Enjoy Handball Betting & Odds on Bet777

Football, while incredibly popular, has its limitations. People are always tweaking the game. Rugby, for example, was invented when a schoolkid decided to just pick the football up and run into the goal with it. What resulted was a wholly different game with a wholly unique format and a whole set of new challenges. Handball could have been invented in a much similar way – the truth is that in fact it is probably older than football, and that football might be based on handball instead.

Expulsim ludere sounds like a spell that Harry Potter casts to get rid of unwanted flies, but is in fact the name of a very handball-like game played by Roman women. Because it is a simple, cheap game (you only need something to act as a small ball and a way to mark goals) that is played mostly off the ground, it could be played on numerous surfaces, including snow. For this reason, it spread across Europe, from Germany to Greenland. Now, it is played all around the world, with numerous leagues, tournaments and championships.

We Are The Champions

The starting point for handball betting is probably the EHF Champions League. Like the football league, the best teams from around Europe come together to play for the title. The last four have been teams from France, Macedonia, Poland and Germany. The current leaders are from Barcelona, which goes to prove that it’s a fast-moving sport where no one team dominates. For handball betting, this gives you more opportunities to profit from upsets or surprise victories.

Similar insights can be found looking at the lists of best players. The IHF (not EHF) World Player of the Year has handball players from all over Europe as you would expect, but also Brazil and South Korea. There are some other official awards which also have awesome titles: Best Player of All Time and Best Players of the 20th Century. The BPAT is Gheorghe Gruia, a Romanian who moved to Mexico after his playing career was over to become a coach. He is credited with bringing a love of the game to Mexico. The other two are Magnus Wislander and Zinaida Turchyna, players who became legends in Sweden and Ukraine, with dozens of titles, championships and Olympic medals.

Anatomy of a Handballer

Knowing your players and their capabilities is vital for successful handball betting. As usual, it comes down to goalkeepers and scorers. Both have different attributes. To be a successful goalkeeper, you need lightning fast reflexes, to be able to throw your limbs out in all directions at short notice to stop an incoming ball. You need the same as a scorer. You are not allowed to set foot inside the goal zone, but that does not mean you cannot score before your foot hits the floor. This means that you have however many seconds you can manage between leaping into the air and landing to fire off a shot. The best players can do a lot with this time, seemingly slowing things down as they feint, fake and then throw the shot at goal. And this is an underrated aspect of a good scorer: that they are sneaky.

Watch enough of the game for handball betting purposes, and you’ll see some incredibly naughty moves. Flicks from behind the back or through the legs. Throws that have a lot of back or sidespin to make the ball bounce in unexpected directions. The moves that basketball players reserve for Slam Dunk contests can be seen during any game of handball. Behind the back crossovers, full twists and everything short of a backflip is on display to try to beat the keeper. Seeing goals or penalties saved is no disappointment either, because a goalie usually has to move like a kung fu master to get a limb in the way. Even passing is a delight to watch, with a series of orchestrated moves almost too fast for the eye to follow, designed to create gaps, openings and confusion.

Global Appeal

2018 marked the 100-year anniversary of handball in Poland. It was also the 100-year anniversary of Poland’s liberation from the Austrian-Prussian Empire at the end of World War I, an indication of how closely linked the sport with life there. But there are new leagues and nations emerging, making for even more options for handball betting. New Zealand were able to send a team to the Asia Men’s Handball Championship in 2017 for the first time, with the women’s team taking their first trip to Japan in 2018. Greece made headlines in October 2018 by beating local rivals Macedonia, while Portugal seem close to their first qualification for the World Championships thanks to the heroics of their keeper, Alfredo Quintana. Life moves pretty fast in handball. You’re going to need to pay attention if you want to keep up and make the most of your handball betting.

On the Beach

If the numerous countries and leagues around the world are not enough for your handball betting interest, you will be pleased to hear that there’s a whole new game: beach handball. Officially recognised as a sport in 2001, beach handball is primarily played in the Americas. But players and activists are pushing for it to be included in the Olympic games alongside fellow beach-buddy, volleyball. And like volleyball, once a beach version is taken on, a snow version is sure to follow. Because the game is so easy to organise, transferring it to a different playing surface is no hardship. Not long from now, there will be a whole new set of options for your handball betting. Really, the only thing holding us back from a truly interesting game of handball is gravity. Eventually, interstellar colonists will be passing the time and keeping fit with a game of handball (or whatever appendage they have evolved by then that is most useful).

FAQs

Are bets settled on regulation time?

Yes. Unless clearly stated, bets settle on 60 minutes only.

What are common Handball betting markets?

Match winner, total goals, and handicap spread are some of the most popular markets available at Bet777.

Are player markets available here?

Plenty of sportsbooks will offer top scorers or goals over/under bets.