Void Bet Meaning: Singles, Multiples and Bet Builders
Almost every guide on this subject answers a question nobody has after the fact, which is why a bet gets voided. The reason is written on your bet message and is rarely disputable. What decides the money is where the void lands, and that is governed by the product rules for the slip you actually placed.
§ ON THIS PAGE · 11 sections
Void, push, cancelled and non-runner are four different states
They all return the stake, which is why guides treat them as synonyms. They arrive by different routes and they do not always behave the same way inside a multiple.
Void
- What happened
- An accepted bet was cancelled under a settlement rule
- Where it comes from
- The operator's general or sport-specific rules
Push
- What happened
- The result landed exactly on a whole-number line
- Where it comes from
- The handicap or totals market rule
Non-runner
- What happened
- The selection took no part in the event
- Where it comes from
- The participation rule for that sport
Cancelled
- What happened
- The bet never stood, for example because a market was offered in error
- Where it comes from
- The bet acceptance policy
| Term | What happened | Where it comes from |
|---|---|---|
| Void | An accepted bet was cancelled under a settlement rule | The operator's general or sport-specific rules |
| Push | The result landed exactly on a whole-number line | The handicap or totals market rule |
| Non-runner | The selection took no part in the event | The participation rule for that sport |
| Cancelled | The bet never stood, for example because a market was offered in error | The bet acceptance policy |
“If a selection fails to take part in an event, it may be classed as a 'Non Runner'”
The distinction that matters is the one nobody draws: a non-runner in horse racing is often not a void at all. Where a horse is withdrawn after final declarations, the surviving bets are adjusted by a Rule 4 deduction rather than cancelled, so you get a reduced payout instead of a returned stake.
The void resolution table
Read your slip type down the left, then the state of the affected selection. The right-hand column is the price your remaining selections are multiplied at.
Single
- Affected selection
- Void or push
- Outcome
- Stake returned
- Effective price used
- 1.00
Single
- Affected selection
- Won
- Outcome
- Win
- Effective price used
- Accepted price
Single
- Affected selection
- Lost
- Outcome
- Loss
- Effective price used
- Accepted price, nothing returned
Standard multiple
- Affected selection
- One or more legs void
- Outcome
- Bet runs on remaining legs
- Effective price used
- Void leg counts as 1.00
Standard multiple
- Affected selection
- Void leg plus a losing leg
- Outcome
- Loss
- Effective price used
- Removal does not rescue a lost leg
Standard multiple
- Affected selection
- Every leg void
- Outcome
- Stake returned
- Effective price used
- All legs at 1.00
Standard multiple
- Affected selection
- Void reduces it to one leg
- Outcome
- Settles as a single
- Effective price used
- Remaining leg's accepted price
Bet Builder, recalculating profile
- Affected selection
- One component void
- Outcome
- Builder runs on remaining components
- Effective price used
- Void component counts as 1.00
Bet Builder, whole-bet profile
- Affected selection
- One component void
- Outcome
- Entire builder void or push
- Effective price used
- Stake returned
Bet Builder, profile not confirmed
- Affected selection
- One component void
- Outcome
- Do not calculate yet
- Effective price used
- Check the product rule first
| Slip type | Affected selection | Outcome | Effective price used |
|---|---|---|---|
| Single | Void or push | Stake returned | 1.00 |
| Single | Won | Win | Accepted price |
| Single | Lost | Loss | Accepted price, nothing returned |
| Standard multiple | One or more legs void | Bet runs on remaining legs | Void leg counts as 1.00 |
| Standard multiple | Void leg plus a losing leg | Loss | Removal does not rescue a lost leg |
| Standard multiple | Every leg void | Stake returned | All legs at 1.00 |
| Standard multiple | Void reduces it to one leg | Settles as a single | Remaining leg's accepted price |
| Bet Builder, recalculating profile | One component void | Builder runs on remaining components | Void component counts as 1.00 |
| Bet Builder, whole-bet profile | One component void | Entire builder void or push | Stake returned |
| Bet Builder, profile not confirmed | One component void | Do not calculate yet | Check the product rule first |
The last row is not padding. Two of the operators cited on this page apply different profiles to the same shape of bet, and one of them applies both depending on which market the void component came from. Guessing costs the difference between a recalculated payout and a stake refund.
Singles: the only case with no arithmetic
“If your selection is void, you receive your stake back”
A £50 single at 3.40 that is voided returns £50. It is not a loss, it is not a win, and it does not belong in your record as either. Track it as a separate line, because a run of voided bets on the same market type is a signal about where you are betting rather than about how you are betting.
One caveat that applies to every figure on this page: these are cash stakes. A bet funded by a token, free bet or bet credit is governed by the token's own terms, and the stake portion is frequently not returned as cash. Read the promotion terms before assuming the number above.
