The teams that meet at the field are rarely equally skilled at their game. Sometimes the difference in skill between the teams can be significant, so large that it becomes meaningless the place a bet for that match. The odds would be too unfavourable, and you would have to either bet on the team that will most certainly win for very low odds or bet on the team that has high odds but has such a low chance of winning that you might as well throw your money in the lake. A handicap evens out the game as well as the odds.

What is a handicap?

Let’s say we have two very uneven teams meeting in a Soccer match; we can call them Team Winners and Team Losers. No one would want to bet on Team Losers because they will almost certainly lose, and the odds for betting on Team Winners is 1.01 and therefore not worth betting on. Adding a handicap can make the game more exciting and worth betting on. For example, we could let Team Losers lead by two goals from the start. The game setup would then look like this:

Team Winners -2 (odds) – Team Losers +2 (odds)

Under these conditions, if Team Winners score one goal and Team Losers none, Team Losers will win. If Team Winners instead score two goals and Team Losers none, bettors for Team Losers will get their stake back. Team Winner will have to score three goals more than Team Losers to win. Now the game isn’t as certain anymore.

What are full, half and quarter goal handicaps?

If the handicap is a whole number, as in the example above, it’s called a “full goal handicap”. The match’s outcome will always be an even number (i.e., a number without any decimals); because of that, one of the possible outcomes of the game is a “draw”.

Quarter Goal Handicap

If we were to make a bet with the quarter goal handicap in favour of Team Losers, it would look like this:

Team Winners -0.25 (2.1) – Team Losers +0.25 (1.95)

If we bet $100 on Team Losers under these conditions, the following will happen depending on the outcome.

• Team Losers win – you win your bet.
• The game ended with a draw – half of your stake is returned to you, and the other half is a win at the odds of 1.95. This is called a Half Win.
• Team Winners win – You lost your bet.

If we instead bet that Team Winners will win the game, using the same conditions above, the following will happen depending on the outcome.

• Team Winners win – You win your bet
• The game ended with a draw – half of your stake is returned to you, and the other half is lost. This is called a Half Loss.
• Team Losers win – you lose your bet.

Half Goal Handicap

If we were to make a bet with the half goal handicap in favour of Team Losers, it would look like this:

Team Winners -0.5 (2.1) – Team Losers +0.5 (1.95)

If we bet $100 on Team Losers under these conditions, the following will happen depending on the outcome.

• Team Losers win, or the game ends in a draw – you win your bet.
• Team Winners win – You lose your bet.

If we instead bet that Team Winners will win the game, using the same conditions above, the following will happen depending on the outcome.

• Team Winners win – You win your bet.
• Team Losers win, or the game ends in a draw – You lose your bet.

3/4 Goal Handicap

Using this handicap, Team Losers would start the game with a 0.75 goal headstart.

Team Winners -0.75 (2.1) – Team Losers +0.75 (1.95)

If we bet $100 on Team Losers under these conditions, the following will happen depending on the outcome.

• Team Losers win, or the game ends in a draw – You win your bet.
• Team Winners win with one goal difference (i.e., 1-0, 2-1 etc.) – You lose half your stake, and the other half is returned to you (Half Loss).
• Team winner wins with two or more goals – You lose the bet.

If we bet $100 on Team Winners under these conditions, the following will happen depending on the outcome.

• Team Winners win the game with two or more goals – You win the bet.
• Team Winners win the game by one goal (i.e., 1-0, 2-1 etc.) – You lose half your stake and win the other half at the odd of 2.1 (Half Win).
• If the game ends at a draw or Team Losers win, you will lose your bet.

Find out more about various types of bets: Betting at Creepybits

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