chelsea might also lack motivation.

Another example comes from Bournemouth – Manchester City. An away win has the same small 1,40 odds, but going City -1 gives odds at around 1,80. If they win by a single goal, you get your money back – which is a good thing, considering that City need to win.

That being said, we hope you now understand European and Asian Handicaps and are ready to use these bets in real market conditions. As always, take good care when analyzing your games, and be inspired!

Other Betting Guides & Strategies

Basics on Reading College Basketball Odds—Lines, Spread and Totals

College basketball offers sports bettors a wealth of games on which they can wager. During the season, you’ll find a long list of odds from the top books posted on Maddux Sports’ college basketball lines page. Of course, it’s essential that as a bettor you understand how to read these betting odds. In this article, you’ll learn all that you need to know regarding how to understand NCAA Basketball odds, including the point spread, over/under and moneyline.

The elements we’ll be looking at are often referred to by different names. The point spread is often called the spread or the line. The over/under bet is also known as the total. And the all important rotation number, which is used to identify each team that is playing, can be called the number or the rotation mark. By the way, sometimes people will lump all odds together by calling them lines or they may be referring to the spread when they ask, “What’s the line on the Duke game?” Many terms, over the years, have become interchangeable.

The good news is that although terminology may be laced with slang and some inconsistencies, when you look at college basketball lines posted online they all have the same elements and they all look pretty much the same. The primary difference is some books will list the teams for one game side-by-side and another will have one team on top of another. The main thing to remember is that the visiting club is always listed first.

Starting from the left, the first things you’ll see will be the date and time of the game and right after that will be the rotation number and the team names. The point of the number is to create order and ease in making a bet. The numbers are listed in sequence and they are consistent from book to book.

As an example if Duke is playing at North Carolina and the Blue Devils have a rotation number of 901, then the Tar Heels, who are the home team and listed second, will be 902. In the next games listed, the visiting team would be 903 and the home club 904 and so the sequencing continues.

Because every sportsbook uses the same numbers, it makes it easy for the bettor to locate the game and the odds at different sites and it provides a shorthand by which bettors can make their wagers over the phone or at a land-based book. To avoid confusion when betting, you don’t mention the name of the team but rather the rotation number.

How Does Basketball Betting Work

These initial parts of the line, which are used to identify the game which is being bet, read from left to right—date and time of game, rotation numbers and team names. All elements to the right of this information relate to the college basketball odds for that specific game. This is where you will find the point spread, moneyline and over/under.

The reason the point spread exists is to make it more difficult for sports bettors to pick a winner. In college basketball odds, as in college football, some spreads can be huge. How big might they be? If a team such as Duke or North Carolina, both of which a powerhouses, plays a club such as Idaho State from the much weaker Big Sky Conference the spread could be 40 points or more. Without the spread, it would be much too easy to pick the winner. With the spread in place, bookies hope to even out the bets between the two teams.

How Do Basketball Betting Lines Work

This is how the point spread works. The team that is favored is listed with a minus or negative sign and a number, while the underdog is listed with a plus or positive sign and a number. The favorite has points taken away and the dog is given points. In our game where Duke is visiting North Carolina, the spread would be relatively tight since both clubs are national contenders. Duke, because they are visiting, might be listed at +2.5, which means North Carolina would be -2.5.

If you wager on the Blue Devils and they win outright or lose by less than three points, then you win. Bet on the Tar Heels and if they win by three or more points, you win. Often the point spread is listed with a ½ point faction or decimal, which ensures no matter what the score the game cannot end in a tie. If the spread is a whole number, then the contest could end in a tie and that would result in a push. A push means that all bets are off and all cash is returned to the bettors. If the spread was 2 in the Duke/North Carolina game and the final score was Duke (+2) 88 and North Carolina (-2) 90, it would be a tie and a push.

The other number you’ll see associated with the spread is the stake—how much you have to bet to realize a profit of $100. The most common stake you’ll see is listed as -110. This means that you must wager $110 to win $100. Note that the payout on a spread wager is not even money (1:1), as some will say. If it were, you would wager $110 to win $110. The odds are a bit less than even, standing at 0.90:1.00. That’s 10% less than even. Where does that 10% of your payout go? It’s taken by the book as part of their commission, which is also called vigorish or vig.

Next, to the right of the point spread, is the moneyline. Note: some books may list the moneyline separately under a moneyline tab. But often the line is part of the odds listing. This type of bet is quite different from the spread due to the fact that no points are given or taken away and the basketball team that wins outright is the one that pays off. The way the books even the playing field is they charge more for you to wager on the favorite while offering a smaller payout and charge less to bet on the dog while providing a bigger payout.

Using the Duke and North Carolina matchup, the moneyline would have the dog Blue Devils at +120 and the favorite Tar Heels at -140. This moneyline is directly connected to the spread of 2.5. With the moneyline, a club that’s posted on the plus side shows how much you’ll win when wagering $100 and when a team is listed in the negative that tells you how much you must bet to win $100. In our example, you would wager $100 on Duke (+120) to win $120 and $140 on North Carolina (-140) to win $100.
Below is a list of the corresponding point spreads as they relate to the moneyline, ranging from -2 to -10.

How Do Basketball Betting Work

With college basketball odds the last number you will see, which is posted to the right, is the over/under. As it is with the spread, they may not be expressed as a whole number. The over/under represents the total number of points that may be scored in the game. Your wager is either on the over or the under.

In the Duke/North Carolina contest, the total would be around 152.5. If the sum of the points scored by both teams is 153 or higher, the over wins and if it is 152 or lower, then the under wins. As it is with the point spread, this number comes from handicappers working on and assessing matchups, stats, coaches and player performance.

Once odds are posted for a game, sports bettors need to decide quickly, based on research, which bets they are going to take. Early college basketball odds tend to be soft and offer more leeway than adjusted odds, which get tighter as game time gets closer. The elements discussed in this article are all common in NCAA Basketball odds listings. Know how to read each part in order to make smart and timely bets.