- Verdict
- Excellent
- Coins in the cashier
- 6
- Payout ceiling
- from 50,000 USDT in instalments cl. 8.8
- ID can be requested
- case by case
How Asian handicap lines settle, from level ball to minus one and a quarter
Guide · Markets
An Asian handicap gives one team a head start in goals so that the draw drops out of the market. Half-goal lines win or lose outright, whole lines can refund the stake, and quarter lines split it in two. Each type is settled here with worked examples.
Written by: Callum Reddaway·Checked by: Joana Teixeira·Updated
An Asian handicap is a football market that hands one team a goal start, or a goal deficit, so that only two outcomes remain and the draw disappears from the betting. The handicap can be a half goal, a whole goal or a quarter goal, and each type settles differently, which is where most confusion starts.
10 sportsbooks for this page, highest verdict first
- Verdict
- Excellent
- Coins in the cashier
- in cashier
- Payout ceiling
- 1,000,000 USDT per week cl. 6.10
- ID can be requested
- 2,500 EUR
- Verdict
- Excellent
- Coins in the cashier
- 13
- Payout ceiling
- from 5,000 USD in instalments cl. 11.5
- ID can be requested
- US$2,500
- Verdict
- Excellent
- Coins in the cashier
- 12
- Payout ceiling
- US$100,000 per week cl. 9.6
- ID can be requested
- case by case
- Verdict
- Excellent
- Coins in the cashier
- 15
- Payout ceiling
- 10,000 EUR per day clause number not recorded
- ID can be requested
- case by case
- Verdict
- Excellent
- Coins in the cashier
- 9+
- Payout ceiling
- not published
- ID can be requested
- case by case
- Verdict
- Excellent
- Coins in the cashier
- 9+
- Payout ceiling
- not published
- ID can be requested
- case by case
- Verdict
- Good
- Coins in the cashier
- 3
- Payout ceiling
- not published
- ID can be requested
- case by case
- Verdict
- Good
- Coins in the cashier
- in cashier
- Payout ceiling
- 5,000 EUR per week cl. 6.11
- ID can be requested
- not published
- Verdict
- Good
- Coins in the cashier
- in cashier
- Payout ceiling
- no limit
- ID can be requested
- case by case
Why the draw drops out
A normal match-odds market has three prices: home, draw, away. Give the stronger side a handicap of -0.5 and its opponent +0.5, and a draw now counts as a defeat for the favourite and a win for the underdog. Two outcomes, two prices. That is the whole trick, and every other line is a variation on it.
The sign tells you the direction. A minus line is a deficit the team must overcome; a plus line is a head start. The two sides of one market always mirror each other: -1 on the home side is +1 on the away side.
Half-goal lines: no refunds
Lines ending in .5 (-0.5, +0.5, -1.5, +1.5 and so on) can only win or lose, because a team cannot score half a goal.
An example: you stake 100 USDT on the home team at -1.5, price 2.30. The team must win by two clear goals.
- Home wins 2–0 or 3–1: the slip returns 230 USDT.
- Home wins 1–0: the slip loses, because 1 - 1.5 leaves them behind.
- Draw or away win: the slip loses.
Half lines are the simplest to read and the easiest to compare across books.
Whole-goal lines: the push
Lines with whole numbers (0, -1, +1, -2) introduce a third result: the push, where the stake is refunded.
Level ball, or 0, is the plainest: the bet wins if your team wins, is refunded on a draw, and loses on a defeat. An example at -1, price 1.80, stake 100 USDT:
- Home wins by two or more: 180 USDT returned.
- Home wins by exactly one: 100 USDT returned, a push.
- Draw or defeat: stake lost.
The refund costs something. A whole line is usually priced shorter than the half line just beyond it, because part of the risk has been taken away.
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Quarter lines: the stake splits in two
Quarter lines (-0.25, -0.75, +0.25, +1.25 and so on) look strange until you see that they are two bets in one. The stake is divided equally between the two neighbouring lines. Some boards print them as a pair, such as “0, -0.5” instead of -0.25.
