A polo handicap is a system created by Henry Lloyd Herbert, the first president of the United States Polo Association, at the founding of the USPA in 1890 so teams could be more evenly matched when using players with varying abilities.

The players are rated on a scale from minus-2 to 10. Minus-2 indicates a novice player, while a player rated at 10 goals has the highest handicap possible. It is so difficult to attain a 10-goal handicap that there are fewer than two dozen in the world, and about two-thirds of all players handicapped are rated at two goals or less. Currently, most living ten-goal players are Argentine, with few exceptions.

Handicaps of five goals and above generally belong to professional players. It is not (nor has it ever been) an estimate of the number of goals a player might score in a game, but rather of the player's worth to their team. It is the overall rating of a player's horsemanship, team play, knowledge of the game, strategy, and horses. At one time, polo was the only sport in the world that considered sportsmanship when rating a player.

In matches played by "handicapped" players (as opposed to open competition, where handicaps are not considered), the handicaps of all four players are totaled. If the total handicap of a team is more than that of the team against which they are playing, the difference is added to the scoreboard. For example, if the Mounties polo team has a total handicap of six goals and the Tayto team has a handicap of four goals, Tayto would begin the match with a two-goal advantage.

A player's handicap is usually assessed by a committee at the authorizing club of his country. A professional player may be assigned an equivalent rating in countries where he competes. Though standards are similar, the ratings may be expressed differently. e.g.:

Argentina: 0 to 10

USA: C (-2), B (-1), B+ (-0.5), A (0), A+ (0.5), 1.0, 1.5, 2 to 10

England: -2 to 10.

Ten-goal players, highest handicap achieved in outdoor polo

Rodolphe Louis Agassiz (1871–1933) – USA Mariano Aguerre (born 1969) – Argentina / USA

Alejandro Diaz Alberdi – Argentina Enrique Alberdi – Argentina Juan ALberdi – Argentina Mike Azzaro – USA Miguel (Miki) Novillo Astrada – Argentina Gerald Barnard Balding Sr. (1903–1957) – England's last 10 goal player. Adolfo Cambiaso (born 1975) – Argentina Guillermo (Sapo) Caset – Argentina Bartolomé Castagnola (born 1970) – Argentina Polo Players Handicap, Federation of International Polo. Retrieved February 27, 2012 Carlos Gracida (1960–2014) – Mexico Guillermo Gracida Jr. (born 1956) – Mexico Alfredo Harriott – Argentina (born 1945) Juan C. Harriott Jr. (1936–2023) – Argentina Profiles in Polo: The Players Who Changed the Game Edited by Horace A. Laffaye Alberto Pedro Heguy (born 1941)– Argentina Bautista Heguy – Argentina / England Gonzalo Heguy - Argentina Horacio Heguy - Argentina Ignacio Heguy – Argentina Marcos Heguy – Argentina Tommy Hitchcock, Jr. (1900 –1944) – USA Foxhall Keene (1867–1941) – USA Lewis Lacey (1887–1966) – Argentina Juan Martin Nero – Argentina Pablo Mac Donough (born 1982) – Argentina / Spain / USA Agustin Merlos – Argentina / Spain / USA Sebastian Merlos – Argentina Lucas Monteverde (born 1976) – Argentina Juan Martin Nero – Argentina / Spain Alfonso Pieres – Argentina Nicolas (Nico) Pieres – Argentina Facundo (Facu) Pieres (born 1986) – Argentina / USA Gonzalo Pieres Jr. (born 1982) – Argentina / France Gonzalo Pieres Sr. – Argentina Pablo (Polito) Pieres (born 1987) – Argentina Aidan Roark (1905–1984) – Ireland John Sinclair-Hill (1934–2025) – Australia Bob Skene (1914–1997) – Australia David Stirling (born 1981) – Uruguay Louis Ezekiel Stoddard (1881–1951) – USA John Arthur Edward Traill (1882–1958) – Argentina / Ireland Ernesto Trotz – Argentina Hilario Ulloa (born 1985) – Argentina Tommy Wayman (born 1946) – USA

Nine-goal players, with a maximum 9-goal handicap achieved in outdoor polo Rodrigo De Andrade - Brazil Eduardo Novillo Astrada – Argentina Ignacio Novillo Astrada – Argentina Javier Novillo Astrada – Argentina Joginder Singh Baidwan (1904–1940) - India Francisco Bensadon - Argentina Juan Britos - Argentina Alfredo Capella Barabucci - Argentina Bartolome (Barto) Castagnola - Argentina Camilo (Jeta) Castagnola - Argentina Diego Cavanagh - Argentina Santiago Chavanne – Argentina Lucas Criado – Argentina Francisco DeNarvaez – Argentina Alejandro Diaz-Alberdi (born 1963) – Argentina Gabriel Donoso (1960–2006) – Chile Ignatius (Nachi) Du Plessis - South Africa Francisco Elizalde - Argentina Elbridge T. Gerry Sr. (1908-1999) - United States Alberto Heguy – Argentina Eduardo Heguy – Argentina Howard Hipwood - England Julian Hipwood - England Matias MacDonough – Argentina Juan Alberto Merlos (1945) – Argentina Juan I. Merlos – Argentina Man Singh II (1912-1970) – India Facundo Sola - Argentina Guillermo Terrera - Argentina Santiago (Santi) Toccalino - Argentina Eric Leader Pedley (1896-1986) - United States

References

External links General Explanation of Handicaps Handicaps in the USA, See handicap Section