Month: January 2014

Asian handicap betting explained

Asian handicap betting is now becoming widely recognised as one of the best ways to bet on football results, and gives you a valuable alternative to other forms of well known soccer bets.

With this form of betting you can:

  • Win more bets because there are only two potential results – win or lose
  • Place bets in a way that gets your stake back
  • Get better value – Asian handicap bookies offer offer better odds than traditional betting odds
  • Win your bet even if your chosen team loses
  • Still place accumulators (with some bookies that will accept Asian handicap accumulator bets)

In the World Cup coming up later in 2014 it’s likely that opportunities for placing Asian handicap bets in World Cup matches will be the most popular way for fans to place wagers on their favourite teams.

In this guide I’ll give you an explanation of how you can take advantage of the better odds you get with Asian handicaps to bet on football selections in everyday soccer matches. We’ll be covering:

  • Asian handicap betting explained. What it means and how it works.
  • The rules of Asian handicaps
  • How to understand the bookies handicap odds
  • Different types of Asian handicap bet
  • Handicap betting strategies
  • The best bookies to use for betting with Asian handicaps, depending on which country you live in
  • Betting tips and strategies for best results
  • Where to get charts and tables which show explanations of asian odds

If you want to skip the explanations and jump straight into finding the best Asian handicap betting sites or bookies and make your first wager, there are two main things you need to think about first:

  • Whether you want to bet with a global Asian handicap bookie or an Asian based bookie
  • Whether they offer any bonuses or promotions for sports related betting that will give extra value

Of course there are other considerations such as making sure you can deposit or withdraw in your local currency (or at least a currency which you can use), but taking these two main considerations into account the best bookies I’ve found offering betting with Asian handicaps are Bet365 and 188Bet.

Bet365 are a well known and ultra reliable global operator. They have a superb easy to use website with plenty of features and offers, such as live streaming TV.

188Bet are equally well known in the Asia region and cater for betting fans from many of the Asian countries. You can read more about other Asia focused sports betting sites further below, with a breakdown of individual countries and the operators available within those countries.

Why They Hate Each Other – Real Madrid vs Atletico Madrid

Real Madrid was founded in 1902 with Atlético Madrid founded by three Basque students in 1903. Initially Real supporters came from the middle class in the north of the city, while the Atlético supporters were drawn from the working class in the south. The Bernabeu is located alongside banks and businesses, while the Calderon can be found beside a brewery, further outlining the difference in the traditional supporter base, though these lines are largely blurred today.

Real Madrid have long been seen as the establishment club as they were the puppets of General Franco (Spanish dictator from 1936 – 1975), led by hard-line conservative Santiago Bernabéu (whose name the Real stadium now takes), and aided by the government and fearful referees. Although during the early Franco years it was Atlético that was the preferred team of the regime, being associated with the military air force, the regime’s preferences moved towards Real Madrid in the 1950s. It is widely alleged that Franco’s regime subsequently intervened to ensure success for Real Madrid for political and propaganda purposes, although this is denied by Real Madrid supporters.

Real’s close affiliation to the Spanish government remains to this day, made only to evident when their training facilities were sold to the government for €480m, only to be sold back to Real for €1, a deal which has subsequently been investigated by the EU. Real Madrid is also closely aligned with Spanish newspaper Marca, giving them a media outlet to promote their interests. All of this serves to re-enforce the many political undertones associated with El Derbi Madrileño including right wing versus left wing, the sanitized north versus the ‘real’ city of the south, the favored versus the persecuted and the media darlings versus the unfashionable battlers.