In sports betting, a points handicap refers to a situation where a betting site gives one team a certain number of points or goals advantage over their opponent before the start of the game. This is done to level the playing field between two teams that may have different skill levels or abilities.
When you place a bet on a points handicap, you are essentially betting on whether the team you selected will win by more than the handicap or lose by less than the handicap. For example, if Team A is listed as +5 and you bet on them, they must win by more than 5 points for your bet to be successful. If they win by exactly 5 points, the bet is a push and your stake is returned. If Team B wins or Team A loses by less than 5 points, your bet is also successful.
It's important to note that the points handicap can also be a negative number, indicating that the team is expected to win by that many points. In this case, the team must win by more than the negative handicap for the bet to be successful. For example, if Team A is listed as -5, they must win by more than 5 points for the bet to be successful.
