Handle

Handle is turnover: every dollar staked, win or lose. US market reports lead with it because it’s the biggest available number; revenue is handle × hold.

Reading market reports correctly

A state posting $500M monthly handle at 7% hold earns $35M — and handle growth with falling hold can mean promo wars, not prosperity. For affiliates, handle-based metrics (turnover share deals in some sports programs) reward volume-heavy sharp traffic that NGR deals punish; knowing which metric a deal pays on determines which audience is worth building.