Cash Out Betting Guide

For Beginner

Cash Out in Sports Betting Explained

Cash out offers bettors more control over their bets and a way to guarantee a profit or cut losses. It has become one of the most popular betting features and can be found in most major online sportsbooks. Find out what cash out is and how to use it in this guide.

Table of Contents

What is Cash Out?

Cash out is a feature that can be used with live bets, allowing bettors to “cash out” their bets before the match is over. With a normal bet, you’d have to wait until the end of the game before you receive your stake and any profits back. Sites that offer a cash out feature give you more control over your bet, allowing you to take the profits early. 

This feature has become incredibly popular since it was first introduced to online sportsbooks a few years ago. Most sites now include live betting and the cash out feature which is almost always available on live bets. If you want to make use of this feature, just place a bet on a game, then wait till the game is in progress. Open up your bet slip during the game and you’ll see the cash out option available. The site usually tells you how much you’ll gain if you take the cash out, with the profit or loss affected by the current odds of the game. 

Cash out brings a lot of value to bettors who are looking to secure their profits and may not be 100% convinced about the outcome. It also has its benefits especially when you're losing a bet and you want to get some of your stakes back. Bear in mind that there is always a risk that you’d have been better off without cashing out, but for most bettors, it can be worth it to secure your profit or reduce your potential losses. 

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Taking Profit Using Cash Out

Let’s say you’ve placed a bet on the LA Clippers vs the San Antonio Spurs. You’ve gone for the moneyline bet of the Spurs at +265. You’ve put $100 on the Spurs, so if they win the game, you’ll win $265 in profit.

During the game, the Spurs lead after the second quarter, but you’re worried that the Clippers are coming back into the game. You don’t want to lose your bet, so you decide to cash out early. To do this, you open your bet slip and choose a cash out, which gives you $180 based on the live odds. You took your profit early and avoided potentially losing your bet if the Clippers had come back and won the game.

Avoiding a Loss Using Cash Out

In another example, let’s imagine you’ve placed a bet on the Kansas City Chiefs vs the Jacksonville Jaguars. You’ve placed a bet on the moneyline for the Chiefs to win at odds of -200. You placed a $200 bet, which means you’ll win $100 if the Chiefs win the game. 

Later on in the game, the Chiefs are trailing by ten points so it looks like you might lose your bet. You don’t want to wait until full-time to see the result as it doesn’t look like the Chiefs can turn things around, so you open your bet slip and choose to cash out. You get $60 back based on the current odds, and while you lost money, you still get to keep some. 

Cash Out a Parlay Bet

Parlay betting is a good way to get high odds by selecting multiple games. High odds will bring in more profit and risk. To get the most out of a parlay bet, using the cash out feature is your best option. Let's assume you placed a bet with 8 games and for some reason, you're not sure of the two games that are remaining. You can cash out your profit to be on safe ground. If you wait till the end and lose any of the two bets, you might end up losing everything.

Advantages of Cash Out

The obvious advantage of the cash out feature is that it lets you take your profits before the game is up. If it’s a close game with only a few points separating the two teams, your win could quickly turn into a loss in a short space of time. This is especially true for low-scoring sports such as hockey and soccer, where just one goal could change the match completely and mean you lose out on all your winnings.

On top of giving you the chance to protect your winnings from a loss and take your profit early, you can use cash out to recover some of your stake from a losing bet. Part of being a successful gambler is knowing when to cut your losses. If your bet is currently losing and it doesn’t look like things are going to turn around anytime soon, you can cash out to protect your stake. A part of your stake will be returned to you, which is much better than being left with nothing. 

Finally, cashing out a bet early provides a unique advantage of giving you extra cash in your betting account. If you’ve suddenly spotted an excellent betting opportunity, it’s important to make your bet quickly before the lines change. Normally, if you don’t have any funds left in your betting account, you’d have to deposit more. However, if you have some bets in play, you can cash them out to gain some funds in just a few seconds. 

Strategy for Cash Out

Now you know everything about the cash out feature, you’re almost ready to put your knowledge into practice. First, we’ll share some strategy tips to help you get the most out of your bets. See some of our best tips on using the cash out feature:

  • Do your research - Research is always important if you want to make the most of your sports bets. With cash out, your research will tell you whether a team has a history of overturning a points deficit and how many points on average are scored between the two sides. These will give you a clue as to how the match will go, and when you’re watching live, you’ll have a better idea of when to cash out. 
  • Hedging your bets is better than cashing out in most cases - Hedging your bets rather than cashing out is usually the more profitable option, as sportsbooks always take a margin from the cash out feature. Hedging is where you bet against your original bet once the line has moved, meaning you profit no matter the outcome. 
  • Cash out is most useful when using higher stakes - In most cases, you should let your bets ride out. However, the cash out feature does become much more useful when you’re dealing with higher stakes. If you want to avoid losing out on a large wager that’s a significant portion of your bankroll, the cash out feature is a must. 

If you follow these strategies and bet responsibly, you’ll have a lot more fun while betting on sports online. Now you’re ready to start betting, take a look at our list of recommended sportsbooks and sign up to start making the most of the cash out feature.