The button that closes a bet before the end. It is built from the live price plus a second margin, which is why it is worth using rarely and understanding always.
Cash out settles a bet before the event ends, for an amount the operator calculates from the current live price. If your selection is winning, the offer is a profit smaller than the full payout; if it is losing, a fraction of the stake back. Full cash out closes the whole bet; partial cash out closes part of it; auto cash out triggers at a value you set.
Take an accumulator with three legs won and one pending, current live price on that leg 1.50, potential return 100. The fair cash out is 100 / 1.50 = 66.67, which is what you would lock in by laying the bet at the market price. The operator offers less, typically 60 to 63, because it applies its live margin and then a cash-out haircut on top. In our tests across the twenty-two operators the haircut ranged from 4 percent at the exchange’s sportsbook to 12 percent on some international platforms.
When something has changed that the market has not fully priced: a key injury, a red card, a goalkeeper sent off, a wind that turns. When the bet was a mistake and you would not place it now at the current price. When the remaining leg of an accumulator has become a coin toss and the locked profit changes your month. In each case you are making a judgement, not reacting to a colour.
Routinely, on winning positions, "to be safe": the haircut compounds into the largest hidden cost in a casual bettor’s year. On short prices, where the fair value is close to the full payout and the haircut is proportionally largest. And on markets where the operator suspends cash out at the moments it would help most, which is standard practice in the final minutes.
On Betfair’s exchange you lay your selection at the current price to lock a profit or limit a loss, paying commission on the net win and no haircut. It is the same operation, priced by the market instead of the operator. Bettors who cash out often should learn it.
Cashed-out bets usually do not count towards bonus rollover, free-bet stakes are often not cashable, and offers can be withdrawn while you are pressing the button; the confirmation screen is the only price that counts.
Markets suspend when something happens or in the closing minutes; the button follows the market.
Usually not; check the terms.
It lets you keep some exposure; the haircut is the same per unit.