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How To Cancel An Online Bet - Can You Cancel A Bet?

Publish Date: 01/05/2025
Fact checked by: Mike McKean

Have you ever placed a bet and seconds later wished you had not made it, I can certainly admit to that. Now, can you cancel a bet? It’s a good question and one that you’ll need an answer to. So take a look below to see how to cancel a bet online!

So you’ve either made a mistake or have just put down a bet you regret and now you need help. No problem. We’ve created a guide that shows you what you can do to remedy the situation. Keep reading to see how you should be able to get a little back from that unfortunate betting attempt!

Can You Cancel A Bet?

The bluntest answer you can give to 'Can I cancel a bet?' is no, not really. This is because a sports bet is a contract between you and the bookmaker.

Once the bet is submitted, you’re pretty much stuck with it. You can read through the bookie’s terms and conditions as much as you want and the chances are that you’ll just have to live with the shame.

Thankfully, there are some bookies out there who have a human side, and they realise that everyone makes mistakes every now and then. This is why bookmakers often have a part of their terms and conditions that says something about how they have the power to cancel bets at their ‘discretion’.

So if you’ve just put down a supremely stupid bet, then you should probably take a screenshot of it and then get in touch with the bookie’s customer service team as fast as possible. Chances are that they won’t do anything, but if you’re really lucky, they might just take pity on you.

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Why Would You Want To Cancel An Online Sports Bet?

Well, let’s just say that most of us have those special moments where we do something we wish we could take back. The sad fact is that many of us have done this when using a sports betting site.

As a result, you’d probably have been struck with that feeling of blind terror and would have wanted to cancel that insane bet immediately.

It could be a bet on something daft like Oldham Athletic to win the Premier League next season, or for Liverpool to not pick up a single point in their Premier League title defence. After all, we’re only human and it’s easy to get carried away when betting on something as emotive as sport.

Plus it’s worth remembering that we all suffer those technological malfunctions every now and then. It could be something as simple as adding one too many zeroes on the end of that risky acca bet. Whatever the reason, it doesn’t make a foolish bet any less painful. Thankfully, there are some ways that you can dull the pain of these misguided bets.

The Power Of Cashing Out

So while you can’t usually cancel your woeful bets, you might be able to cash them out. This is because most decent bookies have a feature called cash out betting.

Cash out betting is where you can settle the bet before it has ended. This means that you would retain a part of your betting stake regardless of whether your bet would have won or lost later on.

The amount of betting stake that would be returned to you would depend on what its market price was at the time that you requested the cash out. Confused? Then let’s take a look at an example.

Say you’d bet £20 that Tottenham Hotspur would beat Arsenal in the Premier League. Tottenham scored two early goals and went into the half-time break 2-0 up. Here you could cash out your bets early and enjoy the rest of the match safe in the knowledge that you’d locked in a profit even if Spurs go a bit ‘spursy’ in the second half.

Another example would work in the opposite way. Imagine that you’d bet a tenner on Man United beating Liverpool. However, Liverpool quickly got a three-goal advantage. This is where you might want to cash your bet out early. As a result, you’d still get a tiny share of your betting stake back which is better than nothing at all!

Obviously timing is hugely critical when it comes to cashing out, because it determines what the cash out value is. But with no ability to cancel your bets, cashing out could be your best option!

What Is The William Hill Cancel Bet Procedure?

So the good news is that William Hill is at least aware of the fact that punters sometimes make a mistake when they put down their bets. If you type something like ‘How to cancel a bet online’ into the William Hill help centre, you will get a fairly relevant answer.

This says that if you have entered in the wrong stake or selection, then you should get in touch with the William Hill customer support team as soon as possible before the event has begun. From here, the customer care agents will investigate the matter, but this is no  guarantee that your bet will be cancelled.

Thankfully, William Hill has a good cash out feature that lets you cash out an unsettled bet at the cash out value displayed. The only downer here is that William Hill doesn’t currently have any kind of partial cash out facility, but you’ll still get a decent share of your original stake back.

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How Do You Get A Ladbrokes Refund?

Like most bookies, Ladbrokes doesn’t let you cancel your bets. You can do things like go into the help centre and type in desperate pleas like, ‘Can you cancel a bet?’ and the answer is always going to be a negative.

Thankfully, Ladbrokes has an excellent cash out service. This means that you could lock in at least some of your money before the sporting event has ended in its disastrous finish. As usual, the amount you’d get back would be determined by the real-time value of your live bets.

What’s best is that Ladbrokes even includes a partial cash out feature you can use to keep some of your original stake locked in the bet. All of which means that you can cock-up most sports bets and hopefully still get something back at the end of the day.

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Why Is My Bet Still Open?

Of course, you might also want to cancel a bet for other reasons entirely. After all, there might come a time when your bet is still classified as being ‘open’ even if the sporting event you’d bet on has finished.

This usually happens when there is some kind of evaluation process going on to determine the result of the sporting event. For example, if you’d bet on the Grand National and it was a close finish, then you would probably have to wait a couple of minutes before your bet was settled.

So don’t rush to see how to cancel a bet online if your bet is still open for a short amount of time after the sports event has ended.

When You Just Have To Give Up On Your Bets

Sometimes you just have to kiss that crazy bet goodbye. After all, you can ask if you can cancel an online sports bet until you are blue in the face and the bookie won’t even let you cash out your bet early. Here are a few reasons why this might happen:

Too late

Most bookies will withdraw the cash out facility in the closing stages of a sporting event.

Bets not underway

Obviously, you’ll only be able to cash out your bets if the bet is still running and that every available selection is still unsettled.

No value

Sometimes the cash out value will simply go down to zero meaning that you’re stuck with your losing bet.

Ineligible markets

Some betting markets simply cannot be cashed out. This often happens for things like football handicap betting, so be sure to check this out before you put your bets down.

Promotions

You won’t normally be able to cash out bets if you have used any kinds of odds boosts, enhanced odds or build your own bets deals. The same applies if you are using any free bets or even if your bet is a qualifying bet as part of some kind of special offer.

No live betting

Cash out betting only usually works if that sporting event has live betting options.

Market/event suspension:

 You might find that the cash out betting options have been removed if there is a market or sporting event suspension. For example, you might not be able to cash out your bets if the bookie is midway through changing its football live odds after a goal. Or the cash out option could vanish if there is a lengthy delay for a VAR check.

Each-way bets

It’s fairly common to be unable to cash out the each-way bet types.

What To Do If You Cannot Cancel Your Bet

We have established that it would probably take a miracle or a bookmaker having a good day in order for you to be able to get a bet cancelled.

So what are your options if you cannot that bet you have just placed?

Take a look at a few options that could make your sports betting error more bearable.

Cash Out

This is probably your best option, if you definitely do not want your bet to continue. You will probably make a loss, but it's better than nothing.

Let It Ride

Sometimes it makes sense to cut your losses and let the bet do its thing. Let it run, you never know, your mistake could end being a smart move.

Learn From Your Error

Let it be a learning curve for you. Make sure you check all your bets thoroughly to ensure it doesn't happen again.

Reasons You Might Want To Cancel Your Online Sports Bet

You are not alone in making an error when it comes to sports betting errors. However, the reasons for making the error and wanting to cancel a bet will probably sound familiar.

The most common reasons for wanting to cancel a bet are as follows:

You Made A Mistake

This is most the popular mistake made by sports bettors. Clicking on the wrong bet by misreading the odds or backing the wrong match is very common. Just be careful when placing your bets and double check before confirming.

Second Thoughts

We all have second thoughts in life, so why would placing a sports bet be any different. The bet might have made sense at first, but once you clicked 'place bet' the doubts started to creep in.

An Incident In The Game

You might have placed a player bet - either scoring, assisting or shot on target - and that player is substituted or sent off in the opening 10 minutes. That bet is not coming in and you will be desperate to cancel it.

Conclusion - Your Resource For Knowing How To Cancel A Bet Online

OK, so cancelling your bet outright doesn’t look like it’s going to happen. However, we still think that there’s plenty of hope. After all, we’ve found a decent number of bookies who let you cash your bets out early. Sure you might not get all of your money back, but something is better than nothing!

Obviously, we’ll take care to keep this resource updated should any bookies take mercy on us mere mortals who put down some daft bets. So keep this page bookmarked for the next time you shriek those unfortunate words, can you cancel a bet?

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How To Cancel A Bet Online FAQ

👀 Can You Cancel Bets After It Has Been Placed?

As a genuine rule, the answer is no. Once that bet has been placed it is locked in. You can try and contact customer support, but it is unlikely they will cancel it. The best case scenario is to activate the cash out function and maybe take a little loss.

⭐ What Happens To My Stake If I Cancel A Bet?

It is important to note that the chances of being able to cancel a bet are very slim, but you might get lucky. If yiou successfully cancel your bet, you should get a full refund - but again, it's highly unlikely

❓ Will You Be Charged For Cancelling A Bet?

There is no fee for cancelling a bet. That is probably because it rarely happens. You could cash out early for an amount less than you staked. I suppose that could feel like some form of fee charge.

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