Work Out Any Asian Handicap Betting Line Before You Stake
A line is a head start in goals. Here is how each kind settles, and a calculator that shows both halves of a quarter line.
Asian handicap betting starts one team a set number of goals ahead, and the head start is applied only when the bet settles. In the usual convention a half line (-0.5, +1.5) always has a winner, a whole line (-1, +2) returns the stake when the adjusted score is level, and a quarter line (-0.25, +0.75) splits the stake across the two neighbouring lines, so half can win while the other half is returned or lost. That is what -0.25 means: half on 0 and half on -0.5, so a draw costs half the stake. The calculator below settles any line from -3 to +3. The grid shows how each line from -2 to +2 settles, and the notes after it show what to read in a market's own rules.
Settle a line
Asian handicap settlement calculator
Pick the line for the team you back, then type the stake, the decimal odds and the final score to see how the bet settles. The calculator applies the general Asian handicap convention: a quarter line splits the stake across the two neighbouring lines, and a whole line returns the stake when the score, once the line is applied, is level. That is a convention for calculating the result of a bet. Everything is worked out in your browser and nothing is sent anywhere.
Football-style goal handicap. Rules for abandoned matches and for extra time differ from one venue to another and are not modelled here.
Example shown: line -0.75, stake £160, odds 1.97, your team 2, the other team 1, no commission. Replace them with your own.
Commission starts at 0 and takes the rate you type; the commission page works through that sum. The calculator does not know the rules of any particular market.
What does -0.25 mean in betting?
It ends 1-1. You backed the favourite at -0.25 and thought of it as one bet on one line. In the usual convention, half your stake is gone and half comes back.
The convention reads a quarter line as two bets of half the stake each, on the two lines either side of it. -0.25 sits between 0 and -0.5, so half goes on 0 and half on -0.5. Win, and both halves win. Draw, and the half on 0 is returned while the half on -0.5 loses, which costs half the stake. Lose, and both halves lose. +0.25 is the mirror image: on a draw, the half on 0 is returned and the half on +0.5 wins.
Not a refund. Not a loss. Half of each.
Sportmarket's blog writes: “Quarter lines (-0.75, +1.25) split your stake across two neighbouring lines, so half can win while the other half pushes or loses.” It adds that some books show a quarter line as two numbers: “for example -0.5/-1 instead of -0.75. They settle identically.”
Two quarter lines, £160 at 1.97
Say you stake £160 at 1.97 on -0.75 and your team wins by one goal. £80 on -0.5 wins £77.60. £80 on -1.0 is returned. That is a half win, and £237.60 comes back in all.
Now £160 at 1.97 on -0.25 and a draw. £80 on 0 is returned, £80 on -0.5 is lost, and the result is -£80.00.
Hypothetical bet, no commission. The calculator above works out figures like these for any other line.
Show the data table
| Goal difference | Result |
|---|---|
| -3 or worse | -£160.00 |
| -2 | -£160.00 |
| -1 | -£160.00 |
| Draw | -£160.00 |
| Win by 1 | +£77.60 |
| Win by 2 | +£155.20 |
| Win by 3 | +£155.20 |
Run -0.75 through three scores and the result moves a goal at a time: on a draw both halves lose, on a one-goal win the half on -0.5 wins and the half on -1.0 comes back, and on a win by two or more both halves win, so the same bet ends as a full loss, a half win or a full win, a goal apart each time.
Half, whole and quarter lines
Half line: -0.5, +1.5
Sportmarket's blog writes of half lines: “These always produce a winner or a loser, never a push, because a team cannot win by half a goal.”
Best for: a bet that should be won or lost in full.
Not ideal if: you want your stake back on a level score.
Whole line: -1, +2
For -1.0, AsianConnect's blog writes: “If Team A wins by exactly one goal, the stake is refunded because the handicap creates a virtual draw.” Sportmarket's blog writes: “A whole-goal line (-1, +2) can push and return your stake.”
Best for: a bettor who wants the stake back when the adjusted score is level.
Not ideal if: you expect to be paid for a one-goal win at -1.
Quarter line: -0.25, +0.75
In the usual convention, two bets of half the stake each, on the lines either side.
Best for: a bettor who accepts a half win or a half loss on one score.
Not ideal if: you want a clean win-or-lose result.
Signs mislead. Next to a team name, -0.25 is that team's starting position in goals; the number you stake at is the separate decimal price. Prices stay in decimals on this page, and the converter turns the other formats into them.
