{"id":23680,"date":"2026-09-23T10:22:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T07:22:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/blog\/?p=23680"},"modified":"2026-09-24T10:29:07","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T07:29:07","slug":"tennis-handicap-betting-terms-lines-plus-minus-handicaps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/blog\/tennis-handicap-betting-terms-lines-plus-minus-handicaps\/","title":{"rendered":"Tennis Handicap Betting Terms: Lines, Plus &#038; Minus Handicaps"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\" id=\"wpb-content-root\"><p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Handicap <a href=\"https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/betting\/tennis\">betting in tennis<\/a> uses a numerical line to adjust the result for betting purposes. The line can give one player a positive handicap and the other a negative handicap.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This glossary explains handicap lines, plus handicaps, and minus handicaps with simple tennis examples.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Handicap Line in Tennis<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A <\/span>handicap line in tennis betting<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> is the number used to adjust a player&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/blog\/game-handicap-betting-in-tennis\/\">games<\/a> or sets for the purpose of settling a handicap market. It is usually shown with a plus (+) or minus (\u2212) sign.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">For example, a game handicap market could show:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Player A \u22123.5 games<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Player B +3.5 games<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The handicap is applied to the relevant player&#8217;s final game total when determining the result of the selection.<\/span>[\/vc_column_text][vc_raw_js el_class=&#8221;banner-highlight&#8221;]JTNDc2NyaXB0JTIwdHlwZSUzRCUyMnRleHQlMkZqYXZhc2NyaXB0JTIyJTIwc3JjJTNEJTIyaHR0cHMlM0ElMkYlMkZqcy43YmV0LnBhcnRuZXJzJTJGamF2YXNjcmlwdC5waHAlM0ZwcmVmaXglM0RnMHRwcEFNSVpFbTdqUEZ6Ml9HckFXTmQ3WmdxZFJMayUyNmFtcCUzQm1lZGlhJTNENDczJTI2YW1wJTNCY2FtcGFpZ24lM0Q0MCUyMiUzRSUzQyUyRnNjcmlwdCUzRQ==[\/vc_raw_js][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Practical example:<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Player A has a \u22123.5 game handicap and wins the match 6\u20133, 6\u20134. The total number of games is 12\u20137. After applying the \u22123.5 handicap, Player A has an adjusted total of 8.5 games compared with Player B&#8217;s 7. The Player A \u22123.5 selection therefore covers the handicap line.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><b>Plus Handicap in Tennis<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A <\/span>plus handicap in tennis betting<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> adds games or <a href=\"https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/blog\/set-handicap-betting-in-tennis\/\">sets<\/a> to a player&#8217;s result for settlement purposes. It is shown with a plus sign, such as +2.5 or +4.5.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The player does not necessarily need to win the match for a plus handicap selection to cover the line.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Practical example:<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Player B has a +3.5 game handicap and loses 6\u20134, 6\u20134. The total game score is 12\u20138. Adding the +3.5 handicap gives Player B an adjusted total of 11.5 games. This is still below Player A&#8217;s 12 games, so the +3.5 selection does not cover the line.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If Player B had a +4.5 handicap in the same match, the adjusted total would be 12.5 games. In that case, the +4.5 selection would cover the handicap line.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">[vc_raw_html]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[\/vc_raw_html]<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><strong>Minus Handicap in Tennis<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A <\/span>minus handicap in tennis betting<span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> subtracts games or sets from a player&#8217;s result for settlement purposes. It is shown with a minus sign, such as \u22122.5 or \u22124.5.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The player must finish with a sufficient margin for the selection to cover the handicap after the line is applied.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong>Practical example:<\/strong><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Player A has a \u22124.5 game handicap and wins 6\u20132, 6\u20133. The total game score is 12\u20135. Applying the \u22124.5 handicap gives Player A an adjusted total of 7.5 games. This remains above Player B&#8217;s 5 games, so the \u22124.5 selection covers the handicap line.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<h2><b>Understanding Tennis Handicap Lines<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Handicap lines provide a way of comparing players using an adjusted game or set total rather than only the match winner. A <\/span><b>plus handicap<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> adds to a player&#8217;s total, while a <\/span><b>minus handicap<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> subtracts from it.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The size of the handicap line determines the margin required for a selection to cover the handicap. Understanding how the <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">+<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2212<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> values work can therefore make tennis handicap markets easier to read and follow.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><em><span style=\"color: #18ae62;\">Betting is only available to participants above 18 years. Please bet responsibly. BeGambleAware.org<\/span><\/em><\/strong>[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Handicap betting in tennis uses a numerical line to adjust the result for betting purposes. The line can give one<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":23682,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23680","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tennis"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Tennis Handicap Terms Explained | Lines, Plus &amp; Minus<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn how handicap lines work in tennis betting, including plus and minus handicaps, with simple examples showing how each line is calculated.