What is the definition of European Handicap?

What is the European handicap? - Sportytrader

Not every sporting event presents an equal matchup. While some of the most exciting fixtures lineup evenly-matched sports teams with equal opposition, there are times where events throw up David and Goliath-style contests where one side is a heavy favourite to win. One way of mitigating against this and making betting more attractive is to introduce handicapping, a hamper against the favourite that allows for punters to take more appealing bets on the outcome. The European handicap is one of the most popular types of handicap applied in betting - but what is it and how does it work?

The European Handicap explained

When opponents line up with a heavily uneven expectation of success, the betting options can ordinarily seem a little dry. Few punters want to back an outright winner in a market that has the favourite at 1.01, for example - likewise, few would feel confident backing the away side on odds of 50.00 when they have virtually no chance of success. One way bookies get round this and continue to offer attractive betting propositions is through the European handicap.

The system works by assigning a numerical advantage to one player or team before the match starts. The numerical hamper is applied to the final result before determining the outcome of the bet, in a way that makes for a much more even contest. Rather than simply winning outright, the winner has to win by the margin set by the bookie before bets will be paid - with a correspondingly positive impact on the odds quoted for their win.

Unlike other forms of handicap, most notably the Asian handicap system, there is scope for a tie result, which would ruin your bet. In order to win, a bet on a European handicap system would have to surpass the numerical disadvantage applied by the bookie, with the team you’ve backed winning by more than the margin allowed by the bookie.

Types of European Handicap

There are broadly three different types of European handicap that you may encounter in your sports betting - the positive handicap, the draw handicap and the negative handicap. Each of these are presented by bookies as betting options on selected events, which you can use to your advantage in appropriate bets.

Positive European handicap: A positive handicap applies an advantage to the team or player through to be less strong in the contest. In a football match, a positive handicap of +2 gives a team a 2 goal headstart going into a match, such that even if they lose 1-0, the bet will still be a winner - they would have to lose 2-0 for the event to be deemed a draw, and 3-0 for the bet to lose outright.

European draw handicap: An advantage is awarded to one of the teams paying out if the match ends in a notional draw. A +1 advantage means a 1-0 loss would be deemed to be a 1-1 draw for the purposes of settling the bet, which would be paid as a winner when you’ve bet on a European draw handicap.

Negative European handicap: The inverse of the positive handicap, a negative handicap is a negative weight applied to the result of a team deemed to be the favourite. In this case, a team with -2 would need to win at least 3-0 to be declared the winner on this bet, with the odds reflected accordingly to account for the negative handicap.

European Handicap strategies

European handicap betting can be used to your advantage - particularly where you feel the market is over or underestimating the size of the gulf between the two competitors in a match. For example, when you consider a team to have a slightly better chance than would suggest on paper - for example, prospective giant-killers in a cup match, backing a team on a positive handicap may be beneficial.

Alternatively, if you think a team or player will run away with an event, backing them even at a negative handicap will allow you to get better odds than you would on a standard outright market.

However you choose to use European handicap bets, it’s important you do so with the right strategies in place. That means, at its most fundamental, that you should know and understand the betting markets and sports you’re getting involved in before staking your money. Never bet blind, even on a handicap - you should know why you’re betting the way you are, and feel confident based on the data available to you that you’re making a sensible choice.

Look for trends, patterns and form, as well as at the individual variables and momentum in the sports you’re betting on. These can all factor in as important considerations when choosing to use handicap bets, and determining whether these represent better value than the others markets available to you for your betting.

Tip: Use Asian Handicap for better odds

A top tip to consider when planning to use handicap betting is to consider Asian handicap markets. These function in the same way as European handicap bets, but for one crucial difference - the possibility of a tie outcome is removed. In European handicap betting, a tie can ruin your bet if you’re betting for or against one particular side.

However, with Asian handicap betting, a tied result when the handicap is applied means the bet is cancelled and your stake returned, giving you a crucial edge that would otherwise not be available to you. Where possible, Asian handicap betting offers you this additional guarantee against drawn outcomes, which can be useful when you’re playing for maximum value from your bets.

European handicap bets are a useful tool for capitalising from opportunities when teams or players are very unevenly matched. Compared to other markets, they can present options for winning at better odds than would otherwise be the case - even with the handicap applied to the outcome. However, it’s important that when you do turn to handicap betting, you do so in full knowledge of the data and statistics around your sporting event, so you can be sure you’re making wise betting decisions.

What is the definition of European Handicap?

The European Handicap explained

Types of European Handicap

European Handicap strategies

Tip: Use Asian Handicap for better odds

More about sports betting methods