A void bet is a bet that is cancelled after it was accepted and settled as if it had never been placed: your stake comes back and nothing is won or lost. Bets are made void when the event does not happen as it was bet, or when your selection takes no part under a rule that refunds non-starters. A bet that breaks a rule itself, such as one struck after the event had finished, is voided too.
Void does not always mean the whole bet: in a multi a void leg drops out and the rest carries on at a lower price.
Common reasons a bet is made void
Each bookmaker sets its own void rules. NSW's Bookmaker Declared Betting Events Betting Rules, for bookmakers licensed there to take sports bets, show the range:
| What happens | What is void under the NSW rule book |
|---|---|
| A cricket match where not a ball is bowled | Every bet on the match (5.2.2.1(a)) |
| A baseball game in which the nominated starting pitcher is not the one who starts | All bets on that game, unless agreed otherwise (5.2.11) |
| A boxing bout whose scheduled number of rounds changes | Every bet on the bout (5.2.1.2) |
| A tennis player retires after the first serve | Single bets on the match; multis are recalculated (5.2.8.3) |
| A bet struck after the event finished | That bet, or only that leg of a multi (5.1.13) |
Postponed and abandoned games follow their own clauses, set out in the postponed and abandoned games guide. A player who takes no part is different again: a takes-no-part rule voids the bet, but an all-in rule, the NSW default (5.1.1), lets it stand as a loss, as player did not play rules explains.
In racing, the everyday void is a scratching: a fixed-odds bet on a scratched runner is commonly refunded unless the market is all in, as scratchings and deductions explains.
A void leg in a multi or same game multi
Under the NSW rule book, a multi with an abandoned or postponed leg is paid on the legs that won, at the prices taken when the bet was made (5.1.9(c)). Take $20 on three legs, at illustrative prices of $1.70, $2.40 and $1.95:
| Outcome | Combined price | Paid on $20 |
|---|---|---|
| Every leg wins | 1.70 x 2.40 x 1.95 = 7.956 | $159.12 |
| The $2.40 leg is void, the others win | 1.70 x 1.95 = 3.315 | $66.30 |
| The $2.40 leg is void and the $1.95 leg loses | Lost | $0.00 |
| Every leg is void | Refunded | $20.00 |
A void leg divides the payout by that leg's price, so a void $2.40 leg takes more than half the return, and a void leg never rescues a multi with a losing leg. A same game multi is priced as one bet, so its void leg cannot simply be divided out: depending on the bookmaker, the other legs are re-priced or the whole bet is void, as same game multi rules sets out.
Void, cancelled or pushed
All three can hand your stake back, for different reasons:
| Void | Cancelled | Pushed | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What happened | The bet could not be settled as struck | The bookmaker, or both sides by agreement, called it off | The result landed exactly on a whole-number line or total |
| What you get back | Your stake | Your stake, or a bet resettled at a corrected price | Your stake, under the usual rule type |
| As a leg of a multi | Usually counts as 1.00 | Depends on what was cancelled | Usually counts as 1.00 |
Under the NSW rule book a bet can be called off only by agreement before betting closes (3.1.5), and you cannot cancel an online bet once you have confirmed it (3.5.2). When a bookmaker cancels your bet covers error clauses and resettlement, and a push has its own entry.
Checking the price on a rescheduled game
A void hands your stake back. If a game is rescheduled and you decide to bet on it, that is a new bet at the price on offer then, which need not match the old one.
To check that price across bookmakers, B337's Terminal compares each game's head to head, line and total markets, and it shows prices from 40+ bookmakers across racing and sports. The hub guide explains the sports betting markets. The Terminal's prices are read on a repeating cycle, so a figure on screen can lag the bookmaker's own. A free account opens a limited view of the Terminal with live odds.
Risk: Betting involves risk. A void only returns your stake, and a multi with a void leg still loses everything if a remaining leg loses. See responsible gambling for limits and support.