When you’ve been placing your bets over the years, you will no doubt have come across a selection you’ve placed which says ‘void’ or ‘voided’ at the side of it. Essentially, this is a selection that has been marked as a non-runner and does not take part in your bet.
There are multiple reasons why a bet can be voided, and on top of that, this works in different ways depending on the bet you have placed. With that in mind, there is a lot more to having a voided bet than meets the eye. It is important you know and understand this because, ultimately, it will affect your returns on the bet if you win and will also impact what you need to happen for your bet to be a winner.
Here is our run-through of everything you need to know about a voided bet, where it will leave you, how it will affect your winnings and the change to multiple bets because of a void.
What Happens is a Single Bet is Voided?
Let’s get started with the simplest and easiest bet that is affected if it is voided. This is a single bet, and the reason here is that there are no other selections in the bet. If you have a single bet on one selection, and the selection is voided, then you will simply receive your stake back from the bet, you don’t win, and you don’t lose.
Part of gambling is getting a run for your money, and if your bet is voided, then you do not get that run for your money. In this instance, your bet is voided, and the stake is returned because you have not received the chance to have a run for your money from that particular bet.
What Happens if a Multiple Bet is Voided?
Where things get a little more challenging to understand is when you start talking about multiple bets and how these are affected.
First of all, let’s look at a straight multiple, an acca, for example. If your selection is voided in this bet, then what happens to the bet is that it still runs but is minus the voided selection. For example, if you pick an acca with six teams and one is voided, that becomes an acca with five teams.
This still gives you a bet to cheer on, but one that has been changed because of the void, so you have fewer selections. If you have multiple voids in the bet, this will happen as long as one selection remains. For example, if bad weather forces a five-team bet to go down to a one-team bet, that will stand as a single on that team.
Secondly, and this is where things get a little more challenging to understand, let’s look at multiple bets that involve more than one bet in them. For example, you have five selections and place trebles on the five selections, a total of 10 bets.
The voided selection remains involved here to work out what happens with each bet. Things stay precisely the same as before in trebles where the voided selection is not involved, with these bets standing in full. Those where the void selection is involved turn into doubles on the two remaining selections in the bet.
In this example, of the ten trebles, if you have one selection voided, then you will end up with four trebles that are unaffected and remain the same, as well as six trebles which become doubles due to the voided selection.
How are Winnings Affected if a Selection is Voided?
Regardless of the type of bet you place, if you have a voided selection in the bet, then your winnings are going to be affected. As mentioned, if this is a single bet, then your stake is returned in full, but with multiples, bets are changed, which means winnings are changed.
With a full multiple bet like an acca, the odds are worked out based on the number of selections you have running. For example, a five-team bet that becomes a four-team bet will be paid out based on the odds of the four selections, minus the one that is a void.
Again, it is a little more complex when you start to look at multiple bets that have numerous different bets inside. Using the example above, five teams with ten trebles on them will have four unaffected trebles, these are paid out at the correct odds if they win. The other six, though, will become doubles, and for that reason, they will be paid out at the double odds, minus the voided selection.
To sum this up is in basic terms, a voided runner in your bet will mean lower odds because the odds are worked out from the remaining selections only, not the ones quoted when you placed your bet.
Key Questions Around Voided Bets
Here are some key elements of voided bets to remember.
Does a voided single return full stake back?
Yes, the full stake is returned if your single bet is void.
Does a voided team in an acca void the whole bet?
No, your bet stands on the other selections in any multiple.
Are my winnings affected by a voided selection?
Yes, rather than the odds quoted when you placed your bet, winnings will be determined by the price of the remaining selections together.
