We understand that Asian Betting seems like a challenging idea to grasp. It may even scare you a little. But don't worry, we are going to make it very simple for you to understand.

• Goal Line Betting Explained Against
• Define Betting Line

Asian Betting is advantageous if appropriately used, and it's a real shame such a large number of sports bettors avoid it.

Why Is It Called Asian Betting?

1. A losing bet is quite simply you betting on the Cowboys -4.5 and they only win by four. You lose the money that you placed on that bet. A push wouldn’t happen in the example above because a team can’t win by a half point. It is very common, though, to have a betting line of.
2. Manchester United +1.5 (EVEN) The Goal Line in soccer is comparable to a point-spread wager in football. It allows bettors to minimize their risk on heavy money-line prices or even better reward them with generous payouts. In the above example, Barcelona is -1.5 goals (-140) on the Goal Line.

Asian goal line bets are, quite simply, an alternative way to bet on the number of goals scored in a football match. The standout thing about Asian goal line bets is that they offer refunds in certain circumstances. Importantly, Asian goal line bets are not the same as Asian.

This type of betting originated in the Asian betting markets, where they only wanted a bet to have two outcomes; either Team A wins, or Team B wins. Having a draw wasn't desirable, so the Asian Betting system eliminates that possibility.

Later, Asian Handicap Betting was expanded to other betting markets where there are now three possible outcomes.

Here are the three main types of Asian Betting we regularly see in football (soccer) markets?

• Asian Goal Lines
• Asian Corner Lines
• Asian Handicaps

The first two are the easiest to explain, and luckily, the most frequently used, so we'll start there.

Asian Goal Line Bets

Also known on online bookmaker sites, like Bet365, as Goal Line or First Half Goal Lines.

Asian Lines become easier to understand when you realise there are just two types:

• Half Numbers (i.e.Over 0.5 Goal Line)
• Whole Numbers (i.e. Over 1.0 Goal Line)

Half Number Asians are EXACTLY the same as standard goal bets. Over 0.5 Goal Line is identical to Over 0.5 Goals.

Surprisingly, if you use Bet365, you will find that the Asian Goal Line often offers better odds than the standard goal bet lines. It seems to be an anomaly that's worth exploiting to get a better price. Here’s an example:

Whole Number Asian Lines require more goals to win the bet, but you get much better odds AND a safety margin built-in.

Let's take a look at an example:

You are watching a game that's 0-0 at 70mins, and you have a couple of goal betting options.

1. Over 0.5 Goal Line at 2.0 odds
2. Over 1.0 Goal Line at 6.0 odds

If you took Bet 1, and a goal is scored, you win at odds of 2.0.

However, if you took Bet 2 and your team takes a goal lead, at worst, your stake refunds as you have matched the Asian Line. If 2 or more goals are scored, you bet wins at odds of 6.0.

Also, with Bet 2, if a goal is scored quickly, the cash-out value may be more than the Bet 1 odds would have given you.

Split Asian Goal Lines

Some bookmakers offer Split Asian Lines. (Our favourite for this is Betfair).

This means that if you placed a £10 bet on the above example, your stake is split into two parts. £5 on Over 1.0 Goal line and £5 on Over 1.5 Goal line.

• If 1 goal is scored, you will be refunded £5
• If 2 goals are scored, you win both bets.

Split Asian Goal Lines are a great way of getting more significant returns for less risk.

Asian Handicap Corners

Corner line bets are like Goal Line bets. If it's a whole number Asian corner bet, you get a refund of your stake if the number of corners is the same as the line you took. I.e. You bet on 9 Asian Corners, and the game finishes with exactly 9 corners.

If more than 9 corners are conceded, you win. We love a bet on corners and corner markets are very profitable once you understand them.

Let's look at another example:

It's 30mins into the first half of a game, and there have only been 2 corners so far.

As you are obviously signed up to our First Half Alert Channel, you get notified that it's worth looking at first-half corners in this game.

