What Happens to My Bet if the Match Is Called Off?

Punters often ask themselves: “What happens to my bet if the match is called off?”, especially if they’ve spent hours poring over the latest stats and devising a strategy.

While the rules may vary very slightly between betting houses, such bets are simply voided in most cases, as if they weren’t placed in the first place.

Keep on reading as we go over several scenarios involving void bets below!

What Happens When the Bet Becomes Void?

The answer to what happens when a bet becomes void is simple: the bet is annulled, and the stake is returned to the customer. However, this is the case for single-bet slips, and accumulator bets, or ‘accas’ for short, are simply adjusted accordingly.

In essence, if your bet were to be cancelled, you would neither win nor lose anything, that is, except the time it took you to think of and make the bet.

Note: If you had used any sort of “Free Bet’ token to place your wager, betting houses will most likely not refund you for the size of the bet.

Reasons Why a Bet Gets Cancelled

Bets are voided on several grounds, including but not limited to the following:

• The event was postponed—different betting houses define the period length after which a bet will not stand any longer if the match is not played; for instance, while Unibet cancels bets after 12 hours, bet365 gives it the whole week;
• The match was abandoned—while the bets of abandoned events are typically invalid, they may still stand in some unique scenarios;
• A player has been injured—selecting a competitor that withdraws due to an injury (human, horse, dog, etc.) effectively voids your bet;
• Criminal activity affected the outcome—match-fixing may happen in low-tier sporting leagues where certain individuals seek to benefit from fixed matches;
• There was a change in rules—event organisers may amend a specific match, such as changing the pitch, the particular rules that apply, etc., which nullifies your bet;
• The match was listed with an error—sites are managed by people who make mistakes, and some matches may be listed with errors.

In addition to the above, there are other situations that lead to cancelled selections, including translation errors, regulation changes, inconclusive results, etc.

What Happens if the Game is Called Off Mid-Way?

As a general rule of thumb, most betting houses cancel bets for abandoned matches as long as the bet hasn’t been settled. For instance, if you bet that both teams will score a goal, and they do before the match is cancelled, the bet will stand. 

Other similar markets (specific bet categories) that can play out at any time during a match include specific players scoring goals/points, certain teams leading before half-time, a particular player being replaced during the match, etc.

What Happens in Cases of Multiple Bets?

You’ve already learned that the stake in cancelled single bets is fully refunded in most cases, but what happens if that selection was part of an acca bet?

Logic dictates that cancelled selections included in acca wagers are simply removed from the betting slip, and the potential winnings are consequently reduced.

Therefore, fourfold accas are converted into trebles, trebles become doubles, and so on. The odds are then recalculated by considering the remaining valid bets.

Certain accumulator offers also get cancelled under such circumstances since your bet selection (a requirement for most offers) gets effectively reduced. 

For example, an acca insurance offer that only applies with five or more selections will become invalid if that number is reduced to four.

Note: Your acca stake will be returned to you only if all the bets are cancelled.

Bottom Line

As you can see, in most cases, cancelled matches only lead to returned stakes—not a big deal in reality, as you can always repurpose your money for a different bet. That said, we also understand how a cancelled event could annoy bettors who put a lot of thought into their selection and/or used it to create a large accumulator bet.