What is sports betting refund?

Refund in betting is a situation when the bet is calculated with the odds of 1.00, that is, the amount of the bet is simply returned to the gaming account without profit or loss. Also, return in everyday life can be called “expense”, and in the English manner - “money back”. The return can happen for various reasons, we will consider them today. And also let's talk about what to do in a particular return situation.

Standard return

The most common and common reason for a return is a return outcome. Some outcomes imply the possibility of a return when hitting a specific outcome. Most often these are integer values ​​of totals and handicaps.

Example №1:

You made a bet on F1 (-1) in a football match between Zenit and Dynamo of the Russian Premier League.

If Zenit wins by two or more goals, the bet wins. If Dynamo wins or keeps a draw, the bet will lose. But if “Zenith” wins with a difference of exactly one goal (1: 0, 2: 1, 3: 2, and so on) - there will be a return.

Example №2:

You bet under 222 points total in an NBA match between Atlanta and Washington.

If the teams score 223 points or more, then the bet will not work. If 221 or less, then the bet will pass. But in case of an unlikely hit of exactly 222 points (for example, with a score of 122: 100), you will receive a refund at the rate.

There may be other options as well. For example, a number of bookmakers have such a promotion, when when you bet on the exact score of the match and a zero draw in it, you get a return on the bet. Partial refund of the bet is possible when wagering on asian totals and handicaps. There are other special conditions for the refund of the bet amount in certain circumstances.

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Separately, it is worth noting returns as part of express trains and systems. If you include a returnable outcome in the express and hit the exact value, then the express will not lose. But the odds of this outcome will be changed to 1.00 and the total odds of the parlay or the system will go down.

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What to do with a standard return?

In this case, nothing is required to be done, the standard return is some insurance for the bet, provided for by the rules of the bookmaker's office. You can play without it, gaining half a point or a goal, for example, F1 (-1.5) or TM (221.5) in the case of our examples. In this case, the odds will increase, but there will be no possibility of a return - the bet will either win or lose.

You can, on the contrary, make it even more secure by taking a clear victory of “Zenith” in the first example or TM (222.5) points in the second. In this case, the odds will be lower, but the probability of passing the bet will increase. But there are other types of returns in bets that are less pleasant. They will be discussed further.

Refund when canceled or rescheduled

Such a refund occurs if the match you have bet on is canceled or interrupted indefinitely. Such refunds happen much less often, but nevertheless, every bettor periodically encounters a similar situation.

Examples of such returns:

1. The tennis match could not be completed due to the injury of one of the athletes;
2. The basketball game was interrupted due to a breakdown of the lighting in the hall;
3. The baseball game was not finished due to heavy rain;
4. The football match was canceled due to the violent behavior of fans before the game.

In such situations, most often the bookmaker will calculate the refunds for the players bets on the match. After all, it is not possible to find out what totals and handicaps would have passed in an interrupted or failed event, even if some preliminary results have already been obtained in it.

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However, each office has its own rules for calculating rates in such cases. Some bookmakers calculate an automatic refund for all bets, some may wait 1-2 days and only then calculate the refund if the match is not resumed.

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Someone calculates tennis outcomes in favor of the athlete who passed to the next round if the first set was played, and calculates the rest of the outcomes as a return. Someone takes into account only those outcomes that have already been determined at the time the event was interrupted (for example, bets on the result of the first half will be calculated, and bets on the entire match will be returned). In general, everything is individual here.

What should I do if I return on failed events?

Carefully read the bookmaker's rules that apply to your specific situation. As a rule, bookmakers describe in great detail in their rules how bets are calculated for a particular turn of events. Better yet, carefully study the bookmaker's rules before making the first bets in it.

If suddenly the calculation of your bet contradicts the internal rules of the bookmaker itself, then contact their support service. In most cases, this will be enough to get a fair rate estimate. Sometimes it even happens that the office itself calculates the bet in favor of the player, that is, it gives a return instead of losing.

Refund initiated by the bookmaker

This is the most unpleasant type of return. When the return was not implied by the outcome, the match took place in full, your bet was passed, but the bookmaker still calculates the bet as a return. This is usually accompanied by vague wording, such as “the match was agreed”, “there was a mistake in the line” or “your bet was contrary to our internal rules”.

This happens even less often than the previous type of return, in adequate bookmakers such situations are nonsense. Good offices, for the sake of maintaining their reputation, most often calculate winnings even for their own mistakes in the line.

But unscrupulous bookmakers sometimes resort to such dirty tricks. Thus, they significantly increase their own profits, squeeze especially large winnings and, in general, can void any bet, even if it was made quite honestly by the player.

They are allowed to behave in this way by the “internal rules of the company”. If you familiarize yourself with them, you will easily find the points for which the bookmaker has the right to settle any bet with a refund, but very often this is a banal fraud and an unfair bookmaker's policy.

What to do in case of a return initiated by the bookmaker?

If you are sure that the refund was calculated unfairly, then first of all contact the bookmaker's technical support service. In some cases, such situations arise due to technical failures, and your bet may be recalculated.

If this is not a technical error, then ask for confirmation - who recognized the match as negotiable, what rules you violated, and so on. If the bookmaker does not meet you halfway, does not provide any proofs and evidence, then you can contact the regulatory authorities - ETSUPS, ERAI, SRO, consumer protection, human rights organizations, the court. But this is only relevant for bookmakers legal in Russia. If the office is offshore, then it will be orders of magnitude more difficult to achieve justice, more precisely - it is almost impossible.

In general, as already mentioned, such returns are nonsense. If this has happened to you once in five years, then it is still acceptable. If this happens every month, then feel free to change the office. This is almost certainly a common practice for this bookmaker, and in another bookmaker it will be much calmer and more profitable for you to play. Better yet, from the very beginning, choose reliable bookmakers who do not engage in such shenanigans.