Handicap betting
Handicap betting gives one side a virtual start in goals, points or games, turning a lopsided match into a near-even market.
The line is written on each side. A favourite at -1.5 goals must win by two or more for the bet to win, and the underdog at +1.5 wins the bet if it wins, draws or loses by a single goal. The two sides price one question from opposite ends, which is why a well-set line leaves both close to even money.
Points work the same way. Back a basketball favourite at -6.5 for 10 units at 1.91, and a win by seven or more returns 19.10 units, 9.10 of them profit. A win by six loses the stake, because six points against a 6.5-point handicap leaves the favourite half a point short.
Other sports count in their own units. A tennis player at -3.5 games must win at least four more games than the opponent across the match, whatever the sets say, and rugby and basketball lines count points. The arithmetic of the line stays the same. Only the unit changes.
Whole-number lines add a third result. On a line of -1, a win by exactly one goal lands on the line. A three-way handicap prices that as its own outcome, the handicap draw, while an Asian handicap hands the stake back. Half-point lines rule the tie out altogether.
Comparing handicaps across bookmakers only works line by line. A price at -1.5 and a price at -1 are different bets, so a comparison groups prices by market and line before ranking them, and treats a line and its mirror, -1.5 and +1.5, as the two sides of one market.
In the OddsRelay feed
In OddsRelay's feed a handicap is one market in an event's markets[], under its own key. GET /v2/sports lists the market keys seen under each competition on the matched feeds, and handicap_points is one that appears there. The markets filter takes those keys, and a key the feed has not seen is refused with 400 unknown_market and the valid list, so a tool learns what exists before building on it.
Try it on your own key
Every plan includes every feed. Sign up free and call any of them.