Cashouts have become increasingly popular at online bookmakers. They’re offers made on in-play bets, giving you the option to end your punt before the close of play, are a helpful way of managing the volatility of live betting. If a loss seems likely as the game or match progresses, taking a cashout can be a great option.
Choosing to Cashout
You can usually benefit from cashouts in 1 of 2 ways; either by taking a smaller loss than you would if your wager ran its full course, or even make a profit. The specific amount that can be cashed out changes over the course of an event, as the odds are adjusted.
To illustrate what we mean, let’s look at a concrete example. Let’s say you’ve placed 3 $10 wagers on 3 different Rugby or Cricket matches, all happening at the same. The odds when you started were 15/18, 3/1 and 1/1. Your potential return, if all 3 teams are victorious, is $230.
With less than 5 minutes of play left, all 3 of your teams are in the lead and seem likely to win. Now your bookie offers you a cashout deal of $180. Should you take it? If you reject the offer and all 3 teams stay ahead of their opponents, you’ll pocket the total $230 which is $50 more than if you take the cashout offer.
On the other hand, if you accept the deal and your teams’ luck takes a turn for the worse, you get to walk away with $180, without incurring any loss. If they all end up losing, even accepting a $15 cashout would be better than forfeiting your entire $30 stake. Basically, you’re deciding whether to play it safe, or risk everything for the chance at a bigger reward.
Criticism of Cashouts
A lot of bettors feel that cashouts offer them a way of cutting their losses, and they feel a lot less exposed to risk. Conversely, some say it removes the idea of a value bet, as well as some of the sheer excitement of placing a wager and watching what happens next without being able to exert any control.
The fact that bookies are likely to lose across aggregated cashout deals has also been raised. After all, any amount that they pay out to pokies games for Australians punters who would otherwise have lost, no matter how small, is a cost. However, cashouts actually encourage bets from people who would otherwise have been too wary to bet at all. Over time, the vigorish from these stakes accumulates into tidy profits for bookmakers.
Timing is Everything
If you do decide to engage in cashouts, remember that, as with so many other aspects of life, timing is essential here. You want to cash your funds out while you’re still making at least some profit, but not before the offers have reached their peak amount. With more insight into the skills of teams and athletes, you’ll get better at predicting when you should just accept the deal or when you should keep holding out for a turnaround in their performance.