You open the betting app, and the line you are offered is Over 4.0 First Half Asian Corners at odds of evens. You have a couple of choices:

1. You can take the bet knowing that if 2 more corners are conceded your money is safe as the game will have 4 corners at Half-time. If 3 corners are conceded, you win.
2. You wait for the line to change as the first half progresses hoping that if there are more corners, they will be late in the half.

If you take option 2, as the clock ticks down the line will eventually change to a half number Asian: Over 3.5 First Half Asian Corners.

Now you only need 2 corners to win. However, this is riskier as the refund element of the bet is removed from the equation.

What Does Asian Handicap Mean?

Asian Handicap Betting is by far the most confusing of the three Asian Betting systems.

The easiest way to understand the Asian Handicap market is to imagine that at the time you place your bet, the game is 0-0, even if the actual score is 5-4.

Three different handicaps can be placed:

• A full goal handicap, such as -0, -1, -2
• A half goal handicap such as -0.5, -1.5
• A quarter goal handicap such as -0.25, -0.75, -1.25

Whichever of these you choose will determine how you calculate your return. Let's take a look at each one.

Full Goal Handicap

Examples of a full goal handicap would be a -1 or +1 goal start to a team.

When you bet -1 goal on a team, there are three possible outcomes:

• If they win by 1 goal, i.e. 1-0 or 2-1 final score, your stake will be returned.
• If the team wins by 2 or more goals you win
• If the team draws, you lose.

Half Goal Handicap

Examples of a full goal handicap would be -0.5 or +0.5 goal start for a team.

When you bet -0.5 goal on a team, there are only two possible outcomes:

• If the team wins by 1 or more goals you win
• If the team draws or loses, you lose your bet.

Quarter Goal Handicap

Quarter lines look more complicated, but they’re not. For a quarter goal handicap, i.e. -0.75 or +0.75 goals, there are four possible outcomes:

• If the team wins by 1 or more goals you win
• If the team draws or loses, you lose your bet.
• You have a half win (see below)
• You have a half loss (see below)

The last two outcomes work in a similar way to the split Asian Goal line. The stake is divided evenly between two bet lines. Ie. A £10 stake on a -0.75 Handicap would be; £5 on a -1 handicap and £5 on a -0.5 handicap.

Check the table at the end of this article to see how a particular bet line would win or lose.

How To Win With Asian Handicap Betting?

So, now you’re wondering how to take everything you’ve learned and start to win using Asian Handicap Betting. Which team should you back? Should you take a positive or negative Asian Handicap?

Here are three betting guides to help you win more bets with less risk:

The Pre-match Favourite:

If the pre-match favourite team is losing, or you think they will score at least one more goal than the opposition, look for a negative handicap (-0.5 or -1.0). If they score for fun, and winning the game in style is the likely outcome, perhaps take a higher goal line.

Evenly Matched Teams:

These bets are great for teams that rarely concede (thanks to Jose), or if you think a team can hold out without conceding, look to place a zero handicap (0.0 Handicap – this is the same as a Draw No Bet) or perhaps a slightly more Positive Asian Handicap such as +0.5.

The Underdog:

If you feel the weaker team might only concede a single goal, try a positive handicap over +1, such as +1.5 or +2.0. This gives the underdog a head start.

Related Posts

Have you ever wondered what the different Goal Lines mean?

You can bet on Over/Under 2.5, or Over/Under 2,25 or Over/Under 2. But what are Over 2.5 bets, or even 2.25? There are no half goals! Or quarter goals! It doesn’t seem to make sense. Does it?

We will explain what the different Goal Lines signify and after you’ve finished the article you will never be confused again!

Betting on .5 Goals

One of the most common bet types is Over/ Under .5 goals.

Obviously, there is no way for half a goal to be scored in a game. The expression .5 is just an aid to ensure that it is clear on what you are betting.

For example, if you place a bet on Over/Under 2.5 goals, then the .5 is the ‘turning point’. You win if there are at least 3 goals scored, and you lose if the match ends with less than 2 goals scored.