Multiples: the void leg becomes 1.00
The rule is stated the same way on both sides of the Atlantic.
“If any selection in any leg is a non-runner or otherwise void under the Sportsbook Rules (e.g. an abandoned match) then all bets on that individual leg will be void and the Fixed Odds Multiple bet shall be adjusted accordingly. For example a treble including one void leg will become a double.”
“If one or more selections in a parlay are void then the remaining selections will determine the outcome of the wager, with the odds re-calculated accordingly”
"Removed" and "counts as 1.00" describe the same arithmetic, and 1.00 is the more useful form because it slots straight into the calculation you already know. Take a £10 four‑fold:
A
- Accepted price
- 1.80
- Result
- Won
- Price used
- 1.80
B
- Accepted price
- 2.00
- Result
- Void
- Price used
- 1.00
C
- Accepted price
- 1.50
- Result
- Won
- Price used
- 1.50
D
- Accepted price
- 1.25
- Result
- Won
- Price used
- 1.25
| Leg | Accepted price | Result | Price used |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | 1.80 | Won | 1.80 |
| B | 2.00 | Void | 1.00 |
| C | 1.50 | Won | 1.50 |
| D | 1.25 | Won | 1.25 |
The combined price is 1.80 × 1.00 × 1.50 × 1.25 = 3.375, so a £10 stake
returns £33.75 against the £67.50 the intact four-fold would have paid. The
void cost £33.75, which is more than the £10 stake at risk, and no rule compensates for it.
Two consequences follow that the definition‑style guides skip.
A void leg never rescues a losing bet. If leg C had lost, the bet is a loss at £0 no matter how the void leg was treated.
“If any selections lose, your bet loses”
A multiple can collapse into a single and still stand. Void enough legs and the surviving selection is settled on its own price, not refunded.
“If that voided legs mean that an individual bet within a multiple becomes a single bet, then this single bet will stand”
“If all selections except one are void, the parlays will be settled as a straight at the applicable odds”
That is the difference between a £10 stake back and a £10 bet running at 1.80 for a £18.00 return, decided entirely by whether the last surviving leg wins.
Bet Builders: three documented profiles, not one rule
A same-game bet is priced as a single unit with correlated components, so removing a component is not a neutral act the way it is in an accumulator. The operators have not converged on one answer, and the published rules say so plainly.
Profile 1: remove the component and recalculate. Sky Bet states it for BuildABet, with a worked count.
“If one selection of your BuildABet is voided, the remaining selections will continue to run”
“if you had placed 4 selections within your BuildABet and 1 selection is void, it will settle on the remaining 3 legs, at the odds of the remaining selections”
FanDuel extends the same treatment to same-game parlays explicitly, which is worth noting because a same-game rule is easy to assume rather than check:
“The above also applies to all Same Game Parlay bets”
Profile 2: the whole builder goes. bet365 states the opposite default, and the same sentence covers a push as well as a void.
“For all other markets, where a selection within a Bet Builder is void or push, the entire bet will also be void or push”
Profile 3: recalculation, but only for a defined subset. The same operator carves out an exception in the sentence immediately before it.
“Pre-match Bet Builders on selected sports that contain player markets are automatically recalculated if a player market becomes void”
Three conditions have to hold together for that carve-out: pre-match rather than in-play, a sport on the published eligible list, and a player market rather than a team or match market. A void in an in-play builder, or in a match-result component, falls back to the whole‑bet treatment.
On the same £10 four-component builder at 1.80, 2.00, 1.50 and 1.25, that is £33.75 under profile 1 or 3 and £10.00 under profile 2. Same slip, same void, a £23.75 gap decided by which product rule your operator applies.
There is a fourth state, and it is the one to be in before you complain: not confirmed. Betfair's Sportsbook Rules, which contain the multiple rule quoted above, exclude same-game bets from their own scope:
“Betfair currently offers two types of multiple bet: "Fixed Odds Multiples" and 'Same Game Multiples'. These Sportsbook Rules only apply to Betfair's Fixed Odds Multiples.”
So the accumulator rule you just read does not govern that operator's same-game product. Find the product-specific rule for the exact slip type, or treat the outcome as unknown rather than assuming the general rule carries across.
The reasons, and the deadlines attached to them
The reason itself is rarely arguable. The deadline attached to it sometimes is, because deadlines are written down as specific numbers of hours and either passed or did not.
