The football handicap betting strategy is a way of placing stakes on fixtures that the bettor believes play will be dominated by one side in particular. This football betting style can provide a theoretical advantage or disadvantage to one team. Due to this, the handicap football betting method has become very popular with knowledgeable bettors because of its odds and relative simplicity.
We touched on handicap betting in our complete football betting guide, however in this piece we will go into more detail.
What Is A Handicap In Football Betting?
The handicap market in football betting can offer a positive or negative handicap to teams in a fixture. This can require the selected team with a handicap to lose by fewer goals or win by more, depending on the selection made.
The ‘+’ football handicap betting style provides 1 or more hypothetical goals to a team, which is added to their final score for the bet. For example, if the final score of a fixture ends 1-1, but there was a +1 handicap placed on a team, then this bet could be classified as a winner as the other team failed to overcome their handicap by scoring 2 goals..
The ‘-’ handicap football betting option provides a hypothetical deficit of 1 or more goals to the team, which is considered the favourite in a fixture. This will require the team in question to win by a greater margin than whatever the ‘-’ handicap provides and will offer greater odds for the handicapped selection.
The concept of football handicap betting makes a fixture more even so that no team has an advantage over the other. The favourite will have to win by a higher margin, and the underdog is given a hypothetical lead in handicap bets, which can change the odds of a team winning or losing in these bets.
Types Of Handicap Bets
Alongside the differences in ‘+’ and ‘-’ handicap football betting options, there are different types of handicap bets to choose from. These include the European and Asian handicap odds that can be bet on with all of the best sports betting sites. The European football handicap betting strategy normally relates to whole numbers, such as +1 or -2 team handicaps, for example. The Asian handicap football betting option features ‘.5’ handicaps that remove the potential for the bet to result in a tie, with full-time scores featuring the ‘.5’ handicap!
Why is Football Handicap Betting So Popular?
Using the handicap betting markets with football fixtures has become one of the most popular forms of placing stakes for a number of reasons. This method of placing bets is as simple as they come; similar to outright betting markets, the handicap football betting selections are made on which team you think will win. The only difference here is that one of the teams is given a hypothetical advantage or disadvantage before play begins.
Another reason that sports bettors may like football handicap betting is that it allows the followers of a team to back their side, no matter how badly they expect them to perform. For example, a bettor whose favourite team is on bad form and playing away from home to a side sitting top of the table might bet on their side to win with a +3 handicap as this theoretically gives them more of an advantage!
Calculating Football Handicap Betting
Newcomers to handicap football betting may want to spend more time calculating the odds on offer from these stakes and weighing up if the handicap is worth betting on. For example, the potential return for a team to win with a -2 handicap should be worthwhile compared to the odds of them winning outright!
If you’re looking for a way of checking the odds included in handicap football betting, the range of betting odds calculators available on site could be very useful. These tools can help bettors see the payout on offer based on the odds of their football handicap betting and the stakes they are willing to place on play.
Advantages Of Handicap Football Betting
The handicap football betting method offers a greater spectrum of betting opportunities for each fixture outside of the classic 1X2 (Win-Draw-Lose) bets. The handicap betting markets allow punters to take the number of goals into account when choosing their bets instead of just picking an outright winner.
The potential of handicap football betting levels the playing field between teams taking part in a fixture. This can give the perceived underdog a higher chance of winning on paper, even if this does not mirror the real life result!
Other Betting Markets/Strategies
Fans of handicap football betting may want to check out the range of other betting markets and strategies available online! There is a great variety of other ways in which bettors can increase the enjoyment of watching football fixtures by placing stakes on the outcome of play.
There is a huge range of sports betting guides available online for anybody looking to try out a new way of placing stakes on football. Whether you are looking to bet on individual fixtures, competitions or leagues, the best thing you can do is first read about how these differ in terms of betting.
Sports bettors looking for a way of placing stakes on play without the risk of losing may want to check out some matched betting guides. This method of placing stakes involves covering all outcomes of a fixture so that the bettor can either win or break even and reclaim their bet stake value.
Handicap Football Betting In Matched Betting
Now that you know a bit more about what is a handicap in football betting, you might want to spend some time browsing the different options available. Here at OddsMonkey, handicap betting can be used as a market to gain leverage from and lock in a profit whilst matched betting.
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