What it means
In currency markets, prices are quoted to several decimal places, and most of the movement happens in the last digits. Traders therefore skip the leading digits when talking, because everyone already knows them.
A price of 1.0850 on a currency pair might be spoken as "fifty", with the handle of 1.08 understood. This shorthand saves time and reduces noise in a fast market.
The handle changes less often than the digits that follow, so when it does move, it signals a significant shift. A dealer who says the price has broken through a handle is describing a move of a full round number.
In sports betting and gambling, the handle means something different. It is the total amount of money wagered on a game, a sport or all events over a period of time.
It measures activity, not profit, because it counts every bet whatever the result. The betting handle matters to the operators who run the book.
They earn the hold, which is the share of the handle they keep after paying out winners. A larger handle with the same hold percentage means higher revenue, so operators track both figures closely.
For a finance reader, the key is to ask which meaning applies. In a trading room it is almost certainly the price quote, while in a report on a betting company it is the amount wagered.
Mixing the two can lead to nonsense, such as comparing a decimal price with millions of dollars. There is a related idea in other markets.
Older share price talk used the handle for the whole-dollar part of a quote, with the cents called the fraction. The common thread is that the handle is the part everyone assumes, while the interesting information sits in the detail.
In practice
Real-world examples.
Example
A currency dealer shouts a quote of "fifty-two, fifty-five" to a client during a busy morning. Both understand that the handle is 1.08, so the full prices are 1.0852 and 1.0855. The conversation takes two seconds instead of ten, and the client confirms the trade in writing straight afterwards so that nothing is misunderstood. The dealer's firm records the call, so that any dispute about the exact price can be settled from the recording.
Example
A sports betting company reports quarterly results to investors. The finance director states that the handle rose 20% while the hold stayed steady, so gaming revenue also rose by about 20%. Analysts compare the figures with those of rivals and ask whether the growth came from more customers or from larger average bets. They also check how much of the handle came from promotions that cost the company money.
Example
A regulator publishes monthly data on gambling activity in a region. The report shows the handle, the payouts and the tax collected. A government economist uses the data to estimate the revenue from a new licensing regime. She applies the average tax rate to the handle and checks the result against the amount actually collected.
Formula
Calculation
Hold percentage = (handle - payouts) / handle
Suppose a sportsbook takes bets totalling $2,000,000 in a weekend, so the handle is $2,000,000. It pays out $1,850,000 to winning bettors.
Gross gaming revenue = 2,000,000 - 1,850,000 = $150,000.
Hold percentage = 150,000 / 2,000,000 = 0.075, which is 7.5%.Case study
Seen in the real world.
Redwater Sportsbook is a fictional betting operator that expanded into a new region. In the first quarter, the handle was $40,000,000 and payouts were $37,200,000, so the hold was 7%.
The finance team noticed that promotional bonuses given to new customers had been counted within payouts. The illustrative adjustment lowered the real hold because the promotions were a cost of attracting players.
Management then reported two numbers, the hold before promotions and the hold after them. In this fictional story, investors welcomed the clearer picture and the share price held steady. The finance director also explained that a higher handle with more promotions could produce lower profit, which prevented unrealistic expectations. The company then set a target for the hold after promotions that it published each quarter.
Watch out
Common mistakes.
- Assuming the handle is profit, when it is the total amount wagered.
- Quoting a currency price without the handle to someone who does not know the level, which causes errors.
- Ignoring promotions and bonuses when calculating the hold, which overstates margins.
Questions
People also ask.
What is the handle in forex?
It is the whole-number part of the quote, sometimes called the big figure. Traders leave it out when speaking because the level is already known to everyone in the conversation. In writing, the full price should always be shown.
What is the handle in betting?
It is the total amount of money wagered over a period or on an event. Operators and regulators publish it as a measure of how much betting activity takes place.
How is the hold different from the handle?
The hold is the portion of the handle the operator keeps after paying winners. A company can grow its handle quickly and still see profit fall if its hold shrinks.
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