If you have come across the term void bet, you may be scratching your head after seeing this new sports betting term. In reality, it’s pretty straightforward to understand. A voided bet simply means that your bet is canceled and your stake will be refunded. It is not necessarily a bad thing, and for any parlay bettors out there, this does not mean you will lose your bet. The voided bet will just be removed from your parlay and if the rest of the selections come through, you will take home your rewards.
There are different reasons why your bet could be voided, such as if a game is postponed, a technical issue occurs, or any range of other factors. But then there are purposely voided bets, where a wager specifies that under certain circumstances, your bet was made null and void. Those are the ones that can be extremely handy in any bettor’s arsenal, and we will show you how to best use them.
Why Was My Bet Canceled?
We would ask first, when was your bet canceled? Because if it was before the game was set to start, then most likely something has happened that either delayed the game or made the conditions of your bet void. For example, maybe due to rain, an MLB game was postponed, voiding any bets you had riding on the game. Another one is if you have a player prop, and that player sustains an injury or doesn’t play. The player will not participate in the game and so your bet will not stand. This could also happen in a boxing or UFC fight, when a contestant forfeits their fight.
That would be the best case scenario. There are other reasons why your bet could be made void, such as technical issues or the odds are listed wrong. If you don’t have a stable internet connection while you place your bet, you may receive a notification after that the sportsbook has rejected the bet and refunded your account. It is quite rare for a bet to have the wrong price listed, but it can happen when the servers are overloaded. Irritating as it is, you will receive a message afterwards, such as “FanDuel Has Voided Your Bet”.
To summarise, we’ve listed out the most likely scenarios that can make your bet void.
Why My Bet Was Made Void
- The game is postponed/canceled
- Your internet connection is not stable
- Sportsbook’s servers are overloaded
- Odds are listed at wrong price
- Player injury or inactive player (for player props)
- Invalid bonus usage
If you used a bonus bet or bonus cash to stake your bet and the bet was canceled, it may be due to the bonus conditions. This is very rare, as generally the sportsbook will not allow you to place a wager using a bonus if it does not meet the requirements. But if it does and your bet is made void, then your bet will be cancelled, and you will have to use your bonus on another wager. Again, highly unlikely, but if there are issues with connectivity or over-performing servers, an error can slip through.
Typical conditions that may affect bonuses are the following.
- Bonus cannot be used on certain bets (parlays, player props, futures, etc)
- The wager needs to meet specific odds requirements for the bonus (Only for odds of +100 up to +1,000, for example)
- The bonus relates to a specific event (for example, a “Super Bowl Odds Boost” cannot be used on a soccer game)
- When a bonus can only be used on games in a specific timeframe (a bonus for “EPL weekend soccer games cannot be used on midweek games)
We do have to stress the fact that at reliable sportsbooks this issue almost never happens. When forming your bet slip and trying to apply a bonus, they will notify you that the wager does not meet the bonus’s conditions. Thus, you will not fall into that awkward situation where your bet is invalidated, and you may have to contact support to get your bonus back.
If a Player Doesn’t Play is the Bet Void?
The first thing to note here is that the full time result is the end result and that will determine whether you have won your bet or not, regardless of how many minutes were added on. In the scenario where a player you have bet on is not playing and doesn’t feature at all, all bets will be made void once the sportsbook confirms the player did not take any part in the match. If the player comes on late from the bench they will be treated as having participated.
What Happens if Bet is Settled then Match is Abandoned?
There could be a situation where you have placed a bet on a match that has been abandoned, but the bet has already been settled. If this ever occurs your settled bet will remain that way, irrespective of if you have won or lost. A common example might come in a football match where you have had a bet on the first goalscorer of the game. The player you predicted would strike first opens the scoring and your bet wins. However, the weather turns awful, the pitch becomes unplayable and the referee decides to abandon the game. Your bet will still stand.
When Are Voided Bets Not Accidental
Sometimes the void is not accidental. Draw No Bet wagers can often become void, because of the conditions of the wager. You have to bet on one team to win, and if the game ends in a draw, then your bet is pushed. In other words, the bet is made void and you get your money back.
This can also happen in bets that use lines, such as spreads and totals bets. In both, the line defines a condition, but sometimes that can also end in a push. A point spread of -1.5, -2.5, and -3.5 will end with you either winning or losing your bet, but that is not the case with spreads of -1, -2, and -3. Say you pick a spread of -2 and your chosen team only wins by 2 points. The spread brings the score level, which pushes your bet. The same goes for Over/Under totals bets. If the sportsbooks draw a line of 28 in an NFL game, and the combined score of the two teams is exactly 28, then the bet is made void.
How Voided Bets Affect Parlays
If one or more of your selections in your parlay are made void but the others come through, your wager should be alright. But you will not take the same profit as you would have if all your selections won. Basically, the sportsbook removes the voided bets and counts the odds based on the remaining bets in your parlay.
Bet 1 @ +110
Bet 2 @ -150
Bet 3 @ -120
Bet 4 @ +180
Parlay Odds @ +1696
Parlay if Bet 1 is Void: @+755
Parlay if Bet 2 is Void: @ +976
Parlay if Bet 3 is Void: @ +881
Parlay if Bet 4 is Void: @ +541
Now if bet 1 was to be made void, the parlay would carry odds of @ +755 and your stake would simply carry over to the other three bets. Using bets with a push or void condition does give you some much needed coverage with your parlay wagers. The odds may not be as long on a Draw No Bet wager as they are in Two-Way Moneylines, but you are sacrificing that little extra to completely cut your losses in the event that the game does end tied.
Using the Void/Push To Gain an Edge
This brings us onto how you can use voided bets to gain an edge. When we look at soccer, where draws occur quite frequently, then Draw No Bet is a great option, but you have several. There are three standard markets for betting on three-way outcome sports events:
- 3-Way Moneyline
- Double Chance
- Draw No Bet
The three way moneyline offers the best odds as you can bet on the exact outcome at the end of a game. There are no ways about it, if you bet on a team to win and they do, you are getting your money. Double chance gives you more leeway, in that you can choose two of the three possible outcomes. Bet on the home team to win or a draw, and if the game ends either of those ways, you are getting your payout. However, the payout is considerably less than what you would get with the moneyline.
Draw no bet is the middle way between the two. You can bet on your preferred team to win at almost the same odds as the moneyline. The only thing to note is that a draw does not give you any money. Double chance would give you a little profit there, but it slashes the odds significantly. They each have their own uses, and in different scenarios our experts at BettingTools will use either.
Defining Push Bets vs Void Bets
In principle, they have the same outcome and so some sportsbooks use voided bet and pushed bet interchangeably. But there is a slight difference in how we use the terms.
Void bets relate to all bets that are canceled, whether the game has been canceled and the bet does not stand, to Draw No Bet wagers that have been made void.
A pushed bet specifically relates to a wager where the outcome is a draw. By that, we mean if you bet on a team to win with a spread of -2 and they win the game by 2 points, there is no winner or loser, and your bet will be refunded. Or, in a totals bet, you have bet Under 26 and the game finished with exactly 26 points.
