Sports Handicap Betting Explained

Handicap betting is a term that our punters in Australia will have come across many times, and for those that are new to the betting scene, it may seem a little confusing. With this sports betting handicaps explained guide, you will learn what sports betting handicaps are, how they work in Australia, and how to best make use of them.

The best way to begin getting to grips with sports betting handicaps is by understanding that not everything in the sports betting world is equal, especially when it comes to a mixture of different teams and players. Inevitably, there are going to be teams that are more liked than others, whether this is because the team has performed better in the past, or has a more fan-friendly atmosphere. Whatever the cases, when an event comes up, more often than not, punters will tend to gravitate toward one of these teams.

Top Handicap Betting Odds in Australia

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This also means that due to the rules of the betting market, one team will have better odds, and the other will not. This creates in equality among bookmakers and punters alike, and the most popular way to alleviate this uneven nature of the odds is by artificially altering those odds. These sports handicap odds are created by the bookmaker, and are forced into the market, usually in the form of dropping the odds of the favourite team, which is where the handicap comes into player.

The sports handicaps odds then become more even among both teams, making the playing ground much more fair for all the punters involved, and ensures that punters won’t all bet on the team that has the better odds, or has the better chance of winning. In a nutshell, that is sports betting handicaps explained, but like anything in sports betting, it can become more complicated.

Types of Handicap Betting

In this sports betting handicaps explained guide, we will also show you some of the Australian sports betting handicaps that take place and are available to the punters.

  • Handicap Match Betting: The most common type of sports betting handicaps, this is simply where the handicap is added to a team that is taking place in an event. The team chosen will have their sports handicap odds changed by the bookmaker, creating a deficit for that team.
  • No Draw Handicap Betting: Very similar to the type of betting above, this involves eliminating the possibility of a handicap tie between the teams. This ensures that there can be no tie in terms of the bet, and that the sports handicap odds keep at least one team slightly above the other.
  • Handicap League Betting: A type of bet that takes place at the start of a season, allowing the punter to follow one particular team. The team that is judged to be the favourite among punters usually gains the sports handicap odds, meaning that their odds are lowered, and giving them more equal odds to all teams they play against.

Handicap Betting Overall

Using this sports betting handicaps explained guides, you can start enjoying everything that Australian sports betting has to offer, making use of all the best bets and understanding the terminology for each bet.