Cash out, or cash in with some bookmakers, is an extremely popular betting tool which gives customers the chance of taking part of their potential winnings before a sporting event has finished.
Sports betting sites are constantly trying to outdo each other, with innovative and unique bonuses, promotions, or offers, different bet types or markets, and fantastic in-play capabilities.
However, cash out is still one of the best and most popular inventions within the world of sports betting and pretty much all of the biggest bookmakers allow their customers to use it to settle their bets early.
What is Cash Out?
Basically, cash out is a feature that can be found on pretty much every sports betting website which allows customers to settle their bet early.
This could be as a way of ensuring at least some of the profit they would potentially win without the frustrating and nerve-wracking last few minutes where punters hope and pray that an opposition team doesn’t score a late equaliser.
For example, let’s say you have an eight-team football accumulator running with a stake of £/€10 and potential returns of £/€350.
With ten or so minutes remaining of the matches, you have seven out of the eight selections winning and the other is drawing 1-1. The drawing selection are under the cosh, having had a man sent off, and you fear that the opposition has more chance of scoring than the team you backed have.
Your cash out value is showing £/€175, which means you could cut and run and make £/€165 profit. However, that return is only half of what you could potentially win if your final selection manages to score.
You can take the money and hope they don’t score, or you can let the bet run and risk ending up with nothing. The sensible option is to cash out and remember that you have made a healthy profit, regardless of what happens after you settle the bet early.
What is Partial Cash Out?
Several sports betting websites are not content with just giving their customers the option of settling a bet before the event finishes, they offer a partial cash out feature as well.
This means that a percentage of the overall cash out value can be taken by the customer and the remaining percentage continues to run on the bet as normal.
So, if you have a cash out value of £/€100, you could cash out 50% of it and let the other 50% continue to run. Which means you could take £/€50. This changes the overall value of your bet, with the potential overall winnings increased by half as well.
Partial cash out will be available several times during an event, with most bookmakers allowing customers to cash out up to 90% of the value in increments of at least 10%.
Every bet has pre-determined odds which will go up or down during a sporting event, based on what is happening in real time. During in-play betting, the odds available will change and this impacts cash out values.
Each betting site has their own algorithm to work out cash out values and in-play odds, with a computer calculating these based on whether your selection is winning or not, the chances of them holding on or coming back to win, and other significant factors including past results of similar sporting events.
Every action and reaction during an event, whether it’s goals, red cards, injuries, etc. form part of the calculations made.
It can be frustrating when you see a ‘cash out suspended’ message during an event, especially when one selection is suspended but another looks like they are going to concede a goal at any time and you want to take what you were previously being offered.
However, suspending cash out temporarily is essential, as this means the computer is making its calculations and betting will be open again once the results are formulated.
This happens several times during an event and gives customers an exact and up-to-date cash out amount which they can choose to take at any given time.
How to Use Cash Out?
To get the most out of cash out, customers must put the overall potential winnings out of their head and concentrate solely on the figure they are being offered if they choose to cash out their bet.
Many people cling on too long, unrealistically hoping for a few goals in the last five minutes to give them that big-money win, when they should have taken the small amount of profit they were offered and lived to fight another day, so to speak.
Use this feature wisely and it can become an extremely useful tool, but several people have made huge mistakes in using it.
The best possible advice for using cash out is to trust your instinct but also use your head, think sensibly, and work out what is the better option out of making a small profit instead of the potential massive winfall or ending up with nothing because you let the bet run.
And, do not check the scores from your bet once you’ve hit the cash out button. You will only regret it if the miracle comeback that would have made you rich did happen.
As a rule of thumb, a great cash out would be to take an offer that gives you more profit from the original stake than the difference between the offer and the potential winnings.
To explain that fully, here’s an example.
What we mean is if your stake was £/€10, with potential winnings of £/€300 and your cash out offer was £/€200, this represents a good cash out. Your profit is already £/€190, which you would be risking if you let the bet run to win another £/€100 on top.
So, you’re risking losing 190 to win 100, which doesn’t make much sense.
Obviously, circumstances will influence your decision. Things like the status of your bet and what’s happening in the events can sway you one way or the other but risking more than you stand to win is never a good idea in the world of sports betting.
The offer is activated in real time and allows punters to collect their winnings where they see the game is going for or against them. The amount of winnings that the punter stands to gain depends on the likelihood of the result. In some cases a punter can make less than the bet and in order situations make a profit.
The volatility of the in-play markets are high and this makes the cash out option to increase or decrease in response to the game. There are instances where the option expires during the game. The cash out option is provided for many sports including horse racing, Formula One, football leagues, tennis and others too many to mention. Cash out options usually work best with accumulators.
It is extremely handy for punters who want to reel in their profits before the outcome of all the acca results. However, the option is a double-edged sword which can hurt a punter’s winnings when he’s too cautious. Cashing out too early or prematurely can reduce profit. For a cash out to be spot on, the punter needs to walk a fine line between the offer price at cashing out and weighing it against the risk of letting the bet ride to conclusion.