Event not completed
- Typical trigger
- Abandonment or postponement beyond a stated window
- The number to check
- Three days at one operator, 48 hours at another, shorter for some sports
Result already known
- Typical trigger
- Market left open after the outcome was determined
- The number to check
- Time of the bet against time of the deciding event
Non-participation
- Typical trigger
- Selection took no part
- The number to check
- The sport's participation rule, not a general rule
Conditions changed
- Typical trigger
- The event materially changed shape
- The number to check
- The market rule, for example a reduction in cricket overs
Pricing or setup error
- Typical trigger
- Palpable error in the price or handicap
- The number to check
- The operator's error clause
| Reason | Typical trigger | The number to check |
|---|---|---|
| Event not completed | Abandonment or postponement beyond a stated window | Three days at one operator, 48 hours at another, shorter for some sports |
| Result already known | Market left open after the outcome was determined | Time of the bet against time of the deciding event |
| Non-participation | Selection took no part | The sport's participation rule, not a general rule |
| Conditions changed | The event materially changed shape | The market rule, for example a reduction in cricket overs |
| Pricing or setup error | Palpable error in the price or handicap | The operator's error clause |
“If the event is not completed within three days after the scheduled completion date, then all bets on markets for this event will be void, except for bets on any markets that have been unconditionally determined”
“If the event is not completed within 48 hours after the scheduled completion date, then all bets on markets for this event will be void, except for bets on any markets that have been unconditionally determined”
Those two windows govern the same kind of event and differ by more than a day. A match replayed 60 hours late stands at one book and is void at the other, which is a real reason to know your operator's number rather than the internet's average of it.
“If Betfair accepts a bet on a market for which the outcome has already been determined, then that bet shall be deemed void (and no winnings shall be payable in respect of it)”
“On a small number of occasions, a market may be inadvertently 'offered' when a result has already been determined or an event has started”
“we reserve the right to void bets if circumstances behind an event or market change, e.g. a reduction in overs of a Cricket match”
Both of those clauses cut in the operator's favour when a late bet catches a known result. Both also apply symmetrically: a market offered after a result was determined is void whether the bet was going to win or lose.
Three things a void can undo after you thought it was over
This is the part with real money in it and no coverage anywhere in the current top results.
A completed cash out can be reversed. Taking a cash-out price does not always end the bet if the selection later becomes a non‑runner.
“For horse racing, Betfair reserves the right to cancel a cash-out settlement when the selection that has been cashed out on becomes a non-runner subsequent to the bet being cashed out”
The stake comes back and the cashed-out amount goes away. If the cash-out figure was above the stake, that is a loss of profit you had already banked and possibly already staked elsewhere.
A part-settled market can be pulled back. Where an operator credits a market early as a courtesy and then has to void it, the credit is reversed.
“If a market is to be voided but has been part-settled as a courtesy to Betfair customers, then such part-settled bets will be reversed and all bets on the market will be void”
A promotion attached to the bet can fall over. Void interacts badly with add-ons, and the interaction is asymmetric: a void leg that would merely reprice a plain accumulator can kill the enhancement entirely.
“Acca Edge will become void if any leg is settled void or any leg is subject to a Dead Heat Reduction”
“For Odds Boosts applied to parlay bets, if any selection within the bet is void, the entire Odds Boost will be void, regardless of the outcome of the remaining selections”
The practical rule is to price any accumulator insurance or boost as worthless on the day a leg voids, and to check whether the underlying bet reverted to plain terms rather than being cancelled with it.
Checking a void settlement
- Record the slip type exactly. Single, standard multiple, same-game builder, or a builder used as one leg of a larger multiple. Every figure below depends on this line.
- Find the product rule, not the general rule. A same-game product may sit outside the multiple rules entirely.
- Identify which component voided and which market it came from. Player markets and match markets are treated differently by at least one operator.
- Rebuild the price with 1.00 in place of each void leg. Multiply, do not subtract a percentage.
- Confirm no surviving leg lost. If one did, the recalculation is irrelevant and the bet is a loss.
- Check whether the bet collapsed to a single. If so, expect settlement at that leg's price, not a refund.
- Check the deadline that was quoted. Compare the actual completion time against the hours stated in the rule you were shown.
- Check every attached extra. Boost, insurance, acca edge, and any cash out taken earlier.
- Confirm what funded the stake. A token stake is unlikely to return as cash.
- Write down expected return against actual credit as one number. That difference, with the rule beside it, is the only version of this that a complaints process can act on.
Ownership boundary
This page owns void propagation: what a void does to a single, a multiple and a same-game builder, and what it can undo afterwards. The neighbours:
- Rule 4 deductions owns the horse racing withdrawal that adjusts a bet instead of voiding it.
- Dead heat betting rules owns tied selections and the stake reduction they trigger.
- Cash out betting explained owns the decision to take an early settlement.
- All bet types explained simply and Accumulator vs bet builder keep the short definitions of each slip type.
