Best Asian Handicap Bookies - Handicap Betting Sites

The place where you can find the best Asian handicap betting sites. A common sight amongst the betting markets online, but what is it? Our bettor guides cover a lot but this is very special. We introduce this bet option that gets offered by all the top UK betting sites.

Author: Daniel Chapman Updated: June 01 2023

What is An Asian Handicap Bet?

Asian handicaps are types of bets that are becoming more and more common in the sports betting industry. More sports betting fans are learning how to place Asian handicap bets and more online bookmakers in the United Kingdom now offer this betting type to their players. In the review below, we will reveal to you what you need to know about Asian handicaps as well as the best Asian handicap betting sites.

It might be hard to believe, but Asian handicaps started in South-East Asia. This type of handicap bet is slightly different to the normal handicap bet that anyone who has been betting on sports for a while will be more than aware of.

An example of a normal handicap would be placing a stake on Chelsea to win a football match with a handicap of -2. This means that Chelsea must go on to win the game by 3 goals or more if you are to win the bet. What you are basically doing here is giving Chelsea a two-goal disadvantage before the match has even started. If they win by two goals to zero, you will lose your bet because the online bookmaker will consider the match to be a draw.

So, what exactly is the difference with an Asian handicap? Well, this new type of handicap gives sports betting fans more alternatives. For instance, you can get back half your stake or all of it, depending on how the match plays out. Asian handicaps have lower margins than the standard handicaps, so this means that you will get higher odds.

Football is a sport where draws are common, meaning that there are three different results possible for a match – lose, win, or draw. If you make an Asian handicap bet, then you are ruling out the odds of a draw, leaving only a loss or a win as an option.

An Example of an Asian Handicap Bet

To help makes things clearer for you, we will now give you example of an Asian handicap bet. Let us pretend that there is match taking place in the English Premier League between Arsenal and Brighton and Hove Albion. Arsenal are at home and for a -1.5 Asian handicap, they have odds of 1.90, while Brighton have a +1.5 Asian handicap and odds of 1.90.

If you placed a £10 stake on Arsenal to win the game and they end up scoring two goals, once the handicap of -1.5 goals has been applied, the score would technically be, according to the bookmaker, Arsenal 0.5 Brighton 0. Thus, you would win your bet.

However, Brighton scored one goal, making the final result 2-1, then after you apply the Asian handicap, the score will change to Arsenal 0.5 Brighton 1. Therefore, due to the conditions of your bet, Brighton have won the game and you will lose your stake.

However, if you decided to back Brighton with a handicap of +1.5 and Arsenal won by two goals to one, then after you apply the handicap, the score will be Arsenal 2 Brighton 2.5, meaning that although the real result went against Brighton, you still win your bet thanks to the Asian handicap.

Which Asian Handicap Betting Sites Are the Best When it Comes to Asian Handicap Betting?

Nowadays, there are many Asian handicap betting sites that offer Asian handicaps. As this is a relatively new type of bet, most of the best Asian handicaps can be found at sportsbooks that focus on the Asian market. However, there are still some good British betting sites that have good Asian handicap offers. Below we are going to take a look at what we believe are three of the best.

Unibet

Unibet has been around since 1997 and they are more than aware of the importance of staying relevant. They know that they have to offer what is popular if they want new customers to continue to sign up with them. Therefore, as Asian handicap betting is becoming more and more popular, they realised that they have to provide their players with plenty of handicap betting options, and this is exactly what they do. In fact, they offer more handicap betting lines than most other online bookmakers. To add to this, the odds that they offer are just as good as you will find anywhere else. If you sign up with them you can take advantage of a Welcome Bonus that basically gives you a free £25 bet. You can place a bet of up to £25 and if it loses, they will reimburse you.

Permutations and Rules

Sometimes, although admittedly it is quite rare, bookmakers offer two-way Asian handicaps on particular matches. For example, if the match is between two teams such as Liverpool and Manchester United, and the bookie cannot decide what handicap point is the best, they might offer the following:

Handicap: Liverpool -0.5, -1 v Manchester United +0.5, +1

With this example, if you bet on United to win, then your wager will be split equally between the two different handicap betting options and your stake will basically be treated as two different bets. In this case, a draw is possible and if it happens, the bookmaker will return that part of your stake as a push. This is good as it decreases your chances of losing money.

So, from the example given above, if you placed £10 on United to win, £5 would be placed on a +0.5 handicap and £5 would be placed on a +1 handicap. If the final score was a Liverpool 2-1 win, your +0.5 bet would be a loser, but your +1 bet would create a 2-2 score, a draw, which would see you get your £5 back.

However, if the match ends in a 1-1 draw, then you would be winning two bets as both of your +0.5 and +1 handicap bets would come in. You will usually be paid out even money.

Is There Such a Thing as Live Handicap Betting?

If you are into your live betting (most gamblers are nowadays), you will be glad to hear that Asian handicaps are also on offer when a match has already started. Like with all other betting types during live play, the odds will change as the match wears on, and it is your aim to try and jump in at the correct time to place your bet.

For example, let us say that Real Madrid are playing Barcelona and Real take the lead. The odds will then change. For instance, Barcelona might have started the match with a +0.5 boost, but now it stands at +2.5, meaning that they are now even bigger underdogs.

Daniel’s Opinion on Asian Handicap Bets

I love Asian handicap betting and one of the reasons for this is that it can turn a boring football match into an exciting one. If a team is playing another one whom they well above in terms of class, it can get really boring watching one team score goal after goal – unless, of course, it is the team that you support doing the scoring. So, whenever I am watching a match as a neutral and one team is much better than the other, I like to place an Asian handicap bet on the underdog and cheer them on as they defend for their lives.

FAQ about Asian Handicap Betting