Handicap Betting Tips

Free handicap predictions with betting tips on spread

Handicaps are an advanced method of betting on match outcomes. This way, you predict a team or an athlete winning with a virtual advantage or disadvantage.

Takebet South Africa is here to provide you with the best predictions for handicaps in such sports as soccer, basketball, tennis, and ice hockey. Our tips feature top tournaments, such as UEFA Champions League and Europa League, EPL, La Liga, Serie A, Bundesliga, Ligue 1, MLS, NBA, NHL, ATP and WTA tournaments alongside tennis Grand Slams.

When analysing tournaments for valuable spread betting tips, experts use statistical trends, team form, past results, odds, offensive and defensive averages, and the news.

So maybe it’s time to try free handicap predictions on Takebet South Africa? Go on!

Overview of our free handicap betting tips

Takebet South Africa welcomes you to the home of handicapping! What’s it all about? In most cases, when you analyse a sporting match, there is a strong and weak team (or athlete). If a punter wants to select the winner, he may leave without making a bet if the stronger team has the odds too small, while the weaker team has the chance of winning too little. That’s why bookies offer sports betting tips on spreads.

When the weaker team has a head start, it is called predictions against the spread. The handicapped stronger team represents the other way of handicap betting. When the outcome is speculative, it is tempting to bet on a team with a spread. However, bookies widely use spreads for games of equal teams, too.

Takebet South Africa offers European and Asian handicap betting tips for various sports, including soccer. Our free forecasts come as single bets and accumulators. Read on to understand this bet deeply and find examples of its settlement and working strategies.

Handicap predictions explained

Handicap betting and spread gambling are the same.

Handicap tips come with either a plus (+) or a minus (-) sign. The plus sign implies that the stated number of goals, points, etc., is added to the final score in favour of the chosen team or athlete. So, for example, the Asian handicap (+2) on Chelsea means that we must add two goals to the final number scored by Chelsea to settle the result and the bet.

The minus sign constitutes the chosen number of goals, points, etc., subtracted from the final score on behalf of the selected team or athlete. For example, the Asian handicap (-1.5) on Manchester United means that we must subtract 1.5 goals from the total amount scored by Manchester United to settle the result.

Asian handicap (2-way)

Asian handicaps don’t allow draws. Sometimes these bets allow getting a stake or a part of it back in case of a tie after applying the handicap. Asian handicap soccer tips and predictions are the most common. One can say that Asian handicapping is the standard way of wagering on spreads in sports.

If you win or lose a bet depends on the result of a match after a bookie applies the chosen handicap. When you bet on the team to win with a particular handicap, you either add or subtract this amount of goals (cards, corners, etc.) from the final score. If your chosen team still wins after applying the handicap, you win your bet.

Firstly, there are Asian handicap predictions multiple of 0.5. These bets don’t offer to get a stake back in any way. Bookies write them down as (0.5), (1.5), (2.5), (3.5), etc.

Example: let’s take handicaps (+1.5) and (-1.5) in a soccer game between Liverpool and Southampton. The Reds are the stronger team on a typical day, while the Saints are the weaker. Imagine you bet on Southampton to win with a handicap of (+1.5), adding 1.5 to Southampton’s final number of goals scored. If they still win, you win. Thus, if the Saints don’t lose by more than one goal, that is a win for you.

On the other hand, if you place a handicap (-1.5) bet on Liverpool, a bookie will subtract the chosen margin from the final number of goals scored by the Reds, and if they still win, you win. Thus, any victory of Liverpool with a margin of two goals or higher will make you succeed.

We write the margins as 0.0, 0.25, 1.0, 1.5, and so on. The bookmakers determine the ranges they want and assign odds to them, and mind you that the odds differ among them.

Secondly, there are Asian handicap betting tips multiple of 1. These bets are the same as the standard handicaps (multiple of 0.5), but they also offer you a refund in case of an equal score after applying the handicap. We write soccer bets of this kind down as (0.0), (1.0), (2.0), (3.0), etc. Numbers may be higher for other sports.

