We often get asked, can you cancel a bet? Let’s face it, who out of us hasn’t placed a bet we wish we could have cancelled immediately? The answer is you’ll need to check with the bookmaker you placed the bet with, but there’s a good chance they’ll say no unless you’ve got a fantastic reason why they should.
If you do want to cancel a bet, the best advice is to contact your bookie immediately and explain why you want to cancel it. If they value your custom, they may well offer to cancel your bet if there are no factors that suggest you’re trying to get one over on them.
Reasons Why You Won’t Get Your Money Back
I love ante-post betting, snaffling big prices about horses I think will be much shorter come the race. But sometimes, if the odds look too good to be true, there’s often a reason for that. If you place an ante-post bet, then your selection is announced to be injured just hours later, and the bookies aren’t going to give you your money back.
If you back Liverpool to win the Premier League, then breaking news on Sky Sports announces Salah has broken a leg in training and Van Dijk has put a transfer request in, you’re not going to get your money back
Reasons Why You Might Get Your Money Back
Now sometimes, you might make a genuine mistake when it comes to placing a bet. You might place a bet on the wrong market, instantly wishing you hadn’t. If you contact your bookmaker straight away, they might… just might… let you cancel your bet. This may be on the proviso that you place the same size bet on the market you intended to bet on. But this isn’t guaranteed.
How Do I Contact My Bookie To Cancel A Bet?
Most leading bookmakers offer live chat support nowadays, and this is normally the quickest way to get in touch. The live chat agents will have access to your account, but they’ll normally ask you a few personal questions before dealing with your request.
Providing you can answer the personal details correctly, the live agents will consider your request on an individual basis. You may also find details relating to how to cancel a bet in your bookmaker’s FAQ section.
What Do I Do If I Can’t Cancel A Bet?
In most cases where you place a bet you didn’t intend to, you’ll just have to take your mistake on the chin and hope you get lucky. However, on many markets for a variety of sports, there’s a chance you could get your money back by using the cashout feature.
Lots of bookmakers have a cashout feature nowadays, allowing you to take your money back on a bet if everything is just the same as when you placed it. If this is the case, simply hit ‘cashout’ and take your money back.
I made a terrible mistake on a recent winning day. I’d just won over £500 on the previous race and I went to have £20 on my next tip. However, after placing the bet, I looked at my balance in horror to see that it was £220 lighter. I panicked for a moment, then checked the bet to see I’d placed a £220 bet. Luckily, the odds hadn’t moved, and I was able to cashout my bet, get my £220 back, and then place the £20 bet I was intending.
It may not be possible to cashout a bet you wanted to cancel if the odds of your selection have changed. If the odds of your selection are now bigger than when you took them, the chances are the bookmaker will offer you a smaller cashout amount. However, if the odds have contracted for some reason, you might be offered slightly more than your stake.
Can I Cancel A Bet On Betting Exchanges?
It’s even less likely that you’ll be able to cancel a bet you’ve placed on the betting exchanges. This is because you’re not betting against the exchange, but actually betting against another member. That means they’ve either laid your bet or backed your lay bet. Either way, the bet has been taken and you won’t be able to cancel it. Of course, you could place the opposite bet and probably take a small loss. But the choice is yours.
