The Asian handicap market is a betting market that most people will know about, but few people use. This is because at a first glance it can look extremely complicated, and a lot of people do not want to spend time learning the market, they just want to bet on something they know and understand. However, if you are prepared to put a little time and effort in, learning the Asian handicap lines is relatively easy, and can be very profitable for your betting.

Those who are new to Asian handicap betting should stick to the simple lines to start off with. These are known as single Asian lines, and they are either whole numbers like -2, or half numbers like -2.5. There is no draw betting when using Asian lines, so if the bet ends in a draw then all bets are void and you will receive your stake back when you bet on the simple lines.

The way to use Asian lines to their full effect is to back a team you think will win comfortably, or back a team who are huge underdogs, but you think they can pull off a shock, or lose by a small margin.

If you strongly fancy a favourite to win a game comfortably then backing them on the Asian handicap lines will give you a far better price on them. For example, if the team you want to back is 1/4 or 1/5 to win the game outright, then you can expect to see them at around evens on the -2 Asian handicap. They need to win the game comfortably for you to win, here are the scenarios for a bet on the Asian handicap.

The key thing to take from the table above is that your team can win the game, but your bet can still lose and this is important to remember when you are backing on the Asian lines.

Sometimes the bookmakers will price up a team as a huge underdog, and you may fancy them to put up a good fight, although you are not confident enough to back them to win. This is a great time to use the Asian handicap lines to your advantage. If you are backing a team who are around 10/1 or 12/1 to win the game then you should get around evens on them with an Asian handicap line of +2. To see how you can profit from this bet, take a look at the table below.