If you ask people what a handicap is, you can get a lot of answers, and very different ones. The thing is that handicaps are a rather broad and ambiguous concept that is used both in medicine, psychology, biology, and in various sports, as well as in betting (betting on various sports events). Let's figure out what it is and what meaning this term is filled with in various cases.
A bit of history
As already mentioned, the concept of “handicaps” is quite ambiguous, used in various areas of human life. However, the word is most actively used in sports and means giving the weaker participant any advantage at the start or in the competition process.
For example, in the old days, when horse racing was extremely popular, slower horses were often set 150-200 meters ahead to somewhat equalize the possibilities of horses. It was this distance between the participants in the race that they called the handicap.
Key Values
And now let's look at what is meant by this term in different sciences and spheres of our life. So, handicaps are:
1. In biology: harmful to survival features that carry evolutionarily significant information about the qualitative genetic material of the male. The most striking example: only a genetically “strong” peacock is able to survive to puberty with a beautiful and large tail, which just appears to be a negative feature for survival, as it attracts the attention of predators. This non-trivial concept of evolutionary theory was formulated by the Israeli zoologist Amotz Zahavi (Amots Zahavi).
2. In psychology and medicine: conditions in which a person experiences various personality problems in the process of adaptation to social conditions and social relations. This condition is caused, as a rule, by specific features of the individual development of physical, intellectual and psychoemotional abilities.
3. In sports competitions, handicaps are:
- The advantage (handicap) that is provided to equalize the chances to the weakest player. For example, in chess, a stronger player starts a game without one or more pieces.
- Sports competitions, with preliminary equalization of the chances of winning, in which athletes of different levels of training, age or gender take part. As a rule, weak participants are given a head start in time.
4. In horse racing at the hippodrome, handicaps are the equalization of the chances of victory for horses of different class and age.
5. In betting: one of the types of bets on the result, which is based on the forecast of the victory of a team or participant in a match or competition, provided that the participant or his opponent has any head start (in points, games or goals), defined bookmakers. To determine the outcome of handicap bets, the actual results of competitions or matches are recalculated using the number of handicaps.
Now let's move on to sports games.
Handicap in golf and football
In a sports discipline such as golf, a handicap is a numerical expression of qualification, the level of an athlete. There is a rather flexible qualification system, which makes it possible for competitors of different levels to compete, for example, both a novice player and a world champion can compete in one tournament. At the same time, a beginner can win, thanks to the advantage provided to him.
The number of goals already scored against the goal of a stronger team is what a football handicap is. As a rule, the handicap is determined in advance, but it is announced both before the game and after. The advantage, hidden until the end of the match, spurs fans' interest in the game of teams unequal in level.
Other sports
Bets on sports and matches in various sports are accepted in both regular and online betting shops. Handicap in bets is set for most sports disciplines: usually it is ice hockey, volleyball, basketball, football, as well as other summer and winter sports. Bookmakers use both Asian and European handicaps.
Concept and varieties
Now let's take a look at what handicap in bets means. This is a bet (money) on a sporting event or match in which one of the competitors enters the game with a conditional handicap. Such an advantage, depending on the sport, can be expressed in points, points, minutes or goals. A bet can be either positive - if placed on the leader, or negative - on the outsider.
In addition, handicaps are divided into Asian and European.
European handicap
The European Handicap (EH) offers three possible outcomes for the event - victory, draw, loss, and uses only integer values to determine the advantage, for example, 0: 3 or 0: 1.
In the event that the final score is exactly in the head start, then this is a draw. For example, if you put a European handicap on a team (-1), then in practice a bet with a handicap of -1.5 comes out, since if a team wins a single ball, a winning bet will be a draw.
Asian handicaps
A relatively new type of betting on matches of football teams is the Asian handicap. He has only two probable outcomes: loss or victory, and there is no concept of “draw”. A certain handicap is given by one of the teams and added to the final result. In the event that the team on which the bet was made wins taking into account the advantage, then the one who bet also wins.
Varieties
Briefly consider the main types of Asian handicaps:
- Handicap 0 - Draw no Bet, DNB. Some bookmakers call it “Draw: No Bet.” If the team wins, the bet wins. If the result of the match is a tie, then the player gets back the money that he bet. The team lost - the player lost, and the money “left”. Such a bet is useful if two teams of approximately equal strength play, and the probability of a draw is high.
- Handicap 1. If the handicap is -1, the team needs to win at a minimum, with a difference of two goals. If the team on which the bet was made, loses or achieves a tie, the player will lose money. If the meeting ends in victory with one goal, then the bet will return unchanged.
You can bet on the victory of the team with a handicap of +1, adding one goal to the final score of the selected team. If, taking into account this ball, she wins - your money. In the event that, taking into account the advantage of 1 goal, the match was a draw, money is simply returned. In all other scenarios, the bet is considered to be the loser. For example, you bet Volga with a handicap of +1 against Zenit. If Volga turns out to be the winner or draws, the bet wins. If the team loses 1 goal, then the money simply returns. A bet is considered lost if Zenit scores 2 or more goals.
- Handicap 1.5. In the event that a handicap of -1.5 is taken, then to win it is necessary for the team to score at least two goals, with any smaller score the bet will lose. With an advantage of +1.5, in order to receive money it is necessary that the team either win, win or draw, or miss one goal.
- Double Asian Handicap. In this case, the player’s bid is divided into two parts. So, for example, if the handicap +0.75 is selected, then half will go to the head start +0.5, and the second part - to +1.
Thus, calculating Asian handicaps is quite simple: they add the chosen advantage to the final result. If the team wins, the bet wins, the draw draws money back, losing the team means losing money.