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/blog\/tennis-handicap-betting-terms-lines-plus-minus-handicaps\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tennis Handicap Terms Explained | Lines, Plus &amp; Minus\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Learn how handicap lines work in tennis betting, including plus and minus handicaps, with simple examples showing how each line is calculated.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/blog\/tennis-handicap-betting-terms-lines-plus-minus-handicaps\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"7bet blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-09-23T07:22:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-09-24T07:29:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/tennis-handicap-betting.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1440\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"810\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Povilas Mancinskas\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Povilas Mancinskas\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Tennis Handicap Terms Explained | Lines, Plus & Minus","description":"Learn how handicap lines work in tennis betting, including plus and minus handicaps, with simple examples showing how each line is calculated.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/blog\/tennis-handicap-betting-terms-lines-plus-minus-handicaps\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Tennis Handicap Terms Explained | Lines, Plus & Minus","og_description":"Learn how handicap lines work in tennis betting, including plus and minus handicaps, with simple examples showing how each line is calculated.","og_url":"https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/blog\/tennis-handicap-betting-terms-lines-plus-minus-handicaps\/","og_site_name":"7bet blog","article_published_time":"2026-09-23T07:22:11+00:00","article_modified_time":"2026-09-24T07:29:07+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1440,"height":810,"url":"https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/tennis-handicap-betting.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"Povilas Mancinskas","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Povilas Mancinskas","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/blog\/tennis-handicap-betting-terms-lines-plus-minus-handicaps\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/blog\/tennis-handicap-betting-terms-lines-plus-minus-handicaps\/"},"author":{"name":"Povilas Mancinskas","@id":"https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/1d606518fafb9740feeba958676e74d4"},"headline":"Tennis Handicap Betting Terms: Lines, Plus &#038; Minus Handicaps","datePublished":"2026-09-23T07:22:11+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-24T07:29:07+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/blog\/tennis-handicap-betting-terms-lines-plus-minus-handicaps\/"},"wordCount":642,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/blog\/tennis-handicap-betting-terms-lines-plus-minus-handicaps\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/tennis-handicap-betting.webp","articleSection":["Tennis"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/blog\/tennis-handicap-betting-terms-lines-plus-minus-handicaps\/","url":"https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/blog\/tennis-handicap-betting-terms-lines-plus-minus-handicaps\/","name":"Tennis Handicap Terms Explained | Lines, Plus & Minus","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/blog\/tennis-handicap-betting-terms-lines-plus-minus-handicaps\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/blog\/tennis-handicap-betting-terms-lines-plus-minus-handicaps\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/tennis-handicap-betting.webp","datePublished":"2026-09-23T07:22:11+00:00","dateModified":"2026-09-24T07:29:07+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/1d606518fafb9740feeba958676e74d4"},"description":"Learn how handicap lines work in tennis betting, including plus and minus handicaps, with simple examples showing how each line is calculated.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/blog\/tennis-handicap-betting-terms-lines-plus-minus-handicaps\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/blog\/tennis-handicap-betting-terms-lines-plus-minus-handicaps\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/blog\/tennis-handicap-betting-terms-lines-plus-minus-handicaps\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/tennis-handicap-betting.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/tennis-handicap-betting.webp","width":1440,"height":810,"caption":"Tennis Handicap Betting"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/blog\/tennis-handicap-betting-terms-lines-plus-minus-handicaps\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Tennis Handicap Betting Terms: Lines, Plus &#038; Minus Handicaps"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/blog\/","name":"7bet blog","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/1d606518fafb9740feeba958676e74d4","name":"Povilas Mancinskas","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b44d43225f45ea831d4e627b23082973280e19715a87ff5f73de175532775959?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b44d43225f45ea831d4e627b23082973280e19715a87ff5f73de175532775959?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b44d43225f45ea831d4e627b23082973280e19715a87ff5f73de175532775959?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Povilas Mancinskas"},"description":"It all started with a basketball. I picked up the sport at around age eight, and from that point on, sports wasn\u2019t just a hobby. It was much more like a way of life. My dad played a huge part in that \u2014 introducing me to everything from hoops and football, to Formula 1, boxing and UFC \u2014 and an active group of friends did the rest. By the time I was a teenager, I was already the one people turned to when they needed a match preview or a team breakdown that actually made sense. Once I turned 18, the casino side of things entered the picture. Slot mechanics, RTP, bonus structures \u2014 what started as curiosity quickly became another area I wanted to genuinely understand rather than just dabble in. Over time, those two worlds \u2014 sports and casino gaming \u2014 stopped being things I did for fun and became the thing I do for work. I wouldn\u2019t have it any other way.","sameAs":["https:\/\/linkedin.com\/in\/povilas-mancinskas"],"url":"https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/blog\/author\/povilas-mancinskas\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23680","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23680"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23680\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23683,"href":"https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23680\/revisions\/23683"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23682"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23680"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/7bet.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}