Can I Cancel A Bet After It Has Been Placed?

Red Cancel ButtonWe’ve all been there; the scenario is which we’ve placed a bet that we really wished we hadn’t placed. That feeling of dread when you realise you have placed a bet that you don’t want is quite simply awful and automatically begs the question of whether or not you can cancel a bet once it has been 100% accepted and confirmed.

The simplest answer to the question is, well, maybe; and that’s not a case of copping out or sitting on the fence, but it simply reflects the fact that sometimes you can cancel a bet and sometimes you can’t. In truth, rather than reading this and seeking an answer from a third party, the best thing to do to is:

Contact the bookie you placed the bet with, as soon as possible if you have made an error!

That said, there are some instances where you are far more likely to be allowed to cancel a bet and others where you almost certainly won’t be able to.

Cash Out Your Bet: In this article we’re specifically looking at the idea of completely cancelling or voiding a bet. However, many bookmakers also offer the option of cashing out your bet – where it’s settled using a figure roughly around the current odds. This can be a useful tool to get you out of bets that you’ve accidentally placed with minimal cost.

Why Might I Want to Cancel My Bet?

Man with Laptop Having Made a Mistake

There can be many reasons why you might want to cancel a bet, be it that you simply rushed and backed the wrong team, you accidentally backed a horse to win when you meant to back it each way, you placed a bet and then realised a certain player was injured, suspended, or likely to be rested, or indeed any one of a whole host of other reasons.

You might have got your markets confused, and bet on a side to be winning at half time when you thought you were backing the match odds and you might even have backed the wrong game entirely, something that is eminently possible in baseball, for example, where confusingly teams sometimes play each other twice in the same day. There is an almost infinite number of reasons, in fact, why you might want to cancel a bet and, to some extent, the reason why you want to cancel won’t affect your ability to actually have the wager voided.

What Would Stop My Bet Being Cancelled?

Clock Showing Too Late

There are a few key factors that influence the likelihood that a bookie will cancel your bet and the most obvious one and definite one is that you will almost certainly never be able to cancel a bet that has already lost. This may sound very obvious but unless you can offer compelling proof that the betting site has misled you, or that your account was used fraudulently, a bookmaker is highly unlikely to give your money back.

The same also applies to a bet that is placed on an event that is already live, i.e. that has started, even if it has not yet lost, or is even losing. Whilst it’s possible a generous bookie in a good mood will allow you to void a bet on an event that has only just started, in all probability you may simply have to accept the bet, cross your fingers and hope for the best.

What To Do If You Want to Cancel a Bet

Customer Service Assistants

More than anything else, time is probably the number one factor impacting the likelihood of an online bookie voiding your bet. If you place a bet in error, for almost any reason, and immediately contact the bookie, be that by live chat or telephone (we would always recommend using the most instant method of contact possible), there is every chance they may allow you to void, that is to say cancel, your bet.

They are more likely to allow you to cancel the bet if you are replacing it with an alternative bet, for example you backed a horse on the nose and want to replace it with an each way bet, than if you just want to cancel it altogether. If your request is reasonable, legitimate and made immediately, most bookies will allow you to cancel your bet.

Naturally, contacting them to cancel a bet an hour or two, or perhaps a day, after you placed your bet, or just after some crucial new piece of information has come to light, is unlikely to be met in such a positive way.

Ultimately cancelling a bet will ALWAYS be at the discretion of the bookie though, so if you’ve genuinely placed a bet in error contact the bookmaker immediately and state your case honestly and clearly and with a bit of luck they will grant you the reprieve.