Cash Out and Partial Cash Out

The invention of the Cash Out feature arguably revolutionised the betting industry, taking online betting from a convenience to a 'must have'. Even those of you that tend not to bet much will likely have heard the words before, such is the extent to which different bookmakers push it as a main feature that they offer. It’s entirely possible to have heard the phrase 'Cash Out' without quite understanding what it means, however, and that’s why this page exists.

Here we’ll explain exactly what 'Cash Out' means, whether there are any variations of the Cash Out option and what you need to know about it when it comes to taking advantage of the feature for your bets. We’ll also look at how you can use the ability to Cash Out your bets when talking specifically about the Cheltenham Festival. As is so often the case, this won’t be an exhaustive look at the topic and situations can change with a degree of rapidity, so always make sure you look at each individual bookie’s small print.

What is Cash Out

A traditional bet is one where you place it, the event happens and then you find out whether your bet won or lost. There’s no nuance to the situation, no arguing about it and bookmakers very rarely give people any time who want to argue with them. It’s a black and white, binary decision - did the bet win or lose? Over the years bookies have realised that they stand more chance of winning a punter’s business if they make things a little less straightforward, doing things such as refunding stakes if the bet loses in specific circumstances.

The Cash Out option is an example of this addition of nuance to the betting world. Instead of simply placing your bet, walking away and forgetting about it, you can monitor the bet and make a decision about whether or not to leave it on until its conclusion or take an early price.

To use an example from the world of football, in the 2016-2017 season Liverpool played Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium. Say before the game you’d placed a bet on Liverpool winning 3-1, you might have been panicking about that when that was the score with about 30 minutes to play. If the bet had played to the end and won you’d have been due, say, £30, but instead you looked at the Cash Out section and saw that you were being offered £11.50. Would you have taken it?

You should have, with Liverpool going on to lose the match 4-3. The longer you’d held on to your bet the more the Cash Out option would have increased, with the theory being that the Cash Out amount and the initial straight bet amount should come in-line when the game reaches its conclusion. Hang on for too long, though, and the scoreline could change and your bet would lose.

Obviously we’re talking about horse racing here, but the principal is still the same and the football example is perhaps slightly easier to explain and understand.

Cash Out on Horse Racing

Not all sites offer the feature but in general you can now cash out single during live racing.  Betfair is generally the best place to go for the latest innovations and features.  They have basically invented cash out and its various formats.

With almost all bookies that offer cash out punters can cash out a multiple bet early after several legs have run.  This is common in horse racing where individual legs do not run simultaneously.

How Does Cash Out Work

The key thing to bear in mind is that Cash Out odds will not be all that amazing. The reality is that you’re only likely to take up the Cash Out option if you think your bet is going to lose. Bookmakers are a smart bunch, so if you think your bet is going to lose then the bookies know they can put a decent margin on their odds.

That’s why the returns offered aren’t too tempting if it’s still early in the race or before the horses have even begun running. It’s really a game of brinkmanship, as the longer you leave the bet in play the more the returns will increase but the more likely it will be that the bet could turn and you’ll end up with nothing.

Not all bookmakers allow you to Cash Out 'in-play', or whilst the race is being run. Some actually suspend the option whilst races are taking place, so don’t assume that just because a bookie says you can Cash Out horse racing bets with them that that means you’ll be able to do it mid-race. With those bookmakers the Cash Out option is best used in the build-up to the race, perhaps if you realise the going isn’t quite what you expected or you’ve seen the horse warming up and something doesn’t look quite right. Make sure you check what type of Cash Out the bookmaker you’re betting with allows on horse racing so you know your options.

Partial Cash Out

As we’ve said elsewhere on this site, bookies love to try and get one over on each other. As soon as the Cash Out feature was introduced to the industry, some tried to find ways to do it differently. One of the best examples of this is the Partial Cash Out. As the name suggests, this allows you to Cash Out part of your bet whilst leaving the rest of it to run its course. This is the very definition of hedging your bets, allowing you to take some certain returns but also giving you the opportunity to still bring home some winnings.

Returning to the football example, say you bet £10 on Liverpool to win 3-1 at odds of 10/1 and were offered £30 to Cash Out that bet after 70 minutes of the match. You might have chosen to Cash Out £5 and leave the remaining £5 running. In that instance you’d have seen a return of £15 on the Cash Out bet, giving you a £5 profit on your original wager, with the other £5 liable to return a further £50 if the bet had won. In the end it lost, so you’d have simply gained £5 rather than losing all £15.

Again, this is a bit of a gamble as selecting how much of your bet to Cash Out is key. Had you Cashed Out all £10 of the bet in the above example you’d have got £30, or £20 profit, but that would have been £35 less than you’d have got if you’d taken the Cash Out option for half and the remaining half had gone on to win. It all sounds a little complicated, but essentially you need to think how confident you are of whether your bet is going to win. If you’re convinced it will, leave it on. If you 100% sure it’s going to lose, Cash Out everything. If you genuinely don’t know how to call it one way or the other than take a Partial Cash Out if it’s offered.

How To Cash Out At Cheltenham

The very best way to make use of the Cash Out feature is on accumulators. for starters, the odds of an accumulator coming in are a lot higher than a straight single Win bet, so you’re already starting at a higher return when dealing with multiple bets. It’s also easier to see how your bets are shaping up as the day goes on. If you’ve got an accumulator going on all six races, for example, and the first two have only just come in then you might have got your reading of the going wrong. Cash Out whilst you can and you can always use the profit to place another, smaller acca on the remaining races.

If you don’t tend to place accumulators then you can still make use of the Cash Out feature, depending on which bookmaker you place your bets with. If the bookie allows you to Cash Out during the race then you’ll want to keep an eye on how your selection is running. If they lead the field right from the off, do you think they’ve got the staying power? If not, click that Cash Out button the second they start to drop back into the pack. Alternatively, if you’ve bet on a horse that is firmly in the middle of the pack but seems to be going full pelt, do you think they’ve got the ability to catch up with the leaders? They’re the sorts of things you need to consider when looking at the Cash Out option and likely returns.

Cash Out is a feature that gives bookies a chance to double their margin, given that they take a margin when you place your bet in the first place and then do so again when you Cash Out your bet. There’s no way around this, but it’s something worth thinking about if that sort of thing bothers you. On the other hand, giving them two margins but taking some money off them is better than nothing!  Remember cash out is most fun in combination with live streaming.