Match is Suspended, What About Your Bet?

Match Suspended, what about my bet?

❓Why are matches suspended?
🔍How sportsbooks react
🎾Tournament Bets?
📊Parlays?

Bettors have to deal with unpredictable situations. A match being suspended or postponed can leave you in gambling limbo. Given that these circumstances are not very common, bettors are not always familiar with the protocol in place. It’s often hidden away in the small print, and only becomes relevant when you are faced with such a situation.

You could be left hanging on a leg of a parlay. Your wager might have been minutes from landing. Perhaps you need to know how the sportsbook will treat the suspended match before you consider placing wagers on other games/events.

These are all things that sports bettors will have at the forefront of their mind. So, let’s look into what happens to your bet when a match is suspended.

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For what reason is a match suspended?

Sporting games and matches can be suspended for a variety of reasons. These can vary from a medical emergency to extreme weather. There’s a vast number of potential reasons for a match being suspended, and each of those has different real-world implications.

If betting on the NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL or MLS, the reasons a game could be suspended are different. Of course, rain is a popular reason for suspension in baseball and many other summer sports. Rain isn’t going to halt an NFL game, but a drastic snowstorm could have an impact if the teams are playing at an outdoor venue.

Security concerns, a player being in a life-threatening condition or issues with the venue can all cause a sporting fixture to be suspended. Lighting or air conditioning problems have caused matches to be suspended in the past, and that’s bound to be an issue in years to come, too.

There’s always the possibility of a bizarre reason to cause a match to be suspended. That could be anything from referees getting injured to a swarm of insects. Each league will have different regulations in place when it comes to suspending games, and there will be a process for suspending and either restarting or replaying the fixture.

Why do tennis matches get suspended?

In regard to tennis matches, there are various reasons for a match to be canceled. Weather conditions are the main reason, especially for events that are played outside. Rain storms, high winds, and extreme heat can all be reasons for a match to be canceled or postponed. A player injury can also lead to a cancellation If a player is not able to play due to an injury, it is possible for the match to be postponed. In some cases, unforeseen circumstances arise. Events that are not expected can cause a match delay or cancellation, such as issues with the venue or delays when traveling.

For example:

The 2020 French Open: Serena Williams had to withdraw from her second-round match due to an Achilles injury, causing the match to be canceled and therefore all bets placed on the high-profile player were canceled and mostly refunded.

What does the sportsbook do when a game is suspended?

The process for resolving bets when a game is suspended is pretty uniform across sports and sportsbooks. If a game is suspended, all unsettled wagers will be voided. The fixture resuming at a later date will not see these bets reopened. Instead, your bets will be marked as voided and you will be able to bet on the rescheduled match.

If you have wagers that were settled before the game was suspended, sportsbooks will generally allow you to keep those winnings. This includes things like an anytime touchdown scorer.
Say you’d backed Tyreek Hill to score anytime and he got a touchdown in the first quarter. If the game was suspended at half-time, your wager on Hill should payout and you will not have to return the winnings.
In contrast, if you’d backed the Golden State Warriors -5.5 over the Sacramento Kings, and the game was suspended at the end of the third quarter, your wager would be marked as void, even if the Dubs were winning by 20. Of course, some books might make a good faith payout in such circumstances, but their terms and conditions would allow them to simply void all wagers on the game.

It's always worth looking through a sportsbook’s history with suspended games before wagering with them. These situations will be covered in their terms. A bit of research into sportsbook reviews can also give an indication of how they treat bettors when freak events take place.

What happens to my bet when a tennis match is suspended?

When placing bets on tennis matches and tournaments, there are different rules for suspended matches. Instead of bets being voided, they remain active. For example, if weather postpones a match, the bet will remain active as long as the match is finished within 48 hours. Some sportsbooks allow up to one week. Unlike other major sports, bets placed on tennis will stand in the event of any weather delay.

Most sportsbooks will refund your bet entirely if a player drops out of a tournament. Some will issue your refund in the form of bet credits, which can be used to bet on any other match or sport of your choice. If you are issued bet credits for your canceled bet, be sure to pay attention to expiration dates, as they won't last forever!

When placing an over/under bet, the wager will be deemed a loss if suspended unless the over has already been achieved.

How to avoid losing my bet in a tournament?

There is no surefire way to avoid losing bets in any tournament. Bettors can, however, improve their chances of winning bets by developing a tried and tested strategy. There are different ways to approach online gambling, from conducting hours of research to backing hunches.

The most successful gamblers will back up their picks through a combination of news and statistics. It’s a numbers game after all, so a thorough understanding of probabilities and projections is a must if you want to avoid losing bets.

When it comes to the risk of a game being suspended and seeing your bet voided, there isn’t much bettors can do. You could steer clear of games with a clear weather risk, but that’s not always feasible and how much can we really rely on weather forecasts?

With tennis matches, the weather is often the cause of a suspension. Be sure to know the latest weather forecast before betting to avoid any chances of the match or event being suspended.

Bettors should always be working on their betting strategy. There are tweaks to be made, whether that’s about the timing of your bets, the markets you wager on or even the statistics that you deem most significant. You are going to place losing bets, but it’s about projecting the probability of a wager to find the best possible value.

Why do bets sometimes say they are suspended?

Sportsbooks will suspend certain markets and cashouts when games are in action. The market could be removed or altered due to in-game events. Markets can also be suspended before a game if there is news that has caused a major change, such as an injury to a key player or drastically changing playing conditions.

If a game is being played, you could see the game total suspended when runners are in scoring position. You might not be able to bet on Patrick Mahomes’ passing yards when the Chiefs are driving down the field, because the action will be happening too quickly for bookies to keep up.

If you find a market you’re interested in is taken down, this will often only be temporary. In the case of live games, these markets are often available again within a few minutes so make sure to check back.

How do suspended games impact my parlays?

If a tennis match has been canceled and a parlay bet has been placed, most sportsbooks will not cancel the entire bet. The leg of the parlay that is affected will be removed from any current bet. For example, a bet with four legs would then become a three-leg wager. Any unsettled wager from any suspended games will be voided immediately.

When parlay bets are adjusted due to match cancellations, the sportsbook will adjust and recalculate the odds. Unfortunately, this means that the payout will be lowered since the number of selections for the parlay has been decreased. One exception is when a same-game parlay has been placed. Any cancellation will entirely void the bet. The whole bet will not be lost, but the sportsbook will refund the wager amount.

Sportsbooks will quickly adjust the new odds and the remaining parlays will still be active. Even though there will be shorter odds, the bet still presents a chance to win profits on the remaining legs.