Asian handicap betting is an increasingly popular form of betting, particularly for match bets where one side of the match bet is significantly superior to the other. The basis of Asian handicap betting lies in the way in which it attempts to even up the chances of both sides of the match.

To achieve this evening up process, the side judged to be superior is artificially handicapped for betting purposes by the market-maker, relative to the side judged to be inferior. In other words, the side perceived to be the weaker of the two is awarded a notional head start as far as the match betting is concerned. The consequence is that the odds about the two options are brought closer to each other than would be the case if no handicapping process were involved.

Asian handicap betting has two forms.
The first is the single handicap, and the second is the dual handicap. In the case of the latter, you are effectively placing two bets, each of which is worth a half of your total stake.

Consider first the basic single handicap, and take for the sake of simplicity a simple half goal handicap in favour of the away side.

Example: Man Utd (-½) v. Man City (+ ½)
In this example, Manchester City, playing away, are given an artificial half goal start over Manchester United for betting purposes.
With the benefit of this advantage, if Man City win or draw the match, they (Man City) will be declared the winners for
betting purposes. If Man Utd win the match, then all bets placed on Man City will be losers. This is because Man Utd will have scored at least one goal more than their opponents, which is sufficient to outweigh the notional half-goal advantage handed to the visitors.
Assume now that the perceived margin of superiority is greater than this.

Example: Arsenal (-1½) v. West Ham (+ 1½)
Here West Ham are given a 1½ goal start over Arsenal for betting purposes. If Arsenal win the game by at least two goals, all bets placed on Arsenal will be winning bets. If West Ham win, draw or lose by a margin of just one goal, however, then all bets on West Ham are judged to be winning bets.

Take the case where both teams are judged by the market-makers to be evenly matched. This is shown on the handicap as follows:

Example: Tottenham (level) v. Everton (level)
In these circumstances, stakes are simply returned if the match is drawn. If Tottenham win, on the other hand, all bets on Tottenham are winning bets. Similarly, if Leeds win, all bets on Everton are winning bets.

Take now the case of a handicap of exactly one goal.

Example: Newcastle (-1) v. Sunderland (+ 1)
In this case, Sunderland are given a one goal start over Newcastle. In these circumstances, if Sunderland win or if the game is drawn, then bets placed on Sunderland will be winning bets. If Newcastle win by at least two goals, bets on Newcastle will be winning bets. If Newcastle win by one goal, however, the handicap bet is even and so all stakes are returned.
As long as the handicap line includes a half goal, a handicap draw is of course not possible.
In those cases where the handicap includes a whole number, a handicap draw is a possible outcome, in which case all stakes are returned.
There are more complex outcomes, where two handicaps are involved. In these circumstances, half your stake is placed at one handicap and half at the other.

Example: Liverpool (-0, -½) v. Chelsea (+ 0, + ½)
This handicap actually represents two bets – half your stake at the 0, or level, handicap and half your stake at the half goal handicap in favour of Chelsea.
In this case, if you bet on Chelsea and the game is drawn, one half of your bet is a winner (the handicap bet at + ½) and the other half of your bet is effectively void (the bet at level handicap) and that part of your stake is returned. If you bet on
Liverpool, and the game is drawn, again half of the bet is effectively void (that portion of the stake is returned) and the
remaining half of the total stake (on the handicap bet at - ½) is lost.

Example: Aston Villa (-½, -1) v. Southampton (+ ½, + 1)
In this case, your total stake is divided equally between the ½ and 1 goal handicap bets in favour of Southampton. In these circumstances if you bet on Southampton, and Aston Villa beat Southampton by a single goal, one half of your bet is cancelled out by the one goal handicap, and therefore one half of your total stake is returned. The other half of your bet is a losing bet, since the half goal handicap does not cover the one goal deficit. If you bet on Aston Villa, and Villa win by a single goal, again half the bet is effectively void, and this portion of the stake will be returned on the - 1 goal handicap. On the other hand, half of the bet will be a winning bet, since the one goal victory is not cancelled out by the ½ goal handicap advantage enjoyed by Southampton.