The biggest difference between betting on soccer and betting on most other sports is the fact that you can bet on three outcomes rather than on two. While most sports just have you pick a side, and the bet pushes in the case of a draw (or if you tie after the point spread is applied), soccer betting turns the draw into an event you can bet on. This is necessary, of course, because draws are a fairly common occurrence in soccer. However, having three possible outcomes both makes it harder for players to win their soccer bets, and a little tougher for the average gambler to figure out whether a bet is going to be profitable.

That’s where the Asian Handicap bet comes in. The Asian Handicap turns soccer into a game where you can bet on either team to win, without the option of betting on a draw. This is done by using a spread, similar to the point or goal spreads in other sports. However, unlike in most other sports, these handicaps not only come in whole goals and half goals, but also in quarter goals.

Here’s how it works. When setting an Asian Handicap line on a match, a bookmaker gives the underdog a handicap of a number of goals that should hopefully produce approximately equal action on both teams. This handicap can range from 0.25 goals to three or more goals if one team is a heavy favorite.

For instance, imagine a World Cup soccer game where England is playing the United States. The line might be shown as follows:

England vs. United States

0 : +1.5

This line would mean that the United States has a handicap of 1.5 goals in the match, which is added to their score when determining which side wins the bet. If England defeats the United States 2-1, then a bet on the United States wins, since they had the 1.5 goal handicap (essentially, they win by a half a goal, 2.5 to 2).

Many games are given with lines that have a quarter goal involved. For instance, that same England-United States match might have an Asian Handicap of +1.25 goals for the United States in some sportsbooks. At first glance, this may appear to make no difference; after all, you’d still lose a bet on England if they won by one and win if they won by two goals, right?

But in actuality, the .25 is just shorthand. What’s really happening in the case of a quarter goal line is that your bet will be split evenly between the half goal odds above and below it. In this case, if you bet $100 on the United States with a +1.25 goal Asian Handicap, you’d actually be betting $50 on the Americans at +1, and $50 at +1.5. This means you can push half of your bet and win or lose the other half. For instance, if England were to win by that same 2-1 score, you’d push half your bet (the +1 half), while winning the half you had on +1.5.

Asian Handicaps may appear complicated, but they’re actually quite simple. The easiest way to think of them is as a regular point spread. The only complication is the quarter-goal line, which splits your bet into two. Understand that, and you’re ready to start making Asian Handicap bets on soccer!