How to bet on Round Handicap (CS:GO)

Round handicap is the future of CS:GO betting, and it’s not enough utilised.

Most esport bettors usually go straight for the match winner market, and doesn’t even bother taking a look at the rest. The handicap market is in my opinion the best option to go for as it usually offers a more risky or safe approach to any combination or single bet.

How many times haven’t you taken a look at a match and avoided to bet because in your opinion, it’s a very 50/50 match-up? This is exactly where the handicap market can come in and help you out.

This could be because most people don’t really understand how betting on handicap works. What is +4.5 or -4.5, sounds too advanced. But don’t be afraid, the explanation is actually very simple.

Let’s say we have a match between Astralis and Team Liquid in a BO1 on de_dust2. This is a very close match-up, and recently the match between the teams on that map ended 16-13.

On the market we have Round Handicap.
Astralis (-3.5) x (+3.5) Team Liquid

The simple way to show how it works is this way:
(-3.5) = The team starts with -3.5 rounds
(+3.5) = The team starts with +3.5 rounds

If Astralis wins 16-13, the -3.5 bet loses as the gap between them and Liquid is less than 3.5 rounds. However if you bet +3.5 on Liquid, the bet wins as Liquid has a less than 3.5 round gap.

16 – 3.5 = 12.5 = Astralis 12.5 – 13 Team Liquid = LOSS
13 + 3.5 = 16.5 = Astralis 16 – 16.5 Team Liquid = WIN

That’s really all there is to it. Instead of playing it safe with match winner, try making it a bit more challenging and rewarding by including handicap bets into your betslip next time.

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