Example: let’s take a basketball game between the Phoenix Suns and the Brooklyn Nets in the NBA. Imagine you bet with a handicap of (+4) points on the Nets (the weaker team) and a handicap of (-4) points on the Suns (the stronger team). In the latter case, the bet on the Suns will win if Phoenix wins with a margin of five points or more, but if the Suns win with the exact margin of four points, you get a refund of your stake. In the same fashion, betting on the Nets to win with a handicap of (+4) will bring you victory if Brooklyn doesn’t lose with a margin of over three points. Again, however, the Nets losing by precisely four points will get you a refund.

Thirdly, there are dual Asian handicaps or multiples of 0.25. We write bets of this kind down as (-1, 1.5) or (+1.5, 2), which is the same as (-1.25) or (+1.75).

In the case of dual Asian handicaps, a bookie virtually divides your stake into two halves and puts them on two shoulders of a bet. So, for example, if you bet 100 USD on Chelsea to win with a handicap of (-1, 1.5), then 50 USD go on (-1), and the other 50 USD go on (-1.5). Then, both halves of your bet will be settled as usual handicaps (check above for examples).

Check out our upcoming Asian handicap tips now!

European handicap (3-way)

European handicaps have a draw allowed, and you can take a bet on it. As with 1×2, here you have a home win, a tie, and an away win.

Example: let’s take a soccer match between Manchester City and Burnley and a margin of two. We’ll have a betting market looking like Manchester City (-2.0), draw (-2.0), and Burnley (+2.0). In this scenario, Burnley have a virtual advantage of two goals.

Staking on Manchester City (-2.0) means they have to win by three goals or more (3-0, 4-1) for you to win your bet. Because when you subtract two goals, Man City will still win the game. You will lose the stake if Manchester City win by two or fewer goals (2-0, 2-1, 1-0), draw, or fail.

In the case of betting on a draw (-2.0), the stronger team has to win by exactly two goals so that after subtracting two goals from them, you will get a draw. Thus, Manchester City have to beat Burnley by two goals precisely for you to win the bet.

Now, wagering on Burnley (+2.0) is more straightforward. Burnley must win with any score, draw, or lose by one goal max for you to win.

Predictions against the spread

The most widespread type of handicaps are tips for betting against the spread. So when do you bet against it? This happens when a match has an obvious underdog, and you bet on them with a positive handicap (“+”). Thus, you predict this underdog will be the winner with the handicap.

On Takebet South Africa, free soccer tips are some of the best picks against the spread. We also cover sports like tennis, basketball, and ice hockey.

Accumulators with handicaps

Takebet South Africa helps bettors find the best possible odds there are! For this, alongside single picks, our experts drop accumulators featuring free handicap soccer predictions tied to 1×2, over/under goals, correct scores, and other betting markets. Of course, the same goes for other sports.

Betting odds of our accumulator tips are about 10.00 (+900 American; 9/1 Fractional).

Sports and tournaments with handicaps

On Takebet South Africa, probably the best handicap prediction site out there, we have various sports with this kind of betting tips: soccer, basketball, tennis, and ice hockey.

Our betting experts cover top tournaments such as the UEFA Champions League or EPL, the NBA, NHL, or tennis Grand Slams alongside smaller competitions.

Let’s find out more!

Handicap soccer predictions

Are you dying to get a free soccer handicap prediction? Then you came to the best place!

All soccer tournaments we predict feature spread betting options, including:

  • UEFA Champions League
  • UEFA Europa League
  • English Premier League
  • Spanish La Liga Primera Division
  • German Bundesliga
  • Italian Serie A
  • French Ligue 1
  • USA MLS
  • South African Premier Division
  • FIFA World Cup
  • UEFA Euro
  • Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON)
  • Copa America

Handicap soccer betting tips on goals (e.g. match outcome with a goal advantage or disadvantage) are the most essential. There are also spreads for cards, corners, etc.

Tennis handicap betting tips

Takebet South Africa analyses handicaps for a variety of tennis events, including:

  • Australian Open
  • French Open
  • Wimbledon
  • US Open
  • Summer Olympic tennis tournament
  • ATP Masters 1000
  • ATP 500
  • WTA 1000
  • WTA 500

Bookmakers use sets and games as margins in tennis handicap predictions. Regarding live betting, one can wager on points won in a game with some popular online bookies. Other less popular spreads feature statistics: aces, double faults, etc.

