Any bettor does not want to hear the words “Your bet is invalidated” simply because of the term itself. Is a vacant bet worse than a losing one, though? What happens if one of the legs of your parlays is void?
Below, we provide the answers to these queries, focusing on the second one about what transpires when bets are cancelled.
WHY ARE VOIDED SPORTS BETS VOID?
Sports wagers that have been canceled are neither winning nor losing bets. Do not become alarmed if a game on which you bet has been canceled for a number of reasons.
You will receive a refund of your wager if your money line for an NFL game is canceled. For sports books, this is a losing scenario since it eliminates their opportunity to profit from a variety of bets, including high-risk ones.
The situation is different with regard to invalid bets placed with incentives or promotions, though. Free bets are only promotional credits, hence the majority of bookmakers won’t reimburse them if a wager is cancelled.
If this occurs, you may still attempt to get your free bet returned by getting in touch with customer service. You have a decent possibility of obtaining that bonus back or earning anything else in exchange for your void bet.
VOLUNTARY PARLAY LEGS
Lastly, what does a vacancy in a parlay mean? First off, in the event of a void, your whole parlay will not lose. The possibility of one or more of their parlay legs being canceled should alarm bettors. If any of these legs is defeated, the entire parlay is void and ceases to exist. Due of the high likelihood of winning, parlays are the main source of revenue for sportsbooks in the UK and the US.
What happens if a leg in a parlay is voided? Your overall wager will still have a substantial impact since any parlay legs that were impacted by a postponed game or match will be eliminated.
Let’s use an MLB canceled parlay leg of a -160 money line as an example.
| Teams | Odds |
|---|---|
| Cardinals | +240 |
| Red Sox | -150 |
| Yankees | -140 |
| Cubs | -160 |
| Rangers | +200 |
| Total Payout | $4735.71 |
The example parlay bet will be restructured using the remaining legs in the event that the Cubs game is postponed. The parlay payout will be decreased by this reorganization.
The outcome will resemble this:
| Teams | Odds |
|---|---|
| Cardinals | +240 |
| Red Sox | -150 |
| Yankees | -140 |
| Rangers | +200 |
| Total Payout | $2914.29 |
What happens if all of the legs in a Fan Duel parlay are from the same game and the parlay is voided? There are circumstances in which a match cancellation invalidates the whole parlay, as is the case for same-game parlays. Legs for this kind of parlay are drawn from the same game. If a game is called off and you have a parlay that is entirely made up of bets from one game, the entire bet is invalid.
Another possibility is a 2-team parlay with just two legs. The whole parlay becomes a single straight wager if any one of those legs is invalid.
CIRCUMSTANCES THAT VOID PARLAYS
There are several reasons why a game could be called off. The following situations might result in a voided parlay leg.
Canceled or postponed games
Extreme circumstances may cause matches to be postponed, rescheduled, or cancelled outright. These circumstances might involve snow or severe rain. Major local emergencies like fires and earthquakes are strong justifications for postponing a match.
It’s vital to remember that if a match is continued within 12 to 24 hours, all wagers remain valid. If the game is played more than a day or two after it is postponed, all bets are invalid.
Player harm
If the wager’s subject is unable to participate, player prop bets may be invalid. Typically, in this scenario, player props are used to cover parlay legs for a single game. For player outcomes that span a complete season, such as the total number of home runs Barry Bonds may hit in a season, there are futures available. Even if Bonds misses only one game due to injury, the wager still stands as long as he is able to play the entire season.
The entire wager is recalculated rather than canceled when a parlay leg is invalidated. If a parlay consists of bets from the same game, the entire wager is void.
