Cash out explained in easy to understand language

The competition between all the bookmakers has led to some pretty innovative ideas. Live betting has taken the market by storm since its introduction. And with the surge in popularity of in-play betting the bookies have come up with some interesting features. One of these is cash out which has become widely available with online betting sites. This has become a vital part of any gamblers repertoire. So what is Cash Out? How does it work? When is the best time to do it? These are all great questions and deserve careful consideration before answering. Betting.com will bring you all that you need to know about the cash out feature in the UK market.

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What is cash out?

Cash out is a feature which gives punters the opportunity to settle your bet before the event has ended. It is mainly associated with live betting. Cash-Out essentially allows you to ‘take it while you can’ in betting terms and is a popular addition to the modern bookmakers’ offering. Having this option has virtually become the norm with hardly any respectable betting company not offering it to their customers.

Bookies will offer you winnings on your bet, which might be higher or lower than your original projected winnings, based on how the event you have wagered on is progressing.

If you have backed Everton to beat Tottenham, and they’re 1-0 up with 5 minutes left to play, you might decide to cash out and not risk a late equaliser from Tottenham.

If your bet was placed at 4/1, and the £10 stake will return £50 in total if the result remains the same. The bookie then might offer you lower, but guaranteed winnings when you cash out, maybe in this case £40.

Cash out can be utilised by acca punters too. If five of your sx selections have come in then you may decide to cash out rather than wait for the sixth match/event.

Likewise If you’re losing, but the wager still has a chance of coming in, you’ll be able to “cash out” and cut your losses for an amount lower than your bet.

The reason it is enjoyed so much by players is that it takes away a small amount of uncertainty for those who enjoy betting. What we mean by this is that if someone has bet £10 that both Team A and Team B will win and with 15 minutes to go they are then the player can decide to Cash Out based on live market odds at the time.

We have provided another example below to highlight this:

John bets £10 that Manchester United, Leicester and Stoke will win their games at odds of 1/1, 15/8 and 3/1 which, if all results go his way, will see him win £230.

With 30 minutes left to go in the matches, all three of his sides are winning but only by a single goal. He has the option to Cash Out and takes £190 right now in which case he will keep that money even if one of the sides in his bet concedes or he can change it and hope that the results stay unchanged in order to win £230.

The amount the bookmaker offers on Cash Out very much depends on the situation of the game in question and the market is often fairly volatile especially as the game starts to reach its conclusion.

The value of your Cash Out option will constantly be changing throughout the event and will be based on how likely, or what live odds you can get on your team to win or lose. The great thing out the introduction of Cash Out options is that it can save players a lot of stress.

We have all been in a situation where a last-minute goal or a desperate attempt to equalise comes off and ruins a nice little accumulator and in so doing means the player doesn’t get to pick up the fat sum of money they were hoping for. Cash Out is the bookmakers’ way of giving you an opt-out route and the chance to stash your profit of grab back your stake before the inevitable conclusion of the match.

There are always going to be right and wrong decisions made when using Cash Out as there are when betting on any sporting event but understanding how it works will certainly give you a better chance at coming out with a profit. Many bookies also offer a partial cash out feature, which we wil cover later in the article.

The pros and cons of Cash Out Betting

The main advantage to Cash Out betting is that you can bag a profit without having to wait until the event is over. It can also help prevent the build-up of anxiety that worrying about a late change in the result can bring. So if you have backed a golfer to win the Open at long odds and he heads into the final day in the lead, you can Cash Out to guarantee a profit and not have to face a stressful final round.

The other pro is that you can rescue a portion of your stake if the same golfer has an awful opening round that practically ends his chances of winning the tournament.

The main cons to Cash Out are that you may take less money than you would have done if you had just left your bet to run its course. So, if your golfer goes onto win the Open you would have lost out on some profit by opting to take the money early.

If we look at some cash examples, it may help you understand exactly what we mean.

So Freddo Faldo is 7.00 to win the Open, and you stake £100 on him to do so, you stand to win £700.00

Heading into the last day he has a one-shot lead over the rest of the field. The bookmaker offers you a Cash Out option of £400.00 which you decide to take. If he goes onto win, you will have missed out on an extra £300 profit.

Alternatively, you could refuse to take the cash-out offer, and he hits his ball in the water on the last hole to lose by a single shot, you will lose your £100 stake.

How is Cash Out calculated?

Bookmakers do not give away money lightly so although Cash Out might be a good option in some cases there is always a chance that the bookmaker will be better off from you taking that course of action.

Cash Out is calculated using the formula:

‘Fair’ Cash Out value = Potential winnings ÷ current odds

So if we take the example of Juventus being backed to win Serie A with an initial £80 stake at odds of 5.00, we can see the potential profit is £400.

If halfway through the season the odds drop by half to 2.50 and you wish to Cash Out then fair Cash Out would be calculated as follows:

400 ÷ 2.50 = £160

You may well be given a chance to Cash Out at a price of £145 thus missing out on a potential £15 extra profit although you would have made £65 profit on your initial stake.

What are the alternatives to Cash Out?

Most of the time it will be better value to allow your bets to run their course rather than Cash Out and miss the opportunity to maximise your profit. There is another option you could look at, and that is to bet on the other side, which is known as hedging your bet.

So if we didn’t want to Cash Out we could instead bet on “Juventus to win Serie A no” at odds of 2.30 then we could guarantee a profit by staking £173.91 on Juve not to win the league and bag a profit of £146.09

We worked this out as follows:

Juve to win the league 5.00 with £80 stake = £400
Juve to win the league no 2.30 with £173.91 stake = £400

So either way, you are guaranteed to make at least £146.09 profit off a total stake of £253.91

This is one way of working out how to make sure you stay in profit without having to use the Cash Out option

Cash Out strategy

This will be down to the individual player, but it is always important to remember that bookmakers are in the business to make a profit.

When to Cash Out

If Oxford are taking on Manchester City in the cup and have odds of 9.00 to win, you stand to bag £90 from a £10 bet.

At half-time Oxford lead 2-1, you decide at this point not to Cash Out at odds of 4.50 which would see you make £45 but instead chose to wait. Manchester City are still losing 10 minutes into the second half and bring on their star striker with the Cash Out option being at £50. This would be a good time to cash out as you know it is highly unlikely that Oxford will hold on to win the game and you will still bag a neat £40 profit.

When not to Cash Out

In the same example, if Oxford are leading by a more convincing scoreline, say 3-1, with 10 minutes to go, and then Manchester City get a man sent off this would be worth not cashing out as it is worth chancing losing a tenner for the higher chance of bagging £90 in winnings.

What is partial Cash Out and what are the pros and cons?

Some bookmakers allow you to take part of your stake or profit in the Cash Out option or even just withdraw your whole stake using a slider built into the app. Partial cash out is a great tool for punters as it gives you even more control over your in-play bets, You are allowed to select an amount of your bet to cash out while you allow the rest of your stake to run on until the event has ended. This means you can take back your stake without having to worry and then get a boost of what value is left in the bet at the end. The advantage here is that it minimalises losses, but the big drawback is that you are likely to greatly diminish your profit if your bet wins. On the whole, this tool offers the best of both worlds for bettors as you can secure some winnings while also keeping your original bet with less risk.

An example of partial cash out would be that you have bet on a side to win and they are leading 2-0 and the cash out option is from £100. You can then decide to cash out a certain percentage of that £100, for example, £20, and leave the rest of the stake to continue on your original bet, for a depleted overall potential winnings sum. Partial cash out is frequently available on accumulators.

What is auto cash out?

Auto cash out is less common. You can create a request to cash out your bet automatically, which means that you do not have to constantly be online checking the odds and looking at the state of play. The request applies even if you’re logged out of your account.

Cash out suspended: Odds updates

Cash out is suspended when the bookmakers are updating the odds of the market after a significant event, such as a goal or a sending off in a football match, has occurred, meaning that your cash out value then needs to be re-calculated. You need to be aware that some betting sites suspend the market in the closing stages of a match, meaning that once you get into stoppage time the cash out feature is likely to be unavailable.

Cash out availability

Not every single bet will be available to cash out. Not every market has cash out available, and it can also be that specific types do not have a cash out option, for example ante-post betting in horse racing.

Sports where cash out is available

The sports where cash out is available will vary across different betting sites. The following sports are among some of the most common for cash out availability:

Football
Tennis
Rugby
Basketball
Darts
Hockey
Baseball
Motor Racing
American football
Cycling
Table Tennis

Can you use cash out on free bets?

The terms and conditions regarding cashing out on free bets will differ from bookie to bookie. Many bookmakers will make the cash out unavailable until the value of the cash out is higher than your free bet. This is because free bet stakes are not part of any returns when you use them. A number of bookies will simply make it impossible to cash out a free bet.

Conclusions about Cash Out Betting

If you are sensible, then Cash Out betting can make you a tidy little profit and remove some of the stress from betting on sport. The trick is to approach it with the right mentality. You will be responsible for the final decision on your betting habits but just remember, bookmakers are in it for the money and the odds reflect this. This means if you stand to make a profit by using the Cash Out option, then it is usually best to do so when you get the chance. Overall, though, Cash Out has offered another dimension to betting on sports that many find enjoyable, so make sure you have fun and play within your means.