Here’s an example…

If you still have difficulties understanding the concept, here’s another article on the .5 bet: A Brief Introduction to Over Under Goals Betting.

Betting on Goal Lines with Whole Numbers

Bets on whole numbers are often called Goal Lines or Asian Goal Lines. Although, technically, this isn’t correct as all bets described here are ‘goal lines’, but we will be using the term as it’s widely used by punters and bookmakers.

They are somewhat similar to Asian Handicap betting on the 1×2 result. As the name suggests, the possibility of a refund exists if a certain result comes in, in this case the ‘Goal Line’.

Similar to the AH, if the match finishes in a draw result (= ‘goal line’), it’s a “push”. The punter gets their money back. Otherwise, if there are less goals scored than the goal line, the stake is lost, and if more goals are scored, it is a win.

In the above example, if you were to bet on Over 2 Goals then you get your stake back (push) if the final score is exactly 2 goals (e.g. 2-0, 1-1, 0-2).

All the other Goal Lines naturally follow the same pattern.

Betting on .75 Goals or .25 Goals – or – Whole Number, .75 or .25

If the .5 bets are combined with Asian Goal Line bets, then you get .75 or .25 Goals bets. Half of your stake is placed on the .5 bet whilst the other half is placed on the Asian Goal Line bet.

These bets are often shown as either Over 2.25 – or – Over 2, 2.5.

For example, if you place a bet of £20 on Over 2, 2.5 it means that you are placing a split bet. £10 on the 2 Goals Asian Goal Line, and £10 on Over 2.5 Goals.

If the match finishes…

• with 3 or more goals, then you will receive the winnings of both bets
• with exactly 2 goals, half of the stake will be returned as it was a push (2 Goals Asian Goal Line), and you will lose the other half (Over 2.5 bet)
• with less than 2 goals… your entire stake is lost

Goal Line Betting Explained Against

The same applies to the .75 bets, as shown below:

In this example you place a £20 bet on the Over 2.5, 3 goal line. Again, you would be placing a split bet. £10 on the 3 Goals Asian Goal Line and £10 on Over 2.5 Goals.

Define Betting Line

If this match finishes…

• with 4 or more goals, you will receive the winnings of both bets
• with exactly 3 goals, half of the stake will be returned as it was a push (3 Goals Asian Goal Line), but you will win the other half (Over 2.5 bet)
• with 2 or less goals… your entire stake is lost

To be honest, I would recommend keeping your hands away from these bets, although it may sound tempting to get half of the stake back. Although these are referred to as being a single bet they are actually two completely different bets rolled into one!

If you do not really understand odds calculation and probabilities, then it is definitely a bet which bookmakers love! They can adjust the pricing as they like, without the average punter fully understanding the maths behind it, ensuring that the mathematical advantage lies with the bookmaker.

Anyway, the silver lining is that it is quite unlikely to be exposed to the temptation as these bets are rarely offered by European bookmakers.

Here is another diagram to demonstrating split bets:

Betting for Profit on Goals

At the end of the day the goal of each punter should be betting for profit. Am I right?

Bookmakers make a living from betting by using maths. They analyse and calculate the chances of an outcome and then price their bets. Of course, they make sure that the mathematical advantage is on their side, just like anyone operating a game of chance (e.g. Casinos).

The punter who relies only on gut feeling does not have a chance against the bookmakers.

However, with Over/Under Goal bets the punter at least has a chance to start understanding the statistics behind the bet. It isn’t too difficult to calculate the probabilities of the various results and number of goals in a game and to then find value bets.

If you are interested in starting to bet for profit, then you should seriously consider buying our Fundamentals of Sports Betting course. For the first volume, we have chosen to write about the Over/Under goal market as this is the easiest betting market to teach the fundamentals of statistics and maths on, without the need to dive deeper into more advanced formulas and concepts. Give it a try!