This article reveals the key peculiarities of European handicaps and the main differences from Asian handicaps.

European handicap – what does it mean?

European handicap (3 way handicap) differs from Asian primarily because of impossibility of bet return regardless of the outcome of the event. That’s why there is also an alternative name – 3Way handicap, which implies three possible outcomes: Team 1 win, Team 2 win or a draw (including the initial result).

This handicap type is usually referred to as European Handicap, Handicap Result, EH.

It may seem that it difficult to reckon such bets, but it’s perfectly clear in practice.

The picture shows the match Fulham vs Brentford with some popular bookmakers, who already indicated a conditional initial score 0-1 in Brentford’s favor, which we would proceed from.

If we bet European handicap for Fulham, the club should win by 2 goals or more.

In fact, it’s the equivalent of the Asian handicap (-1.5). It’s like we bet negative handicap for Fulham when 0:1 in favour of Brentford: we’d need it to end with a result of 3-1, 4:2 etc.

In case we bet a draw (X), Fulham would need to defeat the opponent by 2 goals – (2-0, 3-1 etc) so our wager succeeds. Otherwise, our bet won’t achieve a successful outcome.

Betting a European handicap for Brentford is equivalent to the Asian handicap (+1.5): the guest team should beat the rival, tie the game, or lose by 1 goal.

Advantages and disadvantages

The one of the main advantages of European handicap in comparison with Asian handicap is that calculation of this bet type is much easier for bettors. In order to describe in a few words what is asian handicap bet means – let’s see the following example:

It’s all the Asian handicap bets for the already mentioned match Fulham vs Brentford. As you see, every handicap here is divided into two: eg., an Asian handicap +0.75 for Brentford is divided into +0.5 and +1.0. This means the first part of your bet will be wagered to a +0.5 handicap and the second – to a +1 handicap.

Let’s make the necessary calculations:

Suppose that we have 200 euros. One part of your bet (100 euros) will be placed to AH2(+0.5) and the second one (100 euros) – on AH2(+1.0). The odds for the both parts are the same – 1.56.

If Brentford win or the match ends in a draw, the player’s bet wins in full (both halves are paid out €156). If Fulham win by 1 goal, half the bet (€100) on the handicap (+0.5) is lost and the other half (€100) on the handicap (+1) is refunded. If Fulham win by 2 goals or more, both handicaps are lost and the bet is considered a complete loser.

Not surprising that it’s quite hard to calculate such bets, and especially for the newbies. That’s why many bettors prefer to operate with European handicaps.

Another feature of European handicap is that bet return is excluded. If you bet 3way handicaps, you can either win or lose. There is no return option for these bets. It can be an advantage for some bettors but the others can decide it’s a big disadvantage.

Anyway, the real disadvantage of this betting type is that European handicaps do not guarantee you getting profit even in the long run. Such guaranteed profit can be possible only with the help of surebets combined with reliable surebet search service like BetBurger.

Conclusion

European handicap is not as difficult to manage as it may seem at first glance. The major rule is to always consider the conditional initial score set by the bookie.

On the other hand – you need some luck and good knowledge to analyze correct sports events, if you want to get a profit using this bet type in the long run.