How a line settles
Find the line, then read across to the goal difference at full time, counted from the team you back. The grid is the usual convention, worked out for every line from -2.00 to +2.00 in quarters of a goal. The two shaded rows are the lines worked above.
| Line | -3 | -2 | -1 | 0 | +1 | +2 | +3 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -2.00 | L | L | L | L | L | P | W |
| -1.75 | L | L | L | L | L | ½W | W |
| -1.50 | L | L | L | L | L | W | W |
| -1.25 | L | L | L | L | ½L | W | W |
| -1.00 | L | L | L | L | P | W | W |
| -0.75 | L | L | L | L | ½W | W | W |
| -0.50 | L | L | L | L | W | W | W |
| -0.25 | L | L | L | ½L | W | W | W |
| 0.00 | L | L | L | P | W | W | W |
| +0.25 | L | L | L | ½W | W | W | W |
| +0.50 | L | L | L | W | W | W | W |
| +0.75 | L | L | ½L | W | W | W | W |
| +1.00 | L | L | P | W | W | W | W |
| +1.25 | L | L | ½W | W | W | W | W |
| +1.50 | L | L | W | W | W | W | W |
| +1.75 | L | ½L | W | W | W | W | W |
| +2.00 | L | P | W | W | W | W | W |
W is a full win, ½W a half win, P a push (stake returned), ½L a half loss and L a full loss.
Two readings. Row -1.25, column +1: ½L, because the stake splits across -1 and -1.5, and the half on -1 is returned while the half on -1.5 is lost. Row +0.75, column -1: ½L again, with the half on +1.0 returned and the half on +0.5 lost.
Asian handicap vs 1X2
A 1X2 market has three outcomes: home, draw, away. A draw loses a bet on either side. A handicap market has two sides, and the head start decides what a level score means. For the 0.0 line Sportmarket's blog writes: “Draw, your stake is returned. This is the same as Draw No Bet.”
So a three-way market can be played as a two-way one whenever the draw is returned or taken out of the bet. The exchange guide has the three-outcome market, and how a back and a lay work covers taking either side of a price. A 0.0 line and a draw-no-bet market can be priced separately, so set the two prices side by side for the same team before you choose, and comparing two prices says what to look at beyond the number. (The same head-start idea runs on maps in esports, which is a different market.)
What are the rules for Asian handicap betting?
The usual convention is the grid above: a half line has a winner, a whole line can return the stake, a quarter line splits it in two. A settled bet is a market's rules at work, and markets differ in theirs.
The period comes first because Orbit's exchange rules show that it varies: a general rule that leaves extra time out, and an ice hockey handicap rule that counts overtime.
| To read | Why it matters | What a source says |
|---|---|---|
| Period covered | Extra time and shoot-outs can change a result. | Orbit's exchange rules, in the general rules that apply unless a market or sport says otherwise: “Any extra-time and/or penalty shoot-out is not included.” Its ice hockey handicap markets “will be settled on the basis of the final result including overtime and any shootouts that may be played”. |
| A line placed in play | The score at the moment of the bet decides what the line applies to. | Sportmarket's blog: “In live AH betting the handicap applies to goals scored after you place the bet, not to the final score.” And: “The scoreline at the moment you bet is treated as 0-0.” |
| A match not completed | A void returns the stake. | Sportmarket's blog: “Settlement follows the bookmaker's rules for the market. Most void pre-match AH bets if the match is not completed within the scheduled window.” Orbit's exchange rules for darts and for snooker void bets on handicap markets when a match is not completed, unless the market has been unconditionally determined. |
| A quarter line | In the usual convention the stake splits in two. | Sportmarket's blog: “Your stake is split in half across the two neighbouring lines.” |
The calculator uses the usual convention
A real bet settles under that market's rules; the calculator applies only the usual convention. On Orbit Exchange the market information sits under the Rules tab or the i button of each market, and Orbit's exchange rules say “The General Rules apply to all bets unless stated otherwise in the Market Information or the Specific Sports Rules.” For football, see the football entry on the menu page.
Short answers
What does a +0.75 line mean?
In the usual convention, half the stake is on +0.5 and half on +1.0. Draw or win, and both halves win. Lose by one goal and the half on +1.0 is returned while the half on +0.5 loses. Lose by two or more and both halves go. Say you stake £160 at 1.97: a one-goal defeat costs £80.00, and a draw or a win pays +£155.20.
Is Asian handicap 0 the same as draw no bet?
Sportmarket's blog says so for the 0.0 line: a win pays, a draw returns the stake, a defeat loses it.
Does extra time count in an Asian handicap bet?
It depends on the market. The two period lines from Orbit's exchange rules in the table read differently, and Orbit puts each market's information under its Rules tab or i button.
What happens if the match is abandoned?
The rules differ. Sportmarket's blog writes that settlement follows the bookmaker's rules for the market; its full line is in the table above. For football, the sports menu page gives Orbit's exchange rules on a match not started by its scheduled date.
Where these lines are listed
AsianConnect's list of bet types includes “Asian handicaps”, “Over/unders” and “Exchange back/lay bets”. MadMarket answers “Can I bet with a handicap on a betting exchange?” with “You most definitely can!” Orbit Exchange's home page text lists “more specialized markets such as Asian Handicap, Correct Score, and Total Goals”, and its client code names a route, /asian-view.
A broker is the way in, and the way into Orbit Exchange lays the routes out. Comparing the four brokers sets them side by side, a lookup of which broker opens which venue checks the venues, and the Asian books covers the books. The other calculators sit on one page.