How does Asian Handicap and Over/Under betting work in Soccer?

214 March 15, 2021

Traditional Soccer Betting

Traditional soccer betting has three results – one team wins, the other team wins, or there’s a draw (tie). This type of bet is abbreviated as 1X2 – home win, draw, away win. Only the result after ninety minutes counts. (The exception is Live Betting on Asian Handicap, where bets are settled according to the score for the remainder of the game/half after the bet has been placed, e.g. any goals prior to the bet being placed are ignored for settlement purposes.)

Asian Handicap

Asian Handicap works on the same principle as spread betting – the weaker team gets a boost to even up its chances and to give bettors more value for their bets.

Half Goals

There are no half-goals in soccer, but 0.5 is the most common, and most popular, of the Asian Handicaps. You add the underdog’s handicap to the underdog’s goals scored and if the total is bigger than the favorite’s goals scored, the underdog wins. Smaller, and the favorite wins. Simple as that.

At the start, 0.5 was the only Asian Handicap bet available, and it was easy to understand. +0.5 simply canceled out the draw. To cover +0.5, the underdog has to win or draw. Every other time the favorite wins.

The Asian Handicap concept has proved so popular, however, that many more bets have been introduced. So many, that it’s easier to figure out who wins by looking at the table at the top of this document.

Quarter-Goals

When you see a quarter-goal handicap, that really means that your stake is being split in two. Half goes on the nearest whole number handicap, and half goes on the nearest half-goal handicap.

So if you see a handicap of +1.25, your bet splits in two. Half the stake goes on +1, and the other half on +1.5. The half-stake on +1.5 will either win or lose, as usual. If the winning margin is 1 to the favorite, then half your bet pushes, and the other half wins because that spread was covered.

Half-win, Half-lose Results

Bets on quarter-goal handicaps like that have results that are listed as half-win or half-lose. For every half-win or half-lose result, the other result is always a half-push.

Asian Handicap lines can look a little random when you see them first, but when you look at the table, there’s a clear pattern to how the margin between winning and losing moves, just as there is in more conventional spread betting. Using the table you’ll quickly get used to how the system works.

Parlays

Parlays featuring Asian Handicaps work just like regular parlays. If all the selections win, the bet wins. If any of the selections loses, the bet loses. If any of selections push, the selections reduce appropriately – so a five-selection parlay where one bet pushes becomes a four-selection parlay. The push is just forgotten about.

The same principle applies to the half-push results in Asian Handicap betting. A full losing selection is always the end of a parlay. But a half-lose isn’t the end, because the half-push keeps the parlay alive, even though half the stake is lost. A half-win obviously keeps the parlay alive as well, but only half the stake wins, the other half of the stake pushes.

Let’s go through an example. Think of a $100 parlay that has six selections at even-money each (price of 2.00).

Fold Outcome Calculation

  • The first selection wins. The stake is multiplied by the price, so the new stake carried over to the next fold is $200. $100 x 2.0
  • The second selection wins. The stake is multiplied by the price, so the new stake carried over to the next fold is $400. $200 x 2.0 The third selection Pushes. Nothing happens, so the stake carried over to the next fold stays the same, at $400.
  • The fourth selection Is a ½ win. This means the stake is halved. The first half, $200, is multiplied by the price, and the new stake is carried over to the next fold. The second $200 pushes, and this is added to the next fold as well. The stake is now $600. (($400 / 2) x 2.0) + $200
  • The fifth selection Is a ½ lose, so the stake is halved again. $300 is lost, while the other $300 is carried over to the next fold. The stake is now $300.$600 – ($600 / 2.0)
  • The sixth selection Is a win. The stake is multiplied by the price, to give final winnings credited to your account of $600.$300 x 2.0

Asian Over/Under

This chart demonstrates the result of an Asian Over/Under bet based on the total goals scored in the game by both teams combined.