This page explains "European Handicap(EH)," a type of betting offered by online bookmakers. Learn what it is and how it works here. You can get more fun with football match prediction by understanding EH betting!
What is a European Handicap?
In regular, standard match betting, punters will bet on Team A winning, drawing or losing.
But this is sometimes not very profitable for punters because some teams are much stronger than other teams.
For example, in International football betting you may see Germany vs San Marino or Italy vs the Faroe Islands or in cup competitions Manchester City vs Charlton.
When these stronger and weaker teams are matched to play each other then you will always find that the odds are often so short e.g. 1/10, 1/20, 1/50 that punters get very little profit for a larger stake (or risk) and so they don’t want to gamble on those matches.
So to get punters to gamble on these matches bookmakers will try to make it more difficult and more interesting and more profitable for the punter by “leveling the match”.
To do this, they will offer what is called a “handicap” bet (sometimes called the “Single Handicap” or “European Handicap” or “3-way handicap” in football betting or the “Spread” in other sports – especially in American sports).
This means, that before the game, the bookmakers give the “weaker” team a winning start to the weaker team and a “disadvantage” or “losing start” to the stronger team.
To do this, they will, for example, apply a one goal (+1) or two goal (+2) or a three goal (+3) start or advantage to the weaker team. Or another way to look at it is they give the stronger team a losing start or a minus goal difference – (-1), (-2), (-3).
For example
Barcelona vs Celtic – most people think that Barcelona will beat Celtic very easily so to make it more “fair” or “even” or to “balance” the result the handicap might give Celtic +2 goals, so before the game has started the result is:
Barcelona 0 – Celtic 2
And may look something like this…
Barcelona (-2) evens
Handicap Draw (-2) 3/1
Celtic (+2) 2/1
How do you win?
Who do you think will win? If you think Barcelona will win the match then Barcelona will have to score 3 or more goals and Celtic must not score for you to win your bet.
If the true result is 3-0 to Barcelona
Handicap bet result = 3-2 – Barcelona wins @ evens (1/1)
If you bet on Barcelona, your bet wins. Draw and Celtic bet loses.
If the true result is 2-0 to Barcelona
Handicap bet result = 2-2 – The game is a draw @ 3/1
Both Barcelona and Celtic bet loses. Only Draw bet wins.
If the true result is 1-0 to Barcelona
Handicap be result = 1-2 – Celtic win @ 2/1
If you bet on Barcelona or Draw, your bet loses. Only Celtic bet wins.
Sometimes the “draw” is not offered by the bookmaker so if the result is 2-0 to Barcelona and the “draw” is not offered then all bets would be refunded.
What about even matched or “close” teams?
When two teams are evenly matched or extremely close and it is more difficult to say who is “stronger” or “weaker” then the bookmakers will reduce the handicap.
For example
Liverpool vs Manchester United
Liverpool (-1) 3/1
Draw 11/4
Manchester United (+1) 8/11
If you bet on Liverpool to win, then for you to win your bet, the true result must be any of Liverpool 2-0, 3-0, 3-1, 4-0, 4-1, 4-2, 5-3, etc. It means you need two or more score differences to win the bet.
If you bet on the game to be a Draw, then for you to win your bet, the result must be any of Liverpool 1-0, 2-1, 3-2, 4-3, 5-4, etc. It means you need Liverpool wins by only 1 goal difference to win your bet.
If you bet on Manchester United, then for you to win your bet, the result must be any of Draw 0-0, 1-1, 2-2, 3-3, 4-4, or Manchester United win by any margin 1-0, 2-0, 2-1, 3-0, 3-1, etc.
Handicap Betting Results Table
We made a table chart for European handicap results. It helps you to understand European handicap betting rules and when the bet wins or loses.
*Table terms meaning
Won+3 means a team you bet won by over 3 points difference
Won+2 means a team you bet won by 2 points difference
Won+1 means a team you bet won by 1 points difference
Lost-1 means a team you bet lost by 1 points difference
Lost-2 means a team you bet lost by 2 points difference
Lost-3 means a team you bet lost by over 3 points difference
W…100% Won your bet
L…100% Lost your bet
If you bet on "home or away team win" with handicap
| Handicap (Your bet) |
Match Result (A team you bet) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Won+3 | Won+2 | Won+1 | Draw | Lost-1 | Lost-2 | Lost-3 | |
| +3 | W | W | W | W | W | W | L |
| +2 | W | W | W | W | W | L | L |
| +1 | W | W | W | W | L | L | L |
| -1 | W | W | L | L | L | L | L |
| -2 | W | L | L | L | L | L | L |
| -3 | L | L | L | L | L | L | L |
For example
If you bet on a team with a -1 handicap and the team won by 2 point difference, your bet win(look at the cell -1, Won+2).
If your team wins by 1 point difference, your bet loses(see the cell -1, Won+1).
In short, to win with the -1 handicap needs over 2 points difference.
If you bet on "Draw(Tie)" with handicap
This table shows the results when you bet on a draw handicap odds.
| Handicap (Your bet) |
Match Result(For teamX) | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Won+3 | Won+2 | Won+1 | Draw | Lost-1 | Lost-2 | Lost-3 | |
| Tie TeamX +3 | L | L | L | L | L | L | W |
| Tie TeamX +2 | L | L | L | L | L | W | L |
| Tie TeamX +1 | L | L | L | L | W | L | L |
| Tie TeamX -1 | L | L | W | L | L | L | L |
| Tie TeamX -2 | L | W | L | L | L | L | L |
| Tie TeamX -3 | W | L | L | L | L | L | L |
Draw handicap is simple. You can see information that which team has a plus or minus handicap on the odds.
For example
Liverpool -1
Draw (Liverpool-1 and Arsenal +1)
Arsenal +1
If you bet on the draw, your bet wins when only Arsenal loses the match by 1 point difference.(0-1, 1-2, 3-4…)
Look at another example
Barcelona -2
Draw (Juventus +2)
Juventus +2
If you bet on the draw (Juventus +2), and this match finished Barcelona win with 2 points differences, then you can get winnings.
Final word
It's a little hard to understand the rules of European handicap betting correctly without any guide for beginners. We hope our guide helps you to learn how EH betting works.
Handicap is one of the most popular markets for football betting online. Generally, Odds prices are better than the neutral 1x2.
To win the handicap betting, you need to predict the match score difference. So a bit tricky, but it would make fun to watch the match.
If you are into handicap betting, we recommend knowing another handicap system. There are two types of handicap bets in online sports betting. One is EH above, and another is called the "Asian handicap(AH)." EH and AH has some differences. Learn what it is, and get more excitement and winnings using both handicaps!