An example at -0.75, price 1.95, stake 100 USDT. Half goes on -0.5, half on -1:
- Home wins by two or more: both halves win, 97.50 + 97.50 = 195 USDT returned.
- Home wins by exactly one: the -0.5 half wins 97.50 and the -1 half is refunded 50, so 147.50 USDT comes back. This is a half-win.
- Draw or defeat: both halves lose.
An example at -0.25, price 2.05, stake 100 USDT. Half on 0, half on -0.5:
- Home wins: 205 USDT returned.
- Draw: the level-ball half is refunded 50, the -0.5 half loses. The slip returns 50 USDT, a half-loss.
- Away win: stake lost.
The same rules from the favourite's side, across the common lines:
| Line | Wins by 2+ | Wins by 1 | Draw | Loses |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| -0.25 | Win | Win | Half-loss | Loss |
| -0.5 | Win | Win | Loss | Loss |
| -0.75 | Win | Half-win | Loss | Loss |
| -1 | Win | Push | Loss | Loss |
| -1.25 | Win | Half-loss | Loss | Loss |
| -1.5 | Win | Loss | Loss | Loss |
For the underdog's side, read the table in reverse: a half-loss for the favourite is a half-win for the opponent at the mirrored plus line.
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With two prices, the margin is easy to see. An example: -0.25 at 1.95 and +0.25 at 1.95. Each side implies 51.28 per cent, together 102.56 per cent, so the overround is 2.56 per cent. Compare that with match odds on the same game, say 2.40, 3.30 and 3.10, which add up to about 104.2 per cent. In that example the handicap line is the cheaper way to back the favourite. The guide to the vig explains the sum in full, and the odds converter handles prices quoted in other formats.
Lines move in quarter steps. When a team's chances improve, the book either shortens the price on the existing line or moves the line itself, from -0.5 to -0.75, and resets the prices near evens.
When the line makes sense, and when it does not
The handicap suits matches with a clear favourite at a short match-odds price. Instead of taking, for example, 1.30 on a win, you can take something near evens on -1.25 or -1.5 and be paid for the margin of victory you expect.
It is less useful where a draw is the most likely single outcome and you want to back it; there is no draw to back. Quarter lines also make records harder to keep, because a half-win or half-loss is neither a win nor a loss; log the return in coin, not just the result.
Read the operator's rules on in-play lines before betting during a match. Some settle a live line only on goals scored after the bet is placed, and the score at the moment of the bet is shown on the slip; if the rules work that way, a 1–0 lead before your bet does not count towards the handicap.
Handicaps outside football
The same principle runs through other sports under other names. In baseball it is the run line, covered on the crypto MLB betting page. In basketball it is the point spread, and the half-point lines there behave exactly like half-goal lines, as the page on crypto basketball betting explains. Rugby uses points handicaps with a winning-margin market alongside, set out under crypto rugby betting.
Goals markets are the natural partner to the handicap: the both teams to score guide covers the other football market that settles on the scoreline rather than the winner. For a wider view of operators, the main table of crypto bet sites is the place to compare cashiers.
What does Asian handicap -0.75 mean?
Your stake is split equally between -0.5 and -1. If the team wins by two or more, both halves win. If it wins by exactly one, the -0.5 half wins and the -1 half is refunded, a half-win. A draw or a defeat loses the whole stake.
What is the difference between Asian handicap 0 and draw no bet?
In settlement there is none: a win pays at the quoted price, a draw returns the stake and a defeat loses it. The two may still be priced slightly differently by the same bookmaker, so compare them before choosing.
Why would I take a quarter line instead of a half line?
A quarter line softens one result. At -0.25 a draw costs only half the stake instead of all of it, in exchange for a slightly shorter price than -0.5 would offer. It is a way of paying a little for partial cover.
Do Asian lines count goals in extra time?
Normally the line is settled on the result after regular time including stoppage time, but cup ties and some competitions have their own rules. The operator's sports rules state what counts, and they decide the settlement.
Is the margin lower on Asian handicap than on match odds?
Often, because there are two prices instead of three, but not always. Add up the implied probabilities of both sides of the line and compare them with the three match-odds prices for the same game.