Basketball handicap tips

We use spreads when predicting the following basketball competitions:

  • NBA
  • Euroleague
  • FIBA Basketball World Cup
  • Eurobasket
  • Afrobasket
  • Summer Olympic basketball tournament

First, our experts offer outcome picks with a point margin, the most basic type of spread prediction for basketball. One can wager not only on a whole match but also on its half or a quarter. The other thing is to bet on a team scoring the most blocks, 2- or 3-pointers with a spread.

Ice hockey handicap predictions

Among hockey tournaments covered with free handicap tips on Takebet South Africa, you will find:

  • NHL
  • IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship
  • Winter Olympic ice hockey tournament

For ice hockey, handicap bets on a team to win with a particular goal margin are the most basic ones. Some bookies may offer handicaps on shots and other stats, too.

How experts analyse sports for handicaps

There are quite a few tricks to spread betting tips! When providing picks of this kind, Takebet South Africa considers every factor that affects both opponents and the match:

  1. The squad form is the first thing to consider in team sports like soccer and basketball, and the athlete form in tennis and other individual sports. We look at win/lose streaks in the same tournament, all competitions and head-to-head games. A team on a winning streak of about three or more games will have good momentum, while one in bad form might not give expected results even against a weaker side. A team that won most of the recent H2H matches might have better morals. In tennis, we compare the opponents’ current record, H2H results, and the record on the same surface and in the same tournament.
  2. The form of key players comes right after assessing the team form. Every squad has athletes whose presence is the best bet at winning a game or getting any results. Basketball fans call them franchise players: Steph Curry, LeBron James, Kevin Durant, etc. If such players are present and completely fit for the next match, one can bet the team will perform OK or even great against its opponent.
  3. Offensive and defensive statistics are taken from the latest games, usually five to eight matches. How many goals were scored and shots taken, and how many shots were on target? How many goals were conceded? How does it stand against xG? What is the ball possession record? We analyse these and many more stats. A bad defensive record affects spread: if the team concedes too much, and you need them to win by 2+ goals, it might be unreal.
  4. Team news, including injuries and suspensions, is analysed to give you an update on whom you should expect to be in the starting XI and who will probably not be up for selection.
  5. Betting odds are inspected to find the most valuable picks among all the options on offer by comparing the probability of an event to the odds of it happening.

Strategies for handicap predictions

Strategies are proven methods that make it easier for you to start using our sports spread betting tips. These are the sets of direct instructions on how to bet with them.

Let’s explore a couple of strategies for handicap betting tips:

  1. Soccer corner handicap strategy. Bet on the favourite of the corner market to win with a minus handicap (e.g. -2.5 corners) under the following conditions: 1) the favourite is playing the home venue, 2) on flanks, attackers and midfielders of the favourite tend to launch shots into the box rather than pass the ball to the centre, 3) the favourite has an exceptionally tall player in the offence (think Zlatan Ibrahimovic), 4) the outsider has its entire team playing in the defence, effectively placing a bus in its box. When choosing the handicap, stick with an option with an odds of around 2.00.

  2. Soccer (-1) handicap strategy. In this case, you bet on the home team. Choose this negative Asian handicap under the following conditions: 1) the odds on the home team’s win in 90 minutes are 1.30 (-333 American; 3/10 Fractional) or less, 2) the home team won more than 60% of home games this current season, 3) the away team is physically less fit and ready, 4) the home team is motivated to get the win due to the tournament situation, 5) two or more key players are absent from the away team.

  3. Soccer (+1) handicap strategy. Here you bet on the home team with a positive Asian handicap under the following conditions: 1) the odds on the stated spread are 1.50 (-200 American; 1/2 Fractional) or higher, 2) the home team lost less than 25% of home matches this season, 3) the away team is physically less fit and ready, 4) the home team concedes less than 1.5 goals on average at home this season, 5) the away team got less than 40% of total points in away games this season.

More predictions of different types

We also cover other kinds of betting tips.

Other sections with predictions by betting market:

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