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Football Handicap betting - worth the risk?

Traditionally there have always been three options available to the football punter, home win, draw and away win, known as 1X2 or 3-way betting.

Over the past couple of years the popularity and recognition of handicap betting has been increasing, mainly due to the fact that you get better odds (due to the higher risk), the fact that you are only betting on 2 outcomes - 50/50 rather than 33/33/33 - and that you (generally) get your stake back if the match is a draw.

So how does handicap betting work? Very simply really, the favourite to win the match is given a certain amount of goals handicap (hence the name) whilst the underdog is given a certain number of goals head start. Handicap odds look like this:

Man Utd - (-1) 1.94
Arsenal - (+1) 2.04

The number in brackets represents the handicap so in this instance Man Utd are favourites for the match and have a 1goal handicap. If you were to back Man Utd in this example and the match was a draw Arsenal would 'win', if Man Utd win by 1 goal the bet is a 'draw' and if Man Utd win by more than 1 goal you win your bet.

In some instances matches will be awarded 2 handicaps with the odds looking like:

Man Utd - (-0.5, -1) 1.96
Arsenal - (+0.5, +1) 2.06

When this is the case half your stake goes on each handicap, so for a £20 bet £10 would go on the 0.5 handicap and £10 would go on the 1 handicap. Generally these types of handicaps exist on very close matches, the 0.5 handicap is factored in to eliminate the prospect of the result of the bet being a draw.

Handicap betting can be the right option when you have a match that is very one sided, e.g. Man Utd v Norwich, the 3 way odds may look something like:

Man Utd - 1.12
Draw - 5.50
Norwich - 10.00

If you wanted to back Man Utd in this match you'd need a large stake to make it worth your while, conversely the handicap market may look like:

Man Utd - (-3) 1.95
Norwich - (+3) 2.04

This market is obviously far more profitable for a punter wanting Man Utd.

It also allows you a more realistic chance of making money on Norwich and this is where handicap betting comes into it's own. Sharp punters will look at handicaps and judge whether or not the favourite will make (cover) the handicap awarded to them, in this instance a result of 3-1 to Man Utd would result in a win if you backed Norwich.

Handicap betting is a great way to make money on an underdog that will predictably lose a match, the key is spotting a handicap which you believe the favourite will not cover, this offers you the chance to capitalise on backing a losing team.

Premierbet.com offers an interactive demo on how handicapping works and is a great site to use if you're into this type of betting.

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