The ability to cash out perfectly is not a precise science. The principle behind the cash out policy has been around for some time and is one of the pillars of sports trading as it is known today. Although it looks helpful in theory, the bookmakers market this feature not to help the punter make a profit but because it allows them to make more money. To understand how to cash out like an expert, it is worthwhile to know sports betting is like trading the stocks. A professional stock trader will always have an idea where to place the stop loss and will never trade from a position where there is still profit to be made. However, the casual punter will most likely trade from an advantageous position because the bookmaker cash out policy is setup that way. To counter this, the punter must always cash out from an advantageous position and a disadvantageous one. It is never advisable to cash out based on emotions. Implement strategies that make it easy to take profit or stop loss at a certain point.
For the new punter who is coming to grips with the cash out feature, follow the tips below:
Waiting on the last game on a long acca slip. It can be tortuous for a punter to wait on a last game which in hindsight he may not have selected. The best option at this point is to take a look at the cash out option.
Last 20 minutes. Once its twenty minutes to the end of a game, it’s better not to stick around and cash out. The reason is that the volatility of the cash out is at its peak during this period. Furthermore, bookmakers usually remove the option around this time.
When the punter has a good offer. Punters experience this when they find out events which make the chance of winning the bet more difficult. For instance, backing a team to win and their main striker has an injury during the warm up. Once that happens, it is best to cash out before the game.
It is worth noting that cash out does not allow the punter to make off with the full winnings on the slip but a smaller amount than when the bet was ridden to its conclusion.
When you Should Avoid Cash Out
Cash out isn’t the be all and end all when it comes to sports betting and sometimes it’s best to just let your bet run, without the stress of trying to decide whether to take the £/€3.21 it’s offering you in the dying moments of a game when three more goals will give you £/€110.
While cash out is a fantastic and innovative betting feature, there is one circumstance under which you should never use it. That is when the offer is less than your original stake.
Responsible gambling suggests you should only bet in the first place with money you can afford to lose, which means there’s really no point in taking less than that value when anything can happen in a sporting event.
There are many stories about people who cashed out less than their stake early in a match because a couple of teams went behind, in order to place different bets, and kicked themselves when the teams who were losing turned things around and their bet would have returned a big profit.
Bookmakers Who Offer Cash Out
Cash out is such a popular betting feature nowadays that there are more online betting companies that offer it than ones who don’t. In fact, the sites which do not offer cash out in some shape or form are probably the ones who are struggling to survive in a crowded market and you may not even know who they are.
Ladbrokes were a bit of a late comer to the party with regards cash out and do slightly lag behind their competitors. However, they do offer a decent cash out feature.
William Hill, Coral, Sky Bet, Bet Victor, Bet 365, and Betway are just some of the big name sites where you will be able to cash out your bet.
Not all of these sites allow cash out for every market though, so you will need to read the terms & conditions before placing a bet and look for an indication you will be able to cash out the bet you want to place.
Most sites will have an icon or symbol of some kind to indicate cash out is available, while there is usually a separate page on the website fully explaining this feature and which markets are included.
Sometimes, there may be a line saying ‘subject to change’ or something similar. This means that the cash out feature may be removed from a sporting event after you have placed a bet on it. Ensure you know your rights in cases like these and preferably avoid them if you want to avoid becoming extremely frustrated when your accumulator loses thanks to a last minute goal, and you were unable to cash-out for the last twenty minutes.
Ever since sportsbooks initiated the Cash out feature, its use has spread across the world and into different sports. Cash out enables the punter to take his winnings without waiting for the conclusion of the event. In this review, punters are going to discover the sportsbooks with the best cash out apps.
The cash out feature is offered by different sportsbooks on different levels such as:
Complete cash out
Partial cash out
Complete cash out is an all-or-nothing deal. The bookmaker offers the punter a price, and he accepts the price as offered and closes his bet or rides the game to its conclusion. Partial cash outs allow the punter to withdraw a small amount of the winnings while letting the rest of the bet to carry on to the end. For instance, a punter’s team is leading 1 – 0 before the break. He placed a £20 bet priced at 3.00. If he let’s the bet to ride to the end, he gains £60. However, the sportsbook offers him £20 with a chance of winning £30 instead of £60. That scenario is the definition of a partial cash out.
The following sportsbooks have cash out features on their betting apps:
Bet365
Pros
Gives punters absolute control with the complete or partial cash out feature.
Top site for cash out betting.
Cons
Exchange bet excluded
Min deposit applicable
Bet365 is the best site on many parameters and this includes cash outs. They were the pioneers of the cash out feature and remain ahead of the curve when it comes to innovation. Bet365 cash out feature is applicable to pre-game as well as in-play games. Furthermore, the cash out is available for single bets and accumulators. Punters have the option of taking the partial cash out route which is only offered by few select cash out betting sites.
As if that is not enough, Bet365 trumps its competitors by having the best auto cash out facility in the industry. Punters use the auto cash out feature the same way traders set their stop losses and take profit on the stock exchange. With this feature, the winnings are automatically remitted into the punter’s account once it has reached the set value.
Betfair
Pros
Complete and partial cash out facilities
Cash out options are available on the sportsbook and bet exchange.
Cons
Exchange bet excluded
Min deposit applicable
Betfair has a large subscriber base as well as a reputation worth protecting. The reason Betfair ranks amongst the best apps for cash out is because the feature is enjoyed on both platforms. Furthermore, punters can make use of either the complete or partial cash out feature on multiple devices including tablets, mobile phones, and PC. The icing on the cake is the auto cash out option which credits winnings automatically.
William Hill
Pros
Complete and partial cash out option
Convenient to use
Cons
Exchange bet excluded
Min deposit applicable
Punters need to be confused. The “cash in” feature used by William Hill means the same thing as cash out in other online betting sites. William Hill has the complete and partial cash out option on single and multiples with the exception of the automatic feature.
10Bet
Pros
Multiple markets available
Complete and partial cash out available
Cons
Exchange bet excluded
Min deposit applicable
10Bet offers one of the most hassle-free cash out feature that can be found anywhere online. 10Bet provides the platform for punters to cash out completely or partially depending on their needs. The feature can also be used for single and multiple bets.
Coral
Pros
Complete and partial cash out available
Best cash out feature on app
Cons
Exchange bet excluded
Min deposit applicable
Coral is a well-known sportsbook with a pedigree in the sports betting industry. Their cash out feature works extremely well with the app and allowing punters to enjoy the complete and partial cash out feature.
In summary, there is not a world of difference between using the web version of a cash out feature or the app. That being said, a few sportsbooks offer a richer version of the feature on the web application. In spite of this, the current trend is shifting towards mobile betting and in furthering that, sportsbooks are beginning to tailor features which sync well with mobile sports betting.
Cash Out Strategies
First thing to note is that betting sites ultimately seek advantage for themselves. For instance, a punter places a £20 bet on Liverpool away to beat Man City. Liverpool is already two goals ahead at halftime.
If the bookmaker prices the betting odds at 3.00 for the win, the punter stands to make £60 at the end of the game. But the betting sites understand human psychology and how to exploit it.
So they offer the punter £44 as the cash out worth of the bet and he gratefully accepts it. The punter has not won an extra £24 in profit but has lost a potential ROI of £16. Seven out of ten times, Liverpool will hold on for the win.
On the other hand, Liverpool is backed to win or draw and they are a goal down at halftime. The punter has placed the same bet with similar odds. But this time the bookmaker is offering £8 for the punter to cut his losses.
There are no betting tips or guides to assist the punter make the best decision. The strategy available to him will depend on his psychological makeup.
Different teams are known for scoring late goals, conceding late goals, caving under pressure, and coping well with pressure. Therefore, researching the teams prior to selecting bets will be a factor in knowing what strategy to take.
What cash out markets are available?
Cash out features are not available for all events or sports. A punter will be hard-pressed to find cash out features in golf bookmakers in UK. However, the following are markets and sports where this feature is available:
Football
Match result
Next Team To Score
Correct score
HF/FT
Both Teams To Score
Double Chance
1st Half outcome
1st half correct score
2nd Half outcome
2nd half correct score
1st half double chance
Second half double chance
Both teams to score / overs and unders
Win and Both Teams To score
Both teams to score 1st half
Both teams to score 2nd half
Both teams to score in 1st and 2nd half
Team to score in both halves
Goal in 1st half
Goal in 2nd half
Outright markets in English Premiership, championship, League One and League Two and National League
Outright markets in FA Cup and EFL Cup
Outright markets in Scottish Premier League, Championship, and FA Cup
Outright Markets in UEFA Champions League, UEFA Europe League, Spanish Primera LIGA and Segunda Liga, French League One and Two, Bundesliga I, II, and III, Serie A, B, and C, Dutch League One and Two, Portuguese League
Tennis
Match Betting
Set Betting
Set Winner
Rugby Six Nations Tournament
Outright Tournament
Match Betting
Boxing
Fight Betting
Victory Method
Horse Racing
Win/Each Way
Fixed Handicap
Over/Under
What is Cash Out In play
Cash out in-play is a feature which allows the punter to withdraw his winnings as the game is going on. It is at this point that bookmakers are most active when offering cash out prices to the customers. For instance, If a punter backs Liverpool to beat Man City and Liverpool leads 1-0, the 2nd half last Ten minutes can turn up interesting cash out prices which will guarantee the punter a profit even though not as much as what he would have made at the end of the game.
What is auto cash out
This is an option borne out of the cash out feature. It allows the punter to set a request which automatically triggers when the cash out price reaches a set value. Bookmakers allow new customers to enjoy the auto cash out feature and there are no qualifying deposit or min odds bet to use the auto cash out function.
How this works with example
A punter places a £200 min odds bet on Liverpool to beat Real Madrid away with the odds priced at 2.50. The ROI is £500 should the bet win. The punter can go ahead to place an auto cash out request set at £350. Once the value is met during the game, the bet will automatically close and the winnings credited into the punter’s account. Furthermore, some cash out betting sites offer auto cash out on the partial cash out feature. In this scenario, the punter sets a limit for part of his stake and once it is triggered it cashes out while the other part of the stake continues to ride on the final outcome.