Evidence manifest6 primary sources mapped to this guideView sources
Each source below is retained with the claims it supports. Operator sources describe published terms, not independent first‑hand performance.
- Betfair Sportsbook, General Sports Betting Rules (opens in a new tab)
- If any selection in any leg is a non-runner or otherwise void under the Sportsbook Rules (e.g. an abandoned match) then all bets on that individual leg will be void and the Fixed Odds Multiple bet shall be adjusted accordingly. For example a treble including one void leg will become a double.
- If that voided legs mean that an individual bet within a multiple becomes a single bet, then this single bet will stand
- Betfair currently offers two types of multiple bet: "Fixed Odds Multiples" and 'Same Game Multiples'. These Sportsbook Rules only apply to Betfair's Fixed Odds Multiples.
- If the event is not completed within three days after the scheduled completion date, then all bets on markets for this event will be void, except for bets on any markets that have been unconditionally determined
- If Betfair accepts a bet on a market for which the outcome has already been determined, then that bet shall be deemed void (and no winnings shall be payable in respect of it)
- If a market is to be voided but has been part-settled as a courtesy to Betfair customers, then such part-settled bets will be reversed and all bets on the market will be void
- Acca Edge will become void if any leg is settled void or any leg is subject to a Dead Heat Reduction
- For horse racing, Betfair reserves the right to cancel a cash-out settlement when the selection that has been cashed out on becomes a non-runner subsequent to the bet being cashed out
- bet365 help centre, How are different types of bets settled? (opens in a new tab)
- If your selection is void, you receive your stake back
- If a selection is settled as void, your bet is settled on the remaining selections
- If any selections lose, your bet loses
- bet365 help centre, What is a Bet Builder? (opens in a new tab)
- Pre-match Bet Builders on selected sports that contain player markets are automatically recalculated if a player market becomes void
- For all other markets, where a selection within a Bet Builder is void or push, the entire bet will also be void or push
- You can include a maximum of 12 selections per Bet Builder bet
- Sky Bet help centre, BuildABet (opens in a new tab)
- If one selection of your BuildABet is voided, the remaining selections will continue to run
- if you had placed 4 selections within your BuildABet and 1 selection is void, it will settle on the remaining 3 legs, at the odds of the remaining selections
- There is a maximum of 10 selections for a BuildABet
- Sky Bet help centre, Reasons for Void Bet (opens in a new tab)
- On a small number of occasions, a market may be inadvertently 'offered' when a result has already been determined or an event has started
- we reserve the right to void bets if circumstances behind an event or market change, e.g. a reduction in overs of a Cricket match
- If a selection fails to take part in an event, it may be classed as a 'Non Runner'
- FanDuel Sportsbook House Rules (opens in a new tab)
- If one or more selections in a parlay are void then the remaining selections will determine the outcome of the wager, with the odds re-calculated accordingly
- If all selections except one are void, the parlays will be settled as a straight at the applicable odds
- The above also applies to all Same Game Parlay bets
- For Odds Boosts applied to parlay bets, if any selection within the bet is void, the entire Odds Boost will be void, regardless of the outcome of the remaining selections
- If the event is not completed within 48 hours after the scheduled completion date, then all bets on markets for this event will be void, except for bets on any markets that have been unconditionally determined
FAQ
What does void mean on a bet?
The operator accepted the bet and later cancelled it under a published settlement rule, so the stake is returned and the selection counts as neither a win nor a loss. On a single that is the end of it. On a multiple the void leg is priced at 1.00 and the rest of the bet continues.
What happens if a bet is void in an accumulator?
The leg is removed and the remaining legs are multiplied together. A £10 four-fold at 1.80, 2.00, 1.50 and 1.25 pays £67.50 intact; with the 2.00 leg void it pays £33.75. If any surviving leg loses, the whole bet still loses.
Does a void selection void my whole Bet Builder?
It depends on the operator and on which market voided. One published rule removes the component and settles on the remainder. Another voids the entire builder for all but a defined set of pre-match player markets, which are recalculated instead. Confirm which profile applies before calculating a return.
Can a winning bet be voided?
Yes. A market offered after the result was already determined, an event that never reached its completion window, or a palpable pricing error can all void a selection that would otherwise have won. Published rules cover each case, and the stake is returned rather than the winnings paid.
Can a bet be voided after I cashed out?
It can. At least one operator reserves the right to cancel a cash-out settlement in horse racing when the selection later becomes a non-runner, in which case the bet is void and the stake refunded instead of the cash‑out amount standing.
Is a void bet the same as a push?
Not quite. A void is a cancellation under a settlement rule. A push is a result landing exactly on a whole-number handicap or total. Both return the stake on a single, and at least one Bet Builder rule treats them identically, but they arrive from different clauses and a push is a normal market outcome rather than an exception.