Market suspended means a betting market is closed to new bets for now. The prices may stay on screen, but nothing can be placed or matched while the suspension lasts. A suspension stops new bets only: bets already accepted or matched are not cancelled by it, and they settle under the operator's rules.
Why betting markets are suspended
| Cause | What happens |
|---|---|
| The jump or the start | A race market suspends at the jump. For sport, online betting closes when the game starts: under the Interactive Gambling Act, online betting on a sporting event is lawful only before it begins and only with a provider licensed in an Australian state or territory (s 8A(3) and s 15AA). In-play betting in Australia explains the rule. |
| A late scratching | The market pauses while the runner comes out. Bookmakers reprice, and stewards declare deductions for fixed-odds bets placed before the scratching; an exchange applies its own scratching rules. |
| News before the start | A rider change, a track upgrade or a late team change can pause a market while prices are reset. |
| A repricing or a fault | A bookmaker can suspend while it checks a price, and a system or data problem pauses betting until it is fixed. |
| The operator's choice | NSW's Bookmaker Declared Betting Events Betting Rules let an authorised bookmaker cease or suspend betting on a declared event at its sole discretion, without reason or notice; bets accepted before then are dealt with under those rules (clause 5.1.4, checked October 2026). |
Suspensions at bookmakers vs exchanges
| Your bet | At a bookmaker | On an exchange |
|---|---|---|
| Accepted or matched before the suspension | Stands, settled under the bookmaker's rules; a bet on a scratched runner is refunded | Stands, though under the exchange's rules a bet on a scratched runner is void and a scratching can reduce the price of bets on the others |
| Waiting to be matched | A bookmaker has no queue of waiting bets | Follows its setting at the jump; on a scratching, the exchange's rules decide which offers are cancelled |
| Sent while the market is suspended | Not accepted | Not accepted |
At the jump an unmatched exchange bet is cancelled, turned into a starting price bet or kept, by the setting on the order. Cancelled ones become lapsed bets, and the unmatched bets guide explains each setting. After a scratching, exchange rules commonly cancel offers on the scratched runner and can cancel others too, so check what is still open when the market returns.
Example: Illustrative figures. A winning $25 bet at $3.60, placed before a late scratching with an 8c deduction, pays 25 x 3.60 x (1 - 0.08) = $82.80 on the face-value reading, or 25 + 25 x (3.60 - 1) x 0.92 = $84.80 at a bookmaker that deducts from winnings only. Scratchings and deductions explains both readings, and your bookmaker's terms say which it uses.
What a suspension does to prices
When a market reopens, its prices are rebuilt, and on an exchange the first offers back are often few. The spread can be wide and one bet can move the price until liquidity returns, so check the money behind a price before you take it.
Suspended markets and the Terminal
The Terminal reads bookmaker and Betfair prices on a repeating cycle, so what you see can trail the bookmaker's own market by the time you act: confirm the price, and that the market is open, in your own account before you bet. B337 places no exchange bets. Bookmaker names are trade marks of their owners. B337 is not affiliated with them. For how an exchange lay works end to end, see lay betting.
Risk: Betting involves risk. A price on screen is not a bet you can still get, a market can suspend before your bet lands, and there is no guarantee of profit. See responsible gambling for limits and support.