Most players in the UK with handicaps above 10 play only handicap play. I believe I am correct in saying that in Australia all players are put in divisions based on their handicap and will always play level against someone within their division. The Handicap system in the UK is an automatic one.
Players gain and lose points as they win and lose games.
10 points change hands after a handicap game. The number of points changing hands varies in level play games depending on the handicap difference between the players. For example a 1 handicap player beating a scratch player would gain 12 points and the scratch player would lose 12 points. However if the scratch player won the game then 8 points would swop hands. In the UK most players around the scratch mark will find that the number of points they have in the handicap system will be fairly close to their grade in